Podcasts about Allee Willis

Dennis is joined by his friends and past podcast guests Frank DeCaro and Jim Colucci to talk about a brand new arts festival they are co-programming. It's called Pride Live! Hollywood and it takes place June 11th through the 29th at various venues in Hollywood. JIm and Frank talk about the various events on the agenda, including a Norman Lear tribute, a screening and party of Saturday Night Fever with director John Badham and actress Donna Pescow attending, a Golden Girls tribute, the Where The Bears Are documentary A Big Fat Hairy Hit. a Queer as Folk cast reunion as well as screenings of the films The World According to Allee Willis, Relax, It's Just Sex, The Big Johnson, The Grotto, Unicorn and the Village People musical Can't Stop the Music. Other topics include: feeling a call to fill the hole left by Outfest, the surprising number of guests who said yes, why queer joy is a radical act, the pros and cons of nostalgia and memorabilia collecting, scoring festive outfits on sale at Mr. Turk and their hopes that the fest will be so successful that they will both become insufferable a-holes by Year Three. (www.pridelivehollywood.com)            

Ben and Ione are predictably obsessed with Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal 2, but equally excited by the RHOBH reunion finale and the new season of Vanderpump spin-off the Valley. They also contemplate storage issues for Furries, the new Lana Del Rey single, hanging out with Allee Willis and what, if anything, reality tv stars owe the viewer. To dive deeper into our world, sign up to our newsletter athttp://weirdertogether.substack.com

Send us a textJoin former child star Moosie Drier, and author, Jonathan Rosen, as they chat with the executive producer and director of The World According to Allee Willis, Prudence Fenton and Alexis Spraic! Prudence and Alexis discuss the life of songwriter Allee Willis, who was responsible for hits by many artists including Earth, Wind, & Fire, the Friends theme song, the music from the musical The Color Purple, & much more!Support the show

Send us a textJoin former child star Moosie Drier, and author, Jonathan Rosen, as they chat with the executive producer and director of The World According to Allee Willis, Prudence Fenton and Alexis Spraic! Prudence and Alexis discuss the life of songwriter Allee Willis, who was responsible for hits by many artists including Earth, Wind, & Fire, the Friends theme song, the music from the musical The Color Purple, & much more!Support the show

It's the week before Thanksgiving and there are some heavy-hitters in theaters and trio of new Netflix titles for those stay-at-home viewers. Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy cover eight movies for you this week including a fascinating documentary on a woman who may have crafted the soundtrack to your life (The World According to Allee Willis) and another about a unique love affair involving music and mascots (Adrianne and the Castle). Sylvester Stallone tries to take Jason Patric's armored car (Armor) while Thomasin McKenzie and Bill Nighy show you who the true mother and father of IVF were (Joy). Denzel Washington's family adapts August Wilson (The Piano Lesson) and Alan Menken returns to score an all-star cast in a nifty Netflix animated film (Spellbound). Finally, it may not be Barbenheimer but Ridley Scott returns to Rome with a new vengeance (Gladiator II) and the first act of a Broadway sensation finally makes it to the big screen (Wicked: Part One). 0:00 - Intro 1:40 - The World According to Allee Willis 15:49 - Armor 23:03 - Adrianne and the Castle 32:40 - Joy 46:50 - The Piano Lesson 55:44 - Spellbound 1:03:04 - Gladiator II 1:19:04 – Wicked: Part One 1:41:31 - Outro

Hall of Fame songwriter and music producer Allee Willis gained recognition for co-writing songs such as Earth, Wind & Fire's hit "September," the score to "The Color Purple" musical, and the "Friends" theme song, "I'll Be There For You." Sadly, she passed away in 2019 but left behind a treasure trove of footage which made it to a new documentary, "The World According to Allee Willis." Director Alexis Spraic joins us alongside executive producer Prudence Fenton, who was also Allee's longtime partner, to discuss the film which is playing in theaters now. This segment is guest-hosted by Tiffany Hanssen.

If you know the Earth, Wind & Fire songs September and Boogie Wonderland, The Pointer Sisters Neutron Dance or "I'll Be There For You" aka the opening theme song from Friends, then you are familiar with some of the songwriting work from Allee Willis. But that is only half the story. Director Alexis Spraic and Producer Prudence Fenton join the What Difference Does It Make Podcast to tell us about The World According To Allee Willis, a documentary about the multi-layered life of a multi-layered personality. It's a fascinating documentary about a fascinating individual personally documenting most every moment of her life since 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President-elect Trump has nominated former Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to lead the Department of Justice, the most notable in a string of controversial Cabinet picks. Republicans now control the White House, Senate, and the House of Representatives. Two grassroots Democrats offer their advice on how to move forward. Critics review the latest film releases: “Red One,” “The World According to Allee Willis,” “All We Imagine as Light,” and “Hot Frosty.” Thanksgiving is right around the corner. If you’re not sure about your culinary skills, or are just too exhausted, we’ve got your Turkey Day options.

If you know the Earth, Wind & Fire songs September and Boogie Wonderland, The Pointer Sisters Neutron Dance or I'll Be There For You, aka the opening theme from Friends, then you're familiar with some of the songwriting work of Allee Willis. But that's only half the story. Director Alexis Spraic and Producer Prudence Fenton join the What Difference Does It Make Podcast to tell us about The World According To Allee Willis, a documentary about the multi-layered life of a multi-layered personality. It's a fascinating documentary about a fascinating individual that personally documented most every moment of her life since 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s movie releases include Red One, The World According to Allee Willis, All We Imagine as Light, and Hot Frosty. Weighing in are Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture; and William Bibbiani, film critic for the Wrap and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by two women from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis; director Alexis Spraic and Executive Producer Prudence Fenton who was also Allee's life partner. Allee Willis, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2019, is primarily known as a a songwriter (Earth Wind & Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," the Friends theme song, The Color Purple musical) but she was also an accomplished visual artist, collector of kitsch, wild party thrower and internet entrepreneur. Alexis talks about what drew her to Allee as a film subject, sorting through Allee's six storage units of material and how she's tried to incorporate Allee's motto 'If you have a weakness, turn it into a hook" into her own life. Prudence talks about the exhausting prep that went into Allee's legendary house parties, the hurt caused by Allee's father not allowing Allee to be herself and that time a few years ago when the Rembrandts reached out to ask Allee for a share of the "Friends" theme song royalties...years after the show had left the air. Other topics include: Allee's wide array of friends, Allee's foray's into performing, the scandalously low number of female producers in the music business, how Allee dealt with disappointment and the moments in the filmmaking process where they really felt like Allee was guiding them.

Today my guest is Alexis Spraic, director of the fantastic documentary - The World According to Allee Willis. I can't recommend this film enough. Allee was an actual songwriting genius writing songs for Earth Wind and Fire "September" and Boogie Wonderland, Cyndi Lauper, Pointer Sisters "Neutron Dance" and even the theme song from the hit T.V. show Friends. Her track record is unbelievably Grammy Awards, Tony Awards she did it all. See this film this week in the theater. My Tour Dates https://www.deandelray.com/tourdates  My Patreon for all your bonus episodes https://www.deandelray.com/patreon    Thank you so much for the support over the last 13 years. DDR    

In episode 77, Theresa and Kathryn sit down with Grammy Music Educator of the Year, Stephen Cox, as he dives into his unique approach to music education and his latest venture with the Willis Wonderland Foundation. Stephen shares insights from his 14-year teaching career in Texas, where he developed a progressive, student-centered approach to band programs, prioritizing student autonomy, joy, and intrinsic motivation. He also reflects on his journey toward empowering students to lead and make decisions, which transformed his music programs and resulted in both personal and collective growth for his students. Now, as part of the Willis Wonderland Foundation, Stephen is developing free songwriting resources to further his mission of making music education more accessible and engaging. The foundation, established to honor the legacy of renowned songwriter Allee Willis, provides teachers with tools to inspire students through songwriting and creative expression. Tune in to hear Stephen's inspiring thoughts on how progressive music education and creative freedom can transform not only classrooms but the lives of young musicians. Connect with Stephen and learn more about his work: Website: https://stephentcox.com/ The Willis Wonderland Foundation: https://williswonderland.org/ Learn more about Pass the Baton Pass the Baton website:⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.passthebatonbook.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the Coffee Club: https://buymeacoffee.com/passthebaton/membership Support Pass the Baton: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/passthebaton Amplify student voice with Exit Tickets for Self Reflection! Get it for free now: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/f8l7g9

