Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE (22 December, 1949 – 20 May, 2012) was a British singer and songwriter.
He is best known as a member of the Bee Gees, co-founded with his younger twin brother Maurice and older brother Barry.
He had another younger brother, Andy Gibb, who was also a very popular singer.
Born in the Isle Of Man, the family later moved to Manchester. Gibb began his career as part of the family trio.
In 2004, the Bee Gees received their CBEs from the Prince Of Wales at Buckingham Palace for their "contribution to music".
With record sales estimated in excess of 200 million units, the Bee Gees became one of the most successful pop groups of all time.
Gibb died of cancer on May 20, 2012.
Traditionally, Robin Gibb's role in the Bee Gees was lead singer, for which he vied with Barry during the group's first period of British success in the late 1960s.
In his solo career, Gibb was initially successful with a number 2 UK hit, Saved By The Bell (which sold over one million copies and received a gold disc).
In 1971, the Bee Gees had their first US No. 1 hit How Can You Mend A Broken Heart.
In 1974, the Bee Gees came up with the song Blue-Eyed Soul.
The group now entered the disco-era.
In 1978, Gibb performed on the Sesame Street Fever album for the Sesame Street children's TV programme.
During the 1980s, Gibb released three solo albums (How Old Are You?, Secret Agent and Walls Have Eyes).
On 27 January, 2003, fifteen days after Maurice died of a heart attack, Robin released a new solo album, Magnet.
On 18 May, 2008, Gibb released the song Alan Freeman Days in tribute to the Australian DJ Alan Freeman.
In 2010, Gibb was a guest mentor on the Australian version of The X Factor, alongside Australian TV host Kyle Sandilands, Australian actor/singer Natalie Imbruglia, Irish singer Ronan Keating and Australian singer Guy Sebastian.
In 2005, Robin joined his brother Barry and several other artists under the name One World Project to record a charity single in aid of Asian tsunami relief, titled Grief Never Grows Old.
Other artists who performed on the single included Boy George, Steve Winwood, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Sir Cliff Richard, Bill Wyman, America, Kenny Jones, Chicago, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Russell Watson and Davy Spillane.
Gibb went back to the top of the UK charts in 2009 when he collaborated with singers Ruth Jones, Rob Brydon and Tom Jones on a new version of Islands In The Stream which he wrote with his brothers.
In 1968 Gibb married Molly Hullis, a secretary in Robert Stigwood's organisation.
They had 2 children and divorced in 1980.
He later married author and artist Dwina Murphy and had a son. Wikipedia.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Donna Summer - Eternal Queen Of Disco.
Donna Summer, who died of cancer on May 17, 2012 will always be remembered as an icon of African American music.
Born Donna Gaines on December 31, 1948, the singer and songwriter was known as the Queen Of Disco.
She had a mezzo-soprano vocal range, and was a five-time Grammy Award winner.
Summer was the first artiste to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US Billboard chart, and she also charted four number-one singles in the United States within a 13-month period.
Summer hailed from Boston, Massachusetts.
She was one of seven children raised by devout Christian parents and learnt to sing in church choirs.
She joined the psychedelic rock group The Crow as lead singer during her teens.
In 1968, Summer starred in the Broadway musical Hair.
The musical went to Germany and Summer spent some years in Munich.
She learnt to speak and sing in German there.
Summer sang with the Viennese Folk Opera and German pop group Family Tree in 1973.
In 1972, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer.
They had a daughter, Mimi.
Summer released her first album Lady Of The Night in 1974.
It was produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and contained the hit single Love To Love You Baby.
In 1977, Summer released the album I Remember Yesterday.
This album included her second top 10 single I Feel Love.
In 1978, Summer released her version of the Richard Harris ballad MacArthur Park, which became her first US number one hit.
The song was featured on Summer's album Live And More, which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.
In 1978, Summer acted in the film Thank God It's Friday, playing a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club.
The film met modest success, but a song from the film, titled Last Dance, resulted in Summer winning her first Grammy Award.
Its writer Paul Jabara won an Academy Award for the composition.
Despite her musical success, Summer struggled with anxiety and depression and became dependent on prescription drugs for several years.
In 1979, Summer performed at the world-televised Music For UNICEF Concert, joining contemporaries such as ABBA, Olivia Newton-John, the Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Rod Stewart, John Denver, Earth, Wind And Fire, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson for an hour's TV special that raised funds and awareness for the world's children.
Quincy Jones produced Summer's 1982 album Donna Summer.
It contained the singles Love Is In Control and She Works Hard For The Money.
In 2008, Summer released the album Crayons.
It had the hit singles I'm A Fire, Stamp Your Feet and Fame.
On December 11, 2009, Summer performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, in honor of US President Barack Obama.
She was backed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.
In 2011, Summer recorded Angel with her nephew, hip-hop singer, songwriter and composer Omega Red.