Narada Michael Walden Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Wow! I've seen hundreds of photos, loads of videos - I've never seen Narada Michael Walden in an orange bowler. When was the last time I wore orange? InSync! From the first moment to the last, what a glorious, grateful, exuberant lovefest. Narada is as passionate, fun, inviting, and accessible as his music. We talked about his first paper drumkit at 5, how he watched, listened, and learned from his heroes. How the soul sounds of Detroit shaped him, how it's all soul sounds. From his first band at 11 to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which would change his life in all ways… adding prayer. mediation, service, and Narada to his name, gifted by his guru, Sri Chinmoy, thanks to John McLaughlin, and of course, the music, following in Billy Cobham's big footsteps, touring with Jeff Beck, then recording Wired with him, writing “material” for the album, the full circle back to Beck a decade ago and the story behind their masterpiece version of Little Wing. Ah me! How playing transitioned to producing, inspired by Quincy Jones to service other artists, and the superstar women he championed to great heights - Aretha with their Grammy Song of The Year, Freeway of Love, Whitney with their 6 number one hits including their Grammy Winning Album of the Year, Mariah, with musical knowledge to match her musical chops. We talked our friend, Allee Willis, Keith Moon, Ringo, Jaco, Carlos, Sting, Trudy, Stevie, Marvin, Cissy, his last tour with Journey, and how his devotion to his wife and children brought him home. This very morning Narada was up at 6 readying his kids for school and then driving them there. This interview was held early so that he'd be home when they got home. Quite a man. Respect. For a taste of what Narada himself is up to musically, check out his The More I Love My Life https://bfan.link/the-more-i-love-my-life with Sting, Carlos, and Stevie, I can't stop listening! It seems to so sum up this man of grace. And while you're at it, watch this - and tear yourself away, if you can! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9UQbf_VoQI Perfection! Jeff, Narada, and Rhonda, do Jimi proud. This is a man as comfortable with pop, soul, funk, rock, and blues as he is with fusion. Brilliant with them all. Loving and appreciating them all, and, as his audience, I'll gratefully follow him to any of them. I loved every second in Narada's most excellent company. Grateful girl! Narada Michael Walden Live on Game Changers With Vicki Abelson Wednesday, 9/25/24, 1 pm PT, 4 pm ET Streamed Live on my Facebook Replay here: https://bit.ly/3XYFsfJ

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed Update, The World According to Allee Willis Announcement, Young Sherlock Casting, Star Wars™: Andor Casting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're continuing our celebration of Pride Month by discussing the Frameline Film Festival (the world's oldest and largest LGBTQIA film festival, running June 19th-June 29th) with Executive Director, Allegra Madsen!Allegra is a badass bitch who has been able to marry her love of community building with her love of films as Frameline's newly coined Executive Director. She shares how she ended up in San Francisco, her (sometimes embarrassing) favorite movies growing up, how she was able to create a space for communities that are continually displaced in SF's Bayview district, and why film is a great gateway to other art forms. We then discuss our collective excitement over this year's festival lineup, including an epic (and free!) Juneteenth block party in the Castro District to kickoff the whole event. We'll see you there!Join the fun and get tickets to this year's Frameline Film Festival here!Follow Frameline Film Festival on IGSupport the Show.Thanks for listening and for your support! We couldn't have reached 11 years, recorded 800+ episodes, and won Best of the Bay Best Podcast in 2022 and 2023 without your help! -- Be well, stay safe, Black Lives Matter, AAPI Lives Matter, and abortion is normal. -- Subscribe to our channel on YouTube for behind the scenes footage! Rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts! Visit our website! www.bitchtalkpodcast.com Follow us on Instagram & Facebook Listen every Tuesday at 9 - 10 am on BFF.FM

Welcome to Flashback Fridays! We're bringing back two films that you can see on the big screen at this year's Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco (running June 19-29)! We truly loved both of these documentaries that will introduce you to two amazing women that should already be household names.The World According to Allee Willis shares the story of one of the most successful singer/songwriter/artists of our time, Allee Willis, from her strict upbringing to her creative successes (despite struggling to fit in with sexual and gender norms), and eventually, her path to love. We are joined by director Alexis Spraic, producer Nicholas Coles, and EP/participant Prudence Fenton, who share the finding of hidden gems in Allee's archival footage, if there is potential for this to become a series (yes, please!), and how they are continuing Allee's legacy through the Willis Wonderland Foundation.Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, follows the life of one of music's first Black trans performers, and how she made it to the edge of stardom before disappearing. Directors Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee describe how they thankfully were able to find Jackie before her sudden death, the importance of the timing of the film's release, and telling the story of a trans woman's life that was filled with joy.Purchase tickets to the films here!Listen to Allee Willis' Child Star album hereFollow EP/participant Prudence Fenton on IGFind Jackie Shane's music hereFollow Any Other Way on IGFollow director Michael Mabbott on IGFollow director Lucah Rosenberg-Lee on IGAudio engineering by Jeff Hunt from Storied: San FranciscoSupport the Show.Thanks for listening and for your support! We couldn't have reached 11 years, recorded 800+ episodes, and won Best of the Bay Best Podcast in 2022 and 2023 without your help! -- Be well, stay safe, Black Lives Matter, AAPI Lives Matter, and abortion is normal. -- Subscribe to our channel on YouTube for behind the scenes footage! Rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts! Visit our website! www.bitchtalkpodcast.com Follow us on Instagram & Facebook Listen every Tuesday at 9 - 10 am on BFF.FM

This episode brings you two SXSW Film Festival documentaries that will introduce you to two amazing women that should already be household names.The World According to Allee Willis shares the story of one of the most successful singer/songwriter/artists of our time, Allee Willis, from her strict upbringing to her creative successes (despite struggling to fit in with sexual and gender norms), and eventually, her path to love. We are joined by director Alexis Spraic, producer Nicholas Coles, and EP/participant Prudence Fenton, who share the finding of hidden gems in Allee's archival footage, if there is potential for this to become a series (yes, please!), and how they are continuing Allee's legacy through the Willis Wonderland Foundation.Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, follows the life of one of music's first Black trans performers, and how she made it to the edge of stardom before disappearing. Directors Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee describe how they thankfully were able to find Jackie before her sudden death, the importance of the timing of the film's release, and telling the story of a trans woman's life that was filled with joy.Listen to Allee Willis' Child Star album hereFollow EP/participant Prudence Fenton on IGFind Jackie Shane's music hereFollow Any Other Way on IGFollow director Michael Mabbott on IGFollow director Lucah Rosenberg-Lee on IGSupport the showThanks for listening and for your support! We couldn't have reached 10 years, recorded 700+ episodes, and won Best of the Bay Best Podcast in 2022 and 2023 without your help! -- Be well, stay safe, Black Lives Matter, AAPI Lives Matter, and abortion is normal. -- Subscribe to our channel on YouTube for behind the scenes footage! Rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts! Visit our website! www.bitchtalkpodcast.com Follow us on Instagram & Facebook Listen every Tuesday at 9 - 10 am on BFF.FM

In today's podcast I interview Prudence Fenton, who experienced the unexpected death of her partner on Christmas Eve just prior to the beginning of COVID. Like most people who experience a sudden death, Prudence's loss was a deeply personal, intimate and painful experience. Prudence's loss was also a very public experience because her partner, Allee Willis, was a well known songwriter and artist. Together we explore Prudence's grief experiences, her coping mechanisms and how grief has changed her. We talk about how she felt to have the public grieve her partner, what it was like to create her legacy, and where Prudence is in her life right now, four years later. Key Points: Prudence discusses how she relied on her creativity, taking a grief timeout when necessary, connecting with Allee, and receiving support from friends or trusted members of her team to get her through the difficult times. Prudence describes where she is today with a group of new friends and the ability to experience happiness in her life. As she says, “the new Prudence just moves on”, but she always carries Allee with her. Prudence continues to learn and sees life as a constant form of education. If you are interested in learning more about Prudence and Allee's documentary, The World According to Allee Willis or the foundation Willis Wonderland please join our Facebook group, Talking about the podcast Unteathered with Dr. Levin.

Book Vs. Movie: The Color PurpleThe 1982 novel Vs. the 2023 movie musical"The Color Purple" is a novel by Alice Walker that tells the story of Celie, a young African American girl in the early 20th century. Celie writes letters to God, sharing her struggles with abuse from her father and later from her husband, referred to as "Mr."The novel tackles racism, sexism, and the societal challenges of the time. Characters undergo personal growth, and the story emphasizes empowerment, self-discovery, and breaking free from societal constraints. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award, and Steven Spielberg directed the 1985 film adaptation.It was adapted into a musical with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2005 and has since been staged in various productions worldwide. One notable aspect of "The Color Purple" musical is its powerful and soulful score, incorporating jazz, gospel, and blues elements. Between the original novel and the latest adaptation--which did we prefer?In this ep, the Margos discuss:The life and work of the complicated/controversial Alice Walker.The plot of the story and changes in various adaptationsThe music that was created for the theatre.The cast of the 2023 film includes Fantasia Barrino (Celie,) Taraji P. Henson (Shug Avery,) Danielle Brooks (Sofia,) Colman Domingo (Mister/Albert,) Corey Hawkins (Harpo,) Phylicia Pearl Mpasi (Young Celie,) Ciara (Nettie,) H.E.R. (Squeak,) David Alan Grier (Reverand,) Deon Cole (Alfonso,) Jon Batiste (Grady,) Louis Gossett Jr. (Ol' Mister,) Tamela J. Mann (First Lady,) Aunjaune Ellis-Taylor (Mama,) Elizabeth Marvel (Miss Millie,) Stephen Hill (Buster,) Adetinpo (Mary Ellen,) Tiffany Elle Burgess (Olivia,) Terrence J. Smith (Adam) and Halle Bailey as Nettie.Clips used:“Keep it movin'.”The Color Purple (2023 trailer)“Hell No!”“Family Dinner”Oprah at the 2005 Tony AwardsMusic by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.Book Vs. Movie is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find more podcasts you will love Frolic.Media/podcasts. Join our Patreon page “Book Vs. Movie podcast”You can find us on Facebook at Book Vs. Movie Podcast GroupFollow us on Twitter @bookversusmovieInstagram: Book Versus Movie https://www.instagram.com/bookversusmovie/Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com Margo D. Twitter @BrooklynMargo Margo D's Blog www.brooklynfitchick.com Margo D's Instagram “Brooklyn Fit Chick”Margo D's TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@margodonohuebrooklynfitchick@gmail.comYou can buy your copy of Filmed in Brooklyn here! Margo P. Twitter @ShesNachoMamaMargo P's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shesnachomama/Margo P's Blog https://coloniabook.weebly.com/ Our logo was designed by Madeleine Gainey/Studio 39 MarketingFollow on Instagram @Studio39Marketing & @musicalmadeleine

Book Vs. Movie: The Color PurpleThe 1982 novel Vs. the 2023 movie musical"The Color Purple" is a novel by Alice Walker that tells the story of Celie, a young African American girl in the early 20th century. Celie writes letters to God, sharing her struggles with abuse from her father and later from her husband, referred to as "Mr."The novel tackles racism, sexism, and the societal challenges of the time. Characters undergo personal growth, and the story emphasizes empowerment, self-discovery, and breaking free from societal constraints. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award, and Steven Spielberg directed the 1985 film adaptation.It was adapted into a musical with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2005 and has since been staged in various productions worldwide. One notable aspect of "The Color Purple" musical is its powerful and soulful score, incorporating jazz, gospel, and blues elements. Between the original novel and the latest adaptation--which did we prefer?In this ep, the Margos discuss:The life and work of the complicated/controversial Alice Walker.The plot of the story and changes in various adaptationsThe music that was created for the theatre.The cast of the 2023 film includes Fantasia Barrino (Celie,) Taraji P. Henson (Shug Avery,) Danielle Brooks (Sofia,) Colman Domingo (Mister/Albert,) Corey Hawkins (Harpo,) Phylicia Pearl Mpasi (Young Celie,) Ciara (Nettie,) H.E.R. (Squeak,) David Alan Grier (Reverand,) Deon Cole (Alfonso,) Jon Batiste (Grady,) Louis Gossett Jr. (Ol' Mister,) Tamela J. Mann (First Lady,) Aunjaune Ellis-Taylor (Mama,) Elizabeth Marvel (Miss Millie,) Stephen Hill (Buster,) Adetinpo (Mary Ellen,) Tiffany Elle Burgess (Olivia,) Terrence J. Smith (Adam) and Halle Bailey as Nettie.Clips used:“Keep it movin'.”The Color Purple (2023 trailer)“Hell No!”“Family Dinner”Oprah at the 2005 Tony AwardsMusic by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.Book Vs. Movie is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find more podcasts you will love Frolic.Media/podcasts. Join our Patreon page “Book Vs. Movie podcast”You can find us on Facebook at Book Vs. Movie Podcast GroupFollow us on Twitter @bookversusmovieInstagram: Book Versus Movie https://www.instagram.com/bookversusmovie/Email us at bookversusmoviepodcast@gmail.com Margo D. Twitter @BrooklynMargo Margo D's Blog www.brooklynfitchick.com Margo D's Instagram “Brooklyn Fit Chick”Margo D's TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@margodonohuebrooklynfitchick@gmail.comYou can buy your copy of Filmed in Brooklyn here! Margo P. Twitter @ShesNachoMamaMargo P's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shesnachomama/Margo P's Blog https://coloniabook.weebly.com/ Our logo was designed by Madeleine Gainey/Studio 39 MarketingFollow on Instagram @Studio39Marketing & @musicalmadeleine

In this episode, writer, researcher, and New York City historian Keith Taillon (@KeithYorkCity) discusses Leonard Bernstein's New York City, looking at three of his big musicals: On the Town, Wonderful Town, and West Side Story and the neighborhoods that tell their stories. We also talk about the song "I'm Here" from Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray, and Marsha Norman's 2005 musical The Color Purple. You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you'd like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong, on X/Twitter at @SceneSong, and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald. Music played in this episode: "Opening: New York, New York" from On the Town "Christopher Street" from Wonderful Town "Ohio" from Wonderful Town "Jet Song" from West Side Story "I'm Here" from The Color Purple

To mark the UK release of The Color Purple movie, we're delving into the the new movie musical.Directed by Blitz Bazawule, The Color Purple has screenplay by Marcus Gardley. The cast is led by Fantasia Barrino as Celie, Danielle Brooks as Sofia and Taraji P. Henson as Shug. Alice Walker wrote the original Color Purple novel in 1982, three years later the original film was released and in 2005 the musical adaptation - with a score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray - opened on Broadway. This episode is co-hosted by Emmie from Theatre & Tonic. Emmie started the theatre blog back in 2014 and hasn't looked back, growing Theatre & Tonic to a content filled theatre website with lots of contributors. As well as popping up on various BBC radio stations, Emmie has hosted many episodes of The Stagey Place podcast. Alongside all of that, she is the Editor and Social Media Manager for London Box Office Limited. In this episode, Andrew and Emmie discuss their thoughts about the new Color Purple movie and Emmie reflects on ten years of theatre blogging. The Color Purple is in cinemas now. Check out Theatre & Tonic at www.theatreandtonic.co.uk.Hosted by Andrew Tomlins@AndrewTomlins32  Thanks for listening! Email: andrew@westendframe.co.uk Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.  

The devotion for today, Thursday, January 11, 2024 was written by Dr. Pat Saxon and is narrated by Judithann Anderson.Today's Words of Inspiration come from And I'm thankful for every day that I'm given, Both the easy and hard ones I'm livin'. But most of all, I'm thankful for Lovin' who I really am. I'm beautiful. Yes, I'm beautiful. And I'm here. (Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray) Support the show

Steve Porcaro Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson I loved every second with 3x Grammy Winner, founding member of Toto, Steve Porcaro. A down-to-earth sweetheart of a guy who just happens to be one arm of the iconic legendary musical Porcaro family. These ain't no lip-sinking, TV frontmen, the Porcaros define chops. World-renowned drummer, Joe, who left sticks and skins around, brother Jeff, who picked them up and banged them to new heights, Mike who segued to bass, and Steve who found his passion and his niche with keyboards, programming, and sythns. Separately, and together they made musical history. We talked beginnings influences, The Beatles, Keith Emerson, from playing school proms to clubs with David Paich, Hungate, and Lukather, to Boz Skaggs to Toto, Bobby Kimball, Hold The Line, Rosanna, Arquette, and the song, success fulfilling all childhood dreams and then some. Sessions and side work for all of them, Bette Midler, Chaka, Earth, Wind & Fire, Quincy Jones, which led to Micheal Jackson and Human Nature on Thriller, thrilling! There was James Newton Howard, playing and scoring for film and TV… Justified. Leaving Toto, rejoining Toto with new appreciation. Drugs, alcohol, and loss took their toll, solo work, Someday/Somehow, collaborations, Allee Willis, writing with his daughters, The Covid Kid, doing what he loves, where he loves. A life well being lived and art continuously created. I really really like this man, and his music. Grateful for this opportunity to get to know. Steve Porcaro Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson Wednesday, October 11, 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET Streamed Live on my Facebook Reply here: https://bit.ly/3ZUQBxu

November 16-22, 1985 This week Ken welcomes former NBC Page, game show royalty, and writer of the new memoir "My Peacock Tale", the great Shelley Herman. Ken and Shelley discuss North Hollywood, Allee Willis, growing up in Calabasas, ideal childhoods, The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson's son, going to tapings of The Midnight Special, working at Sears, seeing Elvis in Vegas as a teenager, the unique role NBC Pages played, being mistaken as Erik Estrada's girlfriend, forced police uniform wearing, drunken celebrities, SNL, watching the East Coast feed, Gilda, the NY and LA TV production differences, The Not Ready for Prime Time Players, The Dating Game, chaperones, serial killers, Susan Elliot, stand up comedy, Off the Wall, replacing people in a syndicated package, reunions of shows nobody watched, sketch comedy, Mac and Jamie, voice over, The Colbys, movie stars on TV, meeting Charlton Heston, tall people, NBC tours, Vincent Price, Richard Pryor's variety show, putting attractive people up front, dealing with the sponsors, Ringo Star's ex wife, Saturdays on NBC, Golden Girls, Ed McMahon, 227, the greatest story ever about Jackee' Harry, being on The Love Boat, Dick Ebersol, taking Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca to the Emmys, Sally Rogers, Dick Van Dyke, meeting Hitchcock, Photoplay magazine, owning Shirley Temple's trousers, The Bad Seed, the evolution of women panelists on game shows, the structure of game shows, Dumbo, DUMBO!, Phoebe Cates, one of the top 5 greatest Kevin Kline stories, TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes, Dick Clark's uniform, Eye Witness Video, We Are the World, Moonlighting, Heaven (High from) and Hell (town), Tello's Restaurant, Robert Blake, the mystery of Shadowchasers, Cheers, Regan's speech in the USSR, Made for TV movies, Bridge Across time starring David Hasselhoff and Stepfanie Kramer, taking a writing class from Rod Serling, and the secrets of Supermarket Sweep. 