Summer was twice married and had 2 daughters.
She was the first African American to receive an MTV Video Music Awards nomination (Best Female Video and Best Choreography for She Works Hard For The Money).
Her Grammys were for Best R&B Vocal Performance (Female) - Last Dance in 1979, Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female) - Hot Stuff in 1980, Best Inspirational Performance - He's A Rebel in 1984, Best Inspirational Performance - Forgive Me in 1985 and Best Dance Recording - Carry On in 1988. Wikipedia.
Born Donna Gaines on December 31, 1948, the singer and songwriter was known as the Queen Of Disco.
She had a mezzo-soprano vocal range, and was a five-time Grammy Award winner.
Summer was the first artiste to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US Billboard chart, and she also charted four number-one singles in the United States within a 13-month period.
Summer hailed from Boston, Massachusetts.
She was one of seven children raised by devout Christian parents and learnt to sing in church choirs.
She joined the psychedelic rock group The Crow as lead singer during her teens.
In 1968, Summer starred in the Broadway musical Hair.
The musical went to Germany and Summer spent some years in Munich.
She learnt to speak and sing in German there.
Summer sang with the Viennese Folk Opera and German pop group Family Tree in 1973.
In 1972, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer.
They had a daughter, Mimi.
Summer released her first album Lady Of The Night in 1974.
It was produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and contained the hit single Love To Love You Baby.
In 1977, Summer released the album I Remember Yesterday.
This album included her second top 10 single I Feel Love.
In 1978, Summer released her version of the Richard Harris ballad MacArthur Park, which became her first US number one hit.
The song was featured on Summer's album Live And More, which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart.
In 1978, Summer acted in the film Thank God It's Friday, playing a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club.
The film met modest success, but a song from the film, titled Last Dance, resulted in Summer winning her first Grammy Award.
Its writer Paul Jabara won an Academy Award for the composition.
Despite her musical success, Summer struggled with anxiety and depression and became dependent on prescription drugs for several years.
In 1979, Summer performed at the world-televised Music For UNICEF Concert, joining contemporaries such as ABBA, Olivia Newton-John, the Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Rod Stewart, John Denver, Earth, Wind And Fire, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson for an hour's TV special that raised funds and awareness for the world's children.
Quincy Jones produced Summer's 1982 album Donna Summer.
It contained the singles Love Is In Control and She Works Hard For The Money.
In 2008, Summer released the album Crayons.
It had the hit singles I'm A Fire, Stamp Your Feet and Fame.
On December 11, 2009, Summer performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, in honor of US President Barack Obama.
She was backed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.
In 2011, Summer recorded Angel with her nephew, hip-hop singer, songwriter and composer Omega Red.
Summer was twice married and had 2 daughters.
She was the first African American to receive an MTV Video Music Awards nomination (Best Female Video and Best Choreography for She Works Hard For The Money).
Her Grammys were for Best R&B Vocal Performance (Female) - Last Dance in 1979, Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female) - Hot Stuff in 1980, Best Inspirational Performance - He's A Rebel in 1984, Best Inspirational Performance - Forgive Me in 1985 and Best Dance Recording - Carry On in 1988. Wikipedia.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Katharine Hepburn - First Lady Of Hollywood.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress of film, stage and television.
Known for her headstrong independence and spirited personality, Hepburn's career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned more than 60 years.
Her work came in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and she received four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer.
Hepburn's characters were often strong, sophisticated women with a hidden vulnerability.
Raised in Connecticut by wealthy, progressive parents, Hepburn began to act while studying at Bryn Mawr College.
After four years in the theatre, favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood.
Her early years in the film industry were marked with success, including an Academy Award for her third picture, Morning Glory (1933), but this was followed by a series of commercial failures.
Hepburn masterminded her own comeback, buying out her contract with RKO Radio Pictures and acquiring the film rights to The Philadelphia Story, which she sold on the condition that she be the star.
In the 1940s she was contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where her career focused on an alliance with Spencer Tracy.
The screen partnership spanned 25 years, and produced nine movies.
Hepburn challenged herself in the latter half of her life, as she regularly appeared in Shakespeare stage productions and tackled a range of literary roles.
She found a niche playing middle-aged spinsters, such as in The African Queen (1951), a persona the public embraced.
Three more Oscars came for her work in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967), The Lion In Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981).
In the 1970s she began appearing in television movies, which became the focus of her career in later life.
She remained active into old age, making her final screen appearance in 1994 at the age of 87.
After a period of inactivity and ill-health, Hepburn died in 2003 at 96.
Hepburn famously shunned the Hollywood publicity machine, and refused to conform to societal expectations of women.
She was outspoken, assertive, athletic and wore pants before it was fashionable.
She married once, as a young woman, but thereafter lived independently.