Get ready for a hilarious and heartwarming celebration as we mark the 200th episode of Screens in Focus! Join us as we dive into one of our all-time favorite TV shows, "Friends," and share in the laughter, endearing characters, and comic genius that has captivated audiences for years. From its iconic catchphrases to its timeless humor, "Friends" continues to delight and entertain even younger audiences today. In this special episode, our amazing friends and guest cohosts join us to discuss unforgettable moments, share their favorite episodes, and provide exciting TV and movie recommendations featuring the talented cast members. It's a joyous gathering of friends, filled with laughter and nostalgia, as we celebrate this incredible milestone together. Tune in and let's revel in the comedy, camaraderie, and memories of "Friends" while uncovering fantastic viewing options that appeal to all generations. In this special episode, we have an incredible lineup of guests joining us to celebrate 200 episodes of Screens in Focus. Here's a quick rundown of our guests and their timestamps: 01:57 - Brooke G. 04:26 - Michelle L. 23:40 - Alex L. 26:33 - Jenn Trepeck from Salad With A Side Of Fries Podcast 35:06 - Debbie Torrey 35:44 - Sam B. 42:13 - Shay Fernandez 43:28 - Judith Weigle from The Amicable Divorce Expert Podcast 55:02 - Grog Hayden 57:52 - Traci DeForge from Produce Your Podcast 1:11:37 - Camille from Produce Your Podcast 1:12:11 - Renee Hansen 1:17:36 - Debbie Angulo 1:19:30 - Courtney Smith Kramer 1:31:55 - Tami B. 1:33:06 - Dave from Squawking Dead 1:37:02 - Punky Bruiseter from Squawking Dead 1:38:30 - Michelle Lilley Join us as we reminisce, share favorite episodes, and offer TV and movie recommendations from the cast of "Friends"! * Correction - I'll Be There For You  song was written by David Crane, Marta Kauffman, Michael Skloff, and Allee Willis  Follow and subscribe to Screens in Focus. Website: https://www.screensinfocus.com/ Email: screensinfocus@gmail.com  Free background music from JewelBeat.com: www.jewelbeat.com        

We're back for another SCRIPT TEASE! This week we break down The Color Purple musical, by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, and Marsha Norman, based on the novel by Alice Walker. We'll talk about our impressions from the Denver Center's production, critical plot points, and the beauty found in these characters. This dialogue features so much thought, heart, and humor (because you know we can't do an episode without that). Every Thespians Dream: a podcast from two lifelong theatre kids talking all things theatre! Join Ty Eatherton and Kiera Sweeney in each episode as they discuss their own theatre fantasies and knowledge! Theme Song, "Thots Thots Thots" by Nick Rogers Cover Art by Madi Spillman

This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon.   This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying.   And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s.       But first, as always, some backstory.   Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research.   Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee.   That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940.   In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man.   In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee.   In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics.   Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men.   And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series.   But movies were a different matter.   The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract  that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company.   Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films.   Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself.   So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming.   Spider-Man.   A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay.   There was just one small problem.   Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character.   Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death.   To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement.   Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man.   Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later.   In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter.   By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies.   And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman.   Who?   Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa.   Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else.   But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits…   Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone.   A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later.   There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s.   But the one that would stick?   Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years?   The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character?   Howard the Duck.   Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero.   Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero.   He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City.    Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly.   The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie.   A PG-rated movie.   Enter George Lucas.   In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism.   Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for.   “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask.   Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck.   Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen.   Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office.   It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character.   For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.   Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene.   To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier.   After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date.   Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time.   As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung.   By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics.    The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m.    The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet.   Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales.   Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott.   Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit.   Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller.   Phew.   If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford,  and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film.   And it sucked.   Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills.   And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres.   In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle.   And a debacle it was.   But just how bad?   So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!”   And it did.   Well, sort of.   When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate.   And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews.   But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film.   Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married.   For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades.   And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky.   Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.   But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If…   There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment.   It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon.   This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying.   And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s.       But first, as always, some backstory.   Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research.   Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee.   That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940.   In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man.   In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee.   In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics.   Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men.   And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series.   But movies were a different matter.   The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract  that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company.   Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films.   Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself.   So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming.   Spider-Man.   A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay.   There was just one small problem.   Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character.   Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death.   To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement.   Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man.   Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later.   In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter.   By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies.   And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman.   Who?   Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa.   Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else.   But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits…   Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone.   A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later.   There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s.   But the one that would stick?   Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years?   The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character?   Howard the Duck.   Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero.   Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero.   He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City.    Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly.   The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie.   A PG-rated movie.   Enter George Lucas.   In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism.   Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for.   “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask.   Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck.   Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen.   Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office.   It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character.   For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.   Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene.   To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier.   After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date.   Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time.   As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung.   By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics.    The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m.    The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet.   Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales.   Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott.   Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit.   Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller.   Phew.   If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford,  and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film.   And it sucked.   Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills.   And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres.   In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle.   And a debacle it was.   But just how bad?   So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!”   And it did.   Well, sort of.   When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate.   And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews.   But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film.   Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married.   For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades.   And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky.   Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.   But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If…   There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment.   It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

Justin is the President and founding partner of Primary Wave Music - the leading independent publisher of iconic and legendary music in the world. The company is home to some of the most iconic songwriters, artists, and record labels across the history of recorded music including Sun Records, Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston, Burt Bacharach, Prince, Olivia Newton-John, Ray Charles, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, War, Robbie Robertson, Count Basie, Sly & The Family Stone, Boston, Alice Cooper, Paul Anka, Boy George and Culture Club, Allee Willis, Leon Russell, Free, Toots & The Maytals, Steve Cropper, Glenn Gould, Air Supply, Holly Knight, Godsmack, Disturbed, Devo, Donny Hathaway, Nicky Chinn, Noel Hogan (Cranberries), Dan Wilson, KT Tunstall, Patrick Leonard, Sturken & Rogers, and many more. The songs represented by Primary Wave include over 700 Top 10 singles, and over 300 #1 hits. Throughout the company's 15-year existence, Primary Wave Music has embraced an entrepreneurial spirit, offering and executing proactive one-of-a-kind ideas, unique services and marketing campaigns for our artists.  Primary Wave has earned a stellar reputation for being forward thinking and re-introducing classic artists and their music into the modern marketplace as well as nurturing young talent to become legends themselves.  This success is based upon our team of seasoned and creative executives collaboratively working together closely with our artists as partners.  As a company, we strive for excellence in the pursuit of iconic artists and catalogs that not only reflect great artistry, but impact and influence culture.Get interviewed on the Matt Brown Show: www.mattbrownshow.com

Le mot anglais ''Happy'' fait très certainement partie de cette poignée de mots que tout le monde comprend même sans être anglophone. D'ailleurs ''Happy'', est entré dans notre langage courant ; happy anniversaire, l'happy hour tant appréciée le vendredi fin de journée, l'happy end de tous bons films américains. Sinon, il y a des expressions typiquement anglaises qui sont vraiment mignonnes aussi ''Happy as a clam'' : heureux comme une palourde, ''Happy as a flea in a doghouse'' : heureux comme une puce dans une niche. Springsteen, malgré une atmosphère mélancolique, le titre " Happy " parle d'être heureux. En 1986, Steve Winwood, que l'on avait découvert dans le Spencer Davis Group, puis au sein de Traffic ou Blind Faith avec Clapton, est au sommet de sa carrière solo avec "Back in the High Life Again". Sorti en 1978, ''September'' d'Earth, wind and fire est le premier titre très happy cosigné avec la compositrice Allee Willis ainsi que pour ''Boogie Wonderland''. En 2018, Richard Ashcroft, ex-leader de The Verve, sort son cinquième album sur lequel on retrouve "Surprised By The Joy". En 1972, les Stones publient "Happy", ne pas tirer la tronche rend déjà plus heureux, titre chanté par Keith Richards. --- Du lundi au vendredi, Fanny Gillard et Laurent Rieppi vous dévoilent l'univers rock, au travers de thèmes comme ceux de l'éducation, des rockers en prison, les objets de la culture rock, les groupes familiaux et leurs déboires, et bien d'autres, chaque matin dans Coffee on the Rocks à 6h30 et rediffusion à 13h30 dans Lunch Around The Clock.

Me'sha Bryan is currently starring as Celie in the UK tour of The Color Purple.Directed by Tinuke Craig, this is a co-production between Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome, first seen in 2019 before being revived digitally in 2021. Based on Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple is adapted for the stage by Marsha Norman, Allee Willis, Brenda Russell and Stephen Bray.Me'sha's theatre credits include: understudy Sarah in Ragtime (Piccadilly Theatre), Vocalist in Been So Long (The Young Vic), Shenzi in The Lion King (UK Tour), Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act (Dublin), Young Girl in Desire Under The Elms (Sheffield Crucible), Washing Machine in Caroline Or Change (Hampstead Theatre / Playhouse Theatre), Amiens in As You Like It (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) and Suzanne/Mimi in Romantics Anonymous (Bristol Old Vic).Me'sha works extensively as a session singer and vocal coach, and has also worked on screen. The Color Purple tours the UK until 5th November. You can see it in Wales, Southampton and Norwich.Hosted by Andrew Tomlins. @AndrewTomlins32  Thanks for listening! Email: andrew@westendframe.co.uk Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.  

Het is september 1978 en de mannen van Earth Wind & Fire zijn wereldberoemd na een reeks grote hits. Ze werken inmiddels aan nieuw materiaal en ze weten het nu nog niet, maar op deze dag werken ze in de studio aan hun allergrootste hit. Een goede groove als basis van het nummer hadden ze al maar tekst nog niet. Bandleider Maurice White  hulp aan Allee Willis, een jonge tekstschrijver, die hij ontmoet heeft via de vriendin van zijn broer, de bassist van de band.Maurice vroeg Allee om eens wat teksten voor hem te schrijven. Spirituele teksten. Hoe het nummer verder werd geproduceerd, en wat nu de betekenis is van die ''21st night of september'' vertelt Jaap in een nieuwe Hitstory: September - Earth Wind & Fire.

This week on The Sound Kitchen you'll hear the answer to the question about the opposition political party that joined Macron's party to pass spending legislation. There's the Bonus Question, the “Listeners Corner” with Michael Fitzpatrick, and “Music from Erwan”. All that, and the new quiz question, too. Just click on the “Audio” arrow above and enjoy!  Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll hear the winner's names announced and the week's quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you've grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week. Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all! Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts! In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts which will leave you hungry for more. There's Paris Perspective, Africa Calling, Spotlight on France, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have an award-winning bilingual series - an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too. As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service.  Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent staff of journalists. You never know what we'll surprise you with! To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website and click on the three horizontal bars on the top right, choose “Listen to RFI / Podcasts”, and you've got ‘em ! You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone. To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show.  Teachers, take note!  I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is english.service@rfi.fr  If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below.  Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St Edward's University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English - that's how I worked on my French, reading books which were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it's a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald's free books, click here. Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in all your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me (thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload! And don't forget, there is a Facebook page just for you, the independent RFI English Clubs. Only members of RFI English Clubs can belong to this group page, so when you apply to join, be sure you include the name of your RFI Club and your membership number. Everyone can look at it, but only members of the group can post on it. If you haven't yet asked to join the group, and you are a member of an independent, officially recognized RFI English club, go to the Facebook link above, and fill out the questionnaire !!!!! (if you do not answer the questions, I click “decline”). There's a Facebook page for members of the general RFI Listeners Club too. Just click on the link and fill out the questionnaire, and you can connect with your fellow Club members around the world. Be sure you include your RFI Listeners Club membership number (most of them begin with an A, followed by a number) in the questionnaire, or I will have to click “Decline”, which I don't like to do! This week's quiz: On 6 August, I asked you a question about an article written by RFI English journalist Michael Fitzpatrick, about Macron's loss of an overall majority in France's National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. This means his party's proposed laws will have a much harder time passing than in his last presidential term when he had the absolute majority. Compromise, coalitions – all that's now necessary, and we've been watching closely how this new political landscape will play out. As Michael wrote in his article “After angry debate, French parliament agrees spending power budget changes”, you'll read exactly how that is going … as Michael put it: “After four days of frequently violent verbal clashes, the French National Assembly on Wednesday morning finally passed the budgetary adjustments needed to finance measures aimed at boosting spending power.” I asked you to send me the answer to this question: How many deputies from the right-leaning French political party “Les Républicans” joined with members from Macron's party “Renaissance” to pass the adjustments to the 2022 budget? The answer is, as Michael wrote: “The presidential faction and its allies profited from the support of the 54 deputies of the Republican right, which is anxious to position itself as a ‘constructive opposition.” In addition to the quiz question, there was the Bonus Question: “When are you at your best?” The winners are: Khondaker Rafiqul Islam, who's the president of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and is also the winner of this week's Bonus Question. The other winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Mogire Machuki from Kissi, Kenya; Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark; Ding Lu from Jiangsu Province in China, and RFI English listener Sultana Begum from Sirajganj, Bangladesh.   Congratulations winners! Here's the music you heard on this week's program: “April in Paris” by Vernon Duke and Yip Harburg, performed by Count Basie and the Mills Brothers; “September” by Al McKay, Maurice White, and Allee Willis, performed by Earth, Wind & Fire; “L'Indifference” by Tony Murena, performed by Murena and the Café Accordion Orchestra; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children's Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Dancing on the Tables” written by Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and performed by the Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Quartet.    Do you have a musical request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr  This week's question ... you have to listen to the show to participate. After you've listened to the show, refer to our article “French director receives two awards for debut film at Venice festival” to help you with the answer. You have until 10 October to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 15 October podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. Send your answers to: english.service@rfi.fr or Susan Owensby RFI – The Sound Kitchen 80, rue Camille Desmoulins 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux France or By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country's international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don't forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here. To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or to form your own official RFI Club, click here.  

Beth Lapides is the creator, host and producer of Un-Cabaret, a live show that has become widely acknowledged as the first alt-comedy show and a critical venue for the Los Angeles "alternative comedy" movement. Un-Cabaret is known for its intimate, conversational style and has been a launching or relaunching pad for some of the most innovative voices in comedy. The Un- stands for un-homophobic, un-xenophobic, un-misogynistic, un-hacky. Un-Cabaret has produced five critically acclaimed CD's including The Un and Only. Spinoff productions from Un-Cabaret have include Say the Word, a story-telling show; The Other Network, a show featuring unaired pilots, and the UnCab Lab, a student workshop. Lapides' podcast Life and Beth is half hour conversations in which guests are asked to talk about the stories that most make them them. Beth's guest have included Lily Taylor, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Cho, Daniel Radcliffe, Ana Gasteyer and others. Her radio show, The Beth Lapides Experience, ran for a year on the short-lived Comedy World Radio. In addition she hosted Radio UnCabaret for the network. Lapides hosted two Un-Cabaret spin off shows, Say The Word and The Other Network Festival of Unaired Pilots. In the former, TV writers read stories of their lives, in which Lapides was also a featured reader. The latter toured nationally and to the Just For Laughs Festival. It featured pilots by Judd Apatow, Bob Odenkirk and others who also told the story of creating the shows and their cancellations. Lapides' inspiration for them was her own failed pilot and the process of seeing her friends hopes swell and be dashed. Lapides hosts an occasional series of conversations for the West Hollywood Lesbian Speaker Series. Her guest have included Stephanie Miller, Allee Willis, Judy Gold, Fortune Feimster and Margaret Cho. Lapides has been a creative force in the solo show arena. She began her career in the downtown NY art scene of the 1980s where she created pieces for The Kitchen, PS 122, Club 57, Danceteria, and others. She received several National Endowment for the Arts grants and toured to theaters, universities and art centers like ICA Boston, ICA London, Oberlin College, University of Iowa, Hallwalls etc. She has continued to create solo work throughout her career and she continues to develop her latest piece "100% Happy 88% of The Time" which has toured to the Improv Lab in LA, 92nd St Y Tribeca and The Triad in NY, Kripalu, The Myrna Loy Center for the Arts, Club Oberon in Boston among others. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/industry-standard-w-barry-katz/support