A 26-year affair with her co-star Spencer Tracy was hidden from the public.
With her unconventional lifestyle and the independent characters she brought to the screen, Hepburn came to epitomise the "modern woman" in 20th-century America and helped change perceptions of women.
In 1999, she was named by the American Film Institute as the top female Hollywood legend.
Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the second of six children.
Her parents were Thomas Norval Hepburn (1879–1962), a urologist at Hartford Hospital and Katharine Martha Houghton (1878–1951), a feminist author.
Both individuals fought for social change in America: Thomas Hepburn helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association, which educated the public about venereal disease, while Katharine Martha headed the Connecticut Women's Suffrage Association and fought for birth control with Margaret Sanger.
As a child, Hepburn joined her mother on several "Votes For Women" demonstrations.
The Hepburn children were raised to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and debate on any topic they wished.
Her parents were criticised by the community for their progressive views, which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered.
Hepburn said she realised from a young age that she was the product of "two very remarkable parents" and credited her "enormously lucky" upbringing with providing the foundation for her success.
She remained close to her family throughout her life. Wikipedia.
Known for her headstrong independence and spirited personality, Hepburn's career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned more than 60 years.
Her work came in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and she received four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer.
Hepburn's characters were often strong, sophisticated women with a hidden vulnerability.
Raised in Connecticut by wealthy, progressive parents, Hepburn began to act while studying at Bryn Mawr College.
After four years in the theatre, favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood.
Her early years in the film industry were marked with success, including an Academy Award for her third picture, Morning Glory (1933), but this was followed by a series of commercial failures.
Hepburn masterminded her own comeback, buying out her contract with RKO Radio Pictures and acquiring the film rights to The Philadelphia Story, which she sold on the condition that she be the star.
In the 1940s she was contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where her career focused on an alliance with Spencer Tracy.
The screen partnership spanned 25 years, and produced nine movies.
Hepburn challenged herself in the latter half of her life, as she regularly appeared in Shakespeare stage productions and tackled a range of literary roles.
She found a niche playing middle-aged spinsters, such as in The African Queen (1951), a persona the public embraced.
Three more Oscars came for her work in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967), The Lion In Winter (1968) and On Golden Pond (1981).
In the 1970s she began appearing in television movies, which became the focus of her career in later life.
She remained active into old age, making her final screen appearance in 1994 at the age of 87.
After a period of inactivity and ill-health, Hepburn died in 2003 at 96.
Hepburn famously shunned the Hollywood publicity machine, and refused to conform to societal expectations of women.
She was outspoken, assertive, athletic and wore pants before it was fashionable.
She married once, as a young woman, but thereafter lived independently.
A 26-year affair with her co-star Spencer Tracy was hidden from the public.
With her unconventional lifestyle and the independent characters she brought to the screen, Hepburn came to epitomise the "modern woman" in 20th-century America and helped change perceptions of women.
In 1999, she was named by the American Film Institute as the top female Hollywood legend.
Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the second of six children.
Her parents were Thomas Norval Hepburn (1879–1962), a urologist at Hartford Hospital and Katharine Martha Houghton (1878–1951), a feminist author.
Both individuals fought for social change in America: Thomas Hepburn helped establish the New England Social Hygiene Association, which educated the public about venereal disease, while Katharine Martha headed the Connecticut Women's Suffrage Association and fought for birth control with Margaret Sanger.
As a child, Hepburn joined her mother on several "Votes For Women" demonstrations.
The Hepburn children were raised to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and debate on any topic they wished.
Her parents were criticised by the community for their progressive views, which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered.
Hepburn said she realised from a young age that she was the product of "two very remarkable parents" and credited her "enormously lucky" upbringing with providing the foundation for her success.
She remained close to her family throughout her life. Wikipedia.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Vidal Sassoon - Hairstylist Extraordinary
Vidal Sassoon, who died on May 9, 2012 will always be remembered as the man who revolutionised hairstyling.
Born on January 17, 1928 in Hammersmith, London, he is credited with creating the wedge bob hairstyle or Bauhaus hairstyle.
Due to the popularity of his styles, he was described as "a rock star, an artist and a craftsman who 'changed the world with a pair of scissors.'
His "wash and wear" philosophy liberated women from the "tyranny of the salon" and "revolutionised the art of hairstyling".
Sassoon's styles became "emblematic of freedom and good health" and their popularity allowed him to open the first chain of worldwide hair styling salons, complemented by his hair-treatment products.
He is also remembered for his television commercials in the 1980s.
Vidal Sassoon: The Movie, a documentary film about his life, was released in 2010.
Sassoon was of Israeli (paternally and maternally), Ukrainian (maternally) and Greek (paternally) descent.
He had a younger brother, Ivor, who died at the age of 46.
When he was 17, Sassoon joined the 43 Group, an