Beth Lapides is the creator, host and producer of Un-Cabaret, a live show that has become widely acknowledged as the first alt-comedy show and a critical venue for the Los Angeles "alternative comedy" movement. Un-Cabaret is known for its intimate, conversational style and has been a launching or relaunching pad for some of the most innovative voices in comedy. The Un- stands for un-homophobic, un-xenophobic, un-misogynistic, un-hacky. Un-Cabaret has produced five critically acclaimed CD's including The Un and Only. Spinoff productions from Un-Cabaret have include Say the Word, a story-telling show; The Other Network, a show featuring unaired pilots, and the UnCab Lab, a student workshop. Lapides' podcast Life and Beth is half hour conversations in which guests are asked to talk about the stories that most make them them. Beth's guest have included Lily Taylor, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Cho, Daniel Radcliffe, Ana Gasteyer and others. Her radio show, The Beth Lapides Experience, ran for a year on the short-lived Comedy World Radio. In addition she hosted Radio UnCabaret for the network. Lapides hosted two Un-Cabaret spin off shows, Say The Word and The Other Network Festival of Unaired Pilots. In the former, TV writers read stories of their lives, in which Lapides was also a featured reader. The latter toured nationally and to the Just For Laughs Festival. It featured pilots by Judd Apatow, Bob Odenkirk and others who also told the story of creating the shows and their cancellations. Lapides' inspiration for them was her own failed pilot and the process of seeing her friends hopes swell and be dashed. Lapides hosts an occasional series of conversations for the West Hollywood Lesbian Speaker Series. Her guest have included Stephanie Miller, Allee Willis, Judy Gold, Fortune Feimster and Margaret Cho. Lapides has been a creative force in the solo show arena. She began her career in the downtown NY art scene of the 1980s where she created pieces for The Kitchen, PS 122, Club 57, Danceteria, and others. She received several National Endowment for the Arts grants and toured to theaters, universities and art centers like ICA Boston, ICA London, Oberlin College, University of Iowa, Hallwalls etc. She has continued to create solo work throughout her career and she continues to develop her latest piece "100% Happy 88% of The Time" which has toured to the Improv Lab in LA, 92nd St Y Tribeca and The Triad in NY, Kripalu, The Myrna Loy Center for the Arts, Club Oberon in Boston among others. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/industry-standard-w-barry-katz/support

Diane and Sean discuss the movie that taught all of us how to wax cars, paint fences and houses, and sand floors...The Karate Kid. Episode music is, "You're the Best", by Bill Conti and Allee Willis, performed by Joe Esposito from the OST.-  Our theme song is by Brushy One String-  Artwork by Marlaine LePage-  Why Do We Own This DVD?  Merch available at Teepublic-  Follow the show on social media:-  IG: @whydoweownthisdvd-  Twitter: @whydoweownthis1-  Follow Sean's Plants on IG: @lookitmahplantsSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dvdpod)

In this episode, we take a systems look at the music industry and how it sets up artists and composers to be in constant debt through the lack of fair and transparent contracts and the restrictions in regulations and contract terms. We envision a music industry where artists and composers are more informed about their contracts, their rights, and their fans.  Andrae is a Grammy-Nominated musician and professor who moved to Los Angeles in 2009 from Maryland and is a faculty member at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in the Music Industry Department, and is completing a PhD. in Leadership Studies . He is also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy Band of Washington, D.C. He is also an Amazon best-selling author of the book, Build Your Music Career from Scratch, which is in its second edition, and has multiple Billboard #1s. An internationally traveled musician and clinician on the subjects of Music Business, Music for Film and Television, and Music Production, Andrae has been to over 40 countries.  Andrae holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music, a Master of Arts in Music Industry Administration. Andrae is currently a voting member of the Recording Academy, member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a Songwriters of North America board member, a co-founder of the Songrise NFT PlatformAs a musician, composer, and consultant, Andrae has worked on projects such as Empire, Detroit the movie, and The Birth of a Nation soundtrack. Some of the artists he has worked with include NeYo, BlackBear, George Drakoulias, Swae Lee, Mellissa Ethridge, Allee Willis, Meek Mills, Pusha-T, Kanye West, Jesse J., Rodney Jerkins, Lamont Dozier, No I.D. and more. Before teaching at USC, Andrae taught courses on Music Business, Music Production for Media, and Music Composition and Programming at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood.Get in touch with Andrae: Musicindustryencyclopedia.com  instagram.com/andraealexanderhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/iamandraealexander/Songrise.ioResources mentioned on the show: Organizations: Songwriters of North America - https://www.wearesona.com/Articles:Music Publishing in the US $6.4 BillionMajor Label Music Production in the US $9bOnly 2% on Spotify make over 1000 dollars a year, 870 artists make $1m229 streams of Spotify to get $13 major labels. Warner, Sony, Universal - https://www.liveabout.com/top-major-pop-record-labels-3246997Discrimination of Black artists articleOriginally recorded on February 28, 2022. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/posts/35274155)

In all its forms, The Color Purple is a powerful account of generational trauma in the Black community. The novel by Alice Walker was published in 1982 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 before being adapted into a movie by Steven Spielberg starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. In 2005, the musical version opened on Broadway starring LaChanze with a book by Marsha Norman and a score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. Ten years later, the musical came back to Broadway in a 2015 revival and won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.  Actor Isaiah Johnson, who played the role of Mister in the original Broadway cast of the 2015 revival production, opposite Cynthia Erivo, joins us to discuss the musical as we look at the character of Mister and generational trauma. What does it mean to carry the trauma of your ancestors? How does this type of trauma affect people, specifically Black Americans? What tools are there to heal this trauma for those experiencing it? And how can non Black people support Black healing? Experts Curtis Smith, Cymone Fuller, and Dr. Schekeva Hall weigh in, as well. Create the Change Begin or deepen your mindfulness practice (resources from Moment of Mindfulness here) Seek out a therapist with cultural competency training Search Therapy for Black Girls, Psychology Today, Alma, etc. Consider a restorative justice process to heal pain and trauma in lieu of punitive justice For members of the Black community: Build relationships and unify Black people  Check out the youth organization Jack and Jill of America or any of the 10 on this list Discover the Black Feminist Project Tell your truths, your stories, express yourself For members of non-Black communities: LISTEN.  Read Dr. Yael Danieli's book International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma Find more research on generational trauma via the International Center for Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma Read “Breaking the Chains of Generational Trauma” Learn more about generational trauma Explore the work of Dr. Joy DeGruy Referred to in this episode Michaela Angela Davis Clips from the Schomburg Center Color Purple panel “Lynching Memorial” aka The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama What is generational trauma? What is mindfulness? Moment of Mindfulness LLC What is restorative justice? Impact Justice Statistic: Children of Holocaust survivors over-represented 300 percent Generational Trauma in Indigenous communities and its impact Ruthie Fierberg, Host Ruthiefierberg.com  IG: @whywetheater / T: @whywetheater IG: @ruthiefierceberg / T: @RuthiesATrain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kirk takes a look back at the many musical memories of Strong Songs Year Three.Year Three is over, and it's time to revisit the songs analyzed, the questions answered, and the interviewees interviewed. SCHEDULING NOTE: The show will be off for December, and will return for Year Four in January 2022. 2022! Feels weird to type that out.SONGS DISCUSSED:"Space Oddity" by David Bowie from David Bowie, 1969"Starman" by David Bowie from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, 1972"HIde and Seek" by Imogen Heap from Speak For Yourself, 2005"Babylon Sisters" by Steely Dan from Gaucho, 1980"Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush from The Kick Inside, 1978"Cameo Lover" by Kimbra from Vows, 2011"Design (feat. Kimbra)" by Cory Wong from The Striped Album, 2020"Stolen Moments" by Oliver Nelson from The Blues and the Abstract Truth, 1961"New Born" and "Micro Cuts" by Muse from Origin of Symmetry, 2001"Micro Cuts" by Muse from Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX, 2021"You've Got a Friend" by Carole King from Tapestry, 1971, and performed by Donnie Hathaway by Donnie Hathaway Live!, 1972"Respect" by Otis Redding as performed by Redding and Aretha Franklin"Mad World" by Roland Orzabal as performed by Michael Andrews and Gary JulesCurt Smith's quarantine performance of "Mad World""Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel from The Stranger, 1977"Fingertips" by They Might Be Giants from Apollo 18, 1992"Careless Whisper" by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley from Make It Big, 1984"September" by Maurice White, Al McKay, and Allee Willis from The Best of Earth Wind and Fire, Vol. 1, 1978Love Will Never Do (Without You) by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, performed by Janet Jackson on Rhythm Nation 1814, 1989"Slippery People" and "Once In a Lifetime" by Talking Heads from Stop Making Sense, 1984INTERVIEWS: Carmen Staaf, Lindsay Ellis, Imogen Heap, Brian Bender, and Eric VetroOUTRO SOLOISTS: Carlos Eiene, Jeff Bean, and Eric ElligersSTRONG MERCHCheck out the Strong Songs merch store for some cool t-shirts, mugs, totes, and more: store.strongsongspodcast.comJOIN THE STRONG SONGS DISCORDThe Strong Songs Discord server is now open to everyone! Come join the conversation and get (or give) some music recs: https://discord.gg/GCvKqAM8SmKEEP IT SOCIALFollow Strong Songs on Twitter: @StrongSongsAnd find Kirk on Twitter @Kirkhamilton and on Instagram at @Kirk_HamiltonNEWSLETTER/MAILING LISTSign up for Kirk's mailing list to start getting monthly-ish newsletters with music recommendations, links, news, and extra thoughts on new Strong Songs episodes: https://kirkhamilton.substack.com/subscribeSTRONG PLAYLISTSKirk has condensed his Strong Songs picks into a single new list, which you can find on Spotify and Apple Music, and YouTube Music.SUPPORT STRONG SONGS!Thank you so much to all of Strong Songs' year-three Patreon supporters! You made another year of this show possible. For more on how to support Strong Songs going into year four (!!), go here: https://Patreon.com/StrongSongsYou can also make a one-time Paypal donation here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/kirkhamiltonmusicNOVEMBER 2021 WHOLE-NOTE PATRONSElliot RosenAshley HoagMark and MichelleKelsairRob BosworthKyle CookeDonald MackieMelissa OsborneChristopher MillerTim ByrneJamie WhiteChristopher KupskiChristopher McConnellDavid MascettiJoshua JarvisNikoJoe LaskaLaurie AcremanKen HirshJezJenness GardnerSimon CammellGuinevere BoostromNarelle HornNathaniel BauernfeindBill RosingerAnne BrittErinAidan CoughlanJeanneret Manning Family FourDoug PatonRobert PaulViki DunDave SharpeSami SamhuriAccessViolationRyan TorvikMerlin MannGlennJim ChokeyAndre BremerMark SchechterDave FloreyNOVEMBER 2021 HALF-NOTE PATRONSJanice BerryDoreen CarlsonmtwolfDavid McDarbyAbigail DuffieldRaphadavidWendy GilchristLisa TurnerPaul WayperMiles FormanDennis M EdwardsJeffrey FerrisBruno GaetaKenneth Jungbenkurt wendelkenAdam StofskyZak RemerRishi SahayStefan NiebrüggeJason ReitmanKaren LiuGreg BurgessAilie FraserSimon PrietoBreck JonesPaul McGrealKaren ArnoldNATALIE MISTILISJosh SingerPhino DeLeonSchloss Edward J. MDRhyanon MurrayAmy Lynn ThornsenAdam WKelli BrockingtonStephen RawlingsBen MachtaVictoria YuKevin RiversGray DyerBrad ClarkChristopherMichael J. CunninghamKari KirkMark Boggsmino caposselaSteve PaquinMary SchoenmakerSarahDavid JoskeEmma SklarBernard KhooMarcDavid BlackmanRobert HeuerMatthew GoldenBrian MeldrumDavid NoahGeraldine ButlerRichard CambierMadeleine MaderTimothy DoughertyJason PrattStewart OakCaroline MillerAbbie BergSam NortonNicole SchleicherDoug BelewDermot CrowleyAchint SrivastavaRyan RairighMichael BermanBridget LyonsOlivia BishopJohn GisselquistElaine MartinKourothSharon TreeBelinda Mcgrath-steerLiz SegerEoin de BurcaKevin PotterM Shane BordersPete SimmSusan PleinJana JJason GerryNathan GouwensWill Dwyer Alethea LeeLauren ReayEric PrestemonCookies250Damian BradyAngela LivingstoneJeffyThanadrosDavid FriedmanPhillip DaltonSarah SulanDiane HughesKenneth TiongJo SutherlandMichael CasnerMichael YorkBarb CourtneyDerek BenderJen SmallLowell MeyerEtele IllesStephen TsoneffLorenz SchwarzBecca SampleWenJack SjogrenBenedict PenningtonGeoff GoldenRobyn FraserPascal RuegerRandy SouzaJCBrendan JubbClare HolbertonDiane TurnerTom ColemanMark PerryDhu WikMelEric HelmJake RobertsBriony LeoBill FullerJonathan DanielsMichael FlahertyJarrod SchindlerZoe LittleCaro Fieldmichael bochnerDuncanNaomi WatsonDavid CushmanAlexanderChris KGavin DoigSam FennTanner MortonAJ SchusterJennifer BushDavid StroudAmanda FurlottiAndrew BakerJuan Carlos Montemayor ElosuaMatt GaskellJules BaileyEero WahlstedtBill ThorntonBrian AmoebasBrett DouvilleJeffrey OlsonMatt BetzelMuellerNate from KalamazooMelanie StiversRichard TollerAlexander PolsonEarl LozadaJon O'KeefeJustin McElroyArjun SharmaJames JohnsonAndrew LeeKevin MorrellKevin PennyfeatherNicholas SchechterEmily Williams  

"That-one-song" writer, Allee Willis talks shop from her days as a songwriter for Earth, Wind & Fire and The Rembrandts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Get more at podsematary.com! Read our afterthoughts for this episode at https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1417280420861812755 It's Riddick Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey shave their heads and wear welding goggles because Richard B. Riddick is their hero. The Classic Film: Pitch Black (2000) "A commercial transport ship and its crew are marooned on a planet full of bloodthirsty creatures that only come out to feast at night. But then they learn that a month-long eclipse is about to occur” (IMDb.com). Pitch Black tries real hard to balance between horror, sci-fi, and action, but it mostly just succeeds in being badass. The Modern Film: The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) "The wanted criminal Richard Bruno Riddick (Vin Diesel) arrives on a planet called Helion Prime and finds himself up against an invading empire called the Necromongers, an army that plans to convert or kill all humans in the universe” (IMDb.com). The Chronic-WHAT!?-cles of Riddick leaves much of the horror of Pitch Black behind in favor of existential dread, lore-building, and more ego-stroking, but that doesn't mean it isn't totally radical. Audio Sources: "Anya Taylor-Joy/Lil Nas X" (Saturday Night Live S46E20) produced by Broadway Video & SNL Studios "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) produced by Walt Disney Pictures, et al. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, et al. "Blade Runner" produced by The Ladd Company, et al. "The Chronicles of Riddick" produced by Universal Pictures, et al. "Deadpool and Korg React" via Ryan Reynolds @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7q60i_Lh_E "F9: Fast & Furious 9 - Official Returning To Theaters Message (2021) Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez" via IGN @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsePr4w-3og "Fuck the Pain Away" written and performed by Peaches "Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones "Pitch Black" produced by Polygram Filmed Entertainment & Interscope Communications "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II" produced by Stoopid Monkey, et al. "You're the Best" written by Bill Conti (music) & Allee Willis (lyrics) and performed by Joe Esposito "Cell Block Tango" (from "Chicago" [2002]) written by John Kander (music) & Fred Ebb (lyrics) and performed by Catherine Zeta-Jones, et al.

Unmasked! Post-apocalyptic pandemic blues in Eb may have started and ended the show (with Tristan Cappel), but it was joy, joy, joy, with bass boy, Leland Sklar, my first face-to-face guest since a year ago February. What a great segue back to a semblance of normalcy. It felt so right, so dyn-o-mite. Sorry. We jumped into the book, Everybody Loves Me, an idea without a plan a mere 15 months ago, now seen pretty much 'round the world, in spite of the shutdowns. My copy now adorns my coffee table, almost in its entirety. It's a massive collection of Lee's signature, people flipping him off––celebrities, musicians, sports heroes, and regular folk like me. Lee showed and told a passel of fab stories surrounding some of the pics, from The Highwaymen (Willie, Merle - another great story on him, and Kris), to Steven Tyler, Sean Penn, Art Garfunkel, Jay Leno, Allee Willis ❤️, his parents, a nun, three winos, Kevin Bacon, on and on, oh yeah, Stephen Bishop... to one pic which didn't make the cut, but there's another great story there. We talked career... from start to present, from small clubs as a kid to James Taylor, before he was a thing, who coined the name, The Section, of Lee, Kootch, and Kunkel, Carole King, from band keyboardist to superstar, Linda Ronstadt, Phil Collins, Bernie Williams, Lyle Lovette, The Tonight Show more times than he can count, Jim Nabors, Lawrence Welk, Paul Williams, Peter Asher, Leave it to Beaver, The Wrecking Crew, and The immediate Family... how it began, where it is and where it's going. Danny Tenesco's upcoming doc, a new video about to drop, the album in the fall, new music being recorded at Jackson Browne's Studio, tours being planned west and east... and baby steps back to living. This live in the living room was momentous for many reasons, prime among them, eyeball to eyeball, hugs aplenty, Tristan got to jam with the master, I got a special delivery on my book (you can get yours here: LelandSklarsBeard.com), I got to hear live music being played… Live, and, I got to hang with a beloved friend and share it with Samantha and her beau. Still in the afterglow. And, what a show! Leland Sklar Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson, Wed, May 12th, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET Streamed Live on The Facebook Replay link: https://bit.ly/3vX4PNO All BROADcasts, as podcasts, also available on iTunes apple.co/2dj8ld3 Stitcher bit.ly/2h3R1fl tunein bit.ly/2gGeItj Thanks to Rick Rick Smolke of Quik Impressions, the best printers, printing, the best people people-ing. quikimpressions.com Nicole Venables of Ruby Begonia Hair Studio Beauty and Products​, for tresses like the stars she coifs, and regular peoples, like me. I love my hair, and I love Nicole. http://www.rubybegoniahairstudio.com/ Blue Microphones and Kevin Walt

One of my favorite animals on this planet is the pink flamingo. From their fabulous pink color to their simultaneously elegant yet awkward posture, courtesy of their lanky legs and necks, they are like no other creature on Earth, and I find that fascinating. So, naturally, I was thrilled to hear about Spanish filmmaker Javier Polo's new documentary, The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo, which sets out to discover why so many people like myself love pink flamingos: putting plastic versions in their yards, wearing them on their clothing, and just generally embracing them as sociocultural icons. Polo's film is as colorful and quirky as the animals themselves, exploring the oddball appeal of flamingos as well as related topics like kitsch and the color pink. Does it solve the "mystery" of the pink flamingo? Not really. But if you, like me, already love flamingos, you'll find a lot to enjoy in this high-spirited little film. Our guide on this journey into the cult of the pink flamingo is a staid sound engineer from Valencia named Rigo Pex. Pex spends his days recording as many sounds as possible, a nondescript presence wandering the streets clad in all black. Yet wherever he goes, he finds himself haunted by a creature who is the exact opposite of him in every way: the flamboyant pink flamingo. When he visits the beach, he sees swimmers with inflatable flamingo floaties. When he sits in the park, he sees people walking by wearing flamingo-patterned shirts. They are practically omnipresent in Pex's life, so he decides to find out why. These opening scenes, in which Pex is stalked by flamingos in a variety of forms through both his waking life and his dreams, define the tone of the film that is to follow, which is offbeat almost to a fault. Yet that style and approach make sense as Pex learns more and more about the unique appeal of his subject matter and begins to find the pink flamingo's influence having a bearing on his own life. Pex interviews a wide, weird range of subjects, from a Miami-based artist whose free-spirited lifestyle is embodied by the flamingo, to a woman whose extensive collection of flamingo items is so famous that visitors come from far and wide to see it, to Kitten Kay Sera, otherwise known as the Pink Lady of Hollywood, who found Internet fame thanks to saturating her entire life - from her hair to her house to even her dog - in the color pink. He chats with indie-pop band Kero Kero Bonito, who have a song called "Flamingo," renowned songwriter Allee Willis, whose Hollywood home houses the definitive collection of kitsch, and iconic filmmaker John Waters, whose movie Pink Flamingos is a cult classic. In the interest of showing both sides of the issue, Pex even interviews a man who hates flamingos so much that he founded a Facebook group devoted to ranting about how annoying the animals are. As Pex picks the brains of his interviewees, he finds his own mindset changing. He gradually abandons his black wardrobe for colorful prints and infuses his sound recordings with more experimental qualities. Yet these scenes focused on Pex's personal quest to embrace the influence of the flamingo in his own life lack the appeal of his interviews with the established flamingo enthusiasts - a phrase I never thought I'd say but is entirely relevant here. Pex's journey of self-discovery feels stilted and staged, designed to give the film an arc that it doesn't really need. In contrast, Pex's interviews with his subjects feel easygoing and natural even in their eccentricities - in other words, much more like the flamingo itself. The most compelling moments in The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo occur when it looks at the wider appeal of kitsch, of which the pink flamingo, particularly in its plastic lawn-ornament form, is considered a prime example. The film defines kitsch as having "no economic value, but high poetic value," and I truly cannot think of a better way to describe its appeal. Willis describes kitsch as "a vacation in an object," which feels particularly relevant to the appeal of the pink flamingo, who is perpetually associated with sunny days and tropical locales. In our current dark times, when leaving one's house, let alone going on vacation, feels much more dangerous than it's worth, the pink flamingo provides a welcome respite-and the same can be said for Polo's film.

Interviews with: Danny Wilde of The Rembrandts (think

This week Judy is joined by a very special guest- Songwriters Hall Of Fame, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony winner/nominee: ALLEE WILLIS. They discuss discovering your CAREER PURPOSE and hear how Allee went from being on food stamps to winning a Grammy and selling over 60 MILLION records, as well as being inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame… and how she did all of this without being able to notate or read or PLAY music. To learn more about Judy Carter go to: https://judycarter.com/ To learn more about Judy's programs go to: https://themessageofyou.com/ Join us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/761037607301720/

It's hard to know where to start to introduce you to Allee Willis, but odds are you already know and love her work. This Grammy, Emmy, Tony & Webby award winner wrote the hits “September” and “Boogie Wonderland” for Earth Wind and Fire and “I'll Be There for You” theme to Friends, and The Pointer Sisters' “Neutron Dance.” Plus, she co-authored the Tony & Grammy winning Broadway musical “The Color Purple.” Meet this 2018 songwriter hall of fame inductee and get some creative inspiration and amazing advice from this one-woman force of nature. Then, it's singer/songwriter Matt Whipkey. The last time Matt Whipkey stopped by, you heard all about his Pledge Music Campaign for his album Driver, which tells stories about his time spent as an Uber and Lyft driver. The album is done and Matt is back to give you the scoop on the creative process behind the music, and invite you the album showcase Feb 23 & 25 At Reverb Lounge in Omaha - and he also talks his gigs with Dwight Yoakam and America. Drive around a bit with this creative artist!

Legendary songwriter Allee Willis (September, I'll Be There For You, You're The Best) takes a dip in The Koy Pond to talk about the backstories of some of her hit songs. She also shares stories working with Earth Wind and Fire, Patti Labelle, Bonnie Raitt, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So yeah; it's been awhile. Sorry about that. We've been BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!! Since so many of you faithful listeners have been requesting MORE episodes (and getting fewer), we decided to record 2 whole shows worth of material in one go. The first half will comprise this episode and the second will be released in two weeks as EP 41. Fair enough?We have a bunch of cool news and announcements to share as well as lots of of hints and innuendo. Randy finally makes his bid for the "big leagues" with a Sammy Kershaw cut, Steve MAYBE has a TV appearance in the works (non-music related... except perhaps for the theme song)... and OTHER STUFF!Grab your cold beverage of choice and pull up a comfy chair (NO! Not the COMFY CHAIR!!!) and listen in as:Steve talks a bit about MUSIC PUBLISHING; an extremely important and yet very misunderstood parts of a songwriting career in NOTES AND BOLTSRandy's UNDER THE MICROSCOPE segment teaches us a valuable life lesson... DON'T BLINK!We celebrate ALLEE WILLIS DAY in the LEGENDARY SONGWRITER SALUTE. Allee is one of Steve's favorite songwriters, responsible for millions of units sold and probably best known for her EARTH WIND & FIRE smash SEPTEMBER ("Do you remember the twenty-first night of September..."); as well as BOOGIE WONDERLAND (also EWF), NEUTRON DANCE (Pointer Sisters), WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS (Pet Shop Boys) and I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU (The Rembrandts and the theme from FRIENDS) among others. Be looking for a future episode devoted to Allee soon...Randy discusses what must be a truly amazing woman; one who inspired at least two all-time classic rock songs in YOU THINK YOU KNOWWe make a pitch for the TENNESSEE SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL (TENNESSEE SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION); an organization that any songwriter would benefit from membership in. There's no better way to have direct access to Nashville publishers and producers who want to hear YOUR demos. The yearly dues are cheap too!!!We play not one, but TWO LISTENER SUBMISSION songs: PARADISE MOTEL by JAMESTOFFEE CONRAD and BOTTLE OF SUNSHINE by THE WINDOWPANES featuring Superfan PAULIE COCONUTS!!!Then stay tuned as do answer a pile of emails, give a load of "shout outs" and close the show with the song that started it all: "40" by none other than "Nashville" Steve Rempis Allee Willis WebsiteSteve RempisRandy FinchumCSSP TWITTERCSSP FACEBOOKGot a comment, suggestion or want to be a SPONSORED GUEST of the show? CSSP EMAIL :cssongwritingpodcast@gmail.comCSSP "Snailmail" address: 564 CALLIE CT. GALLATIN, TN 37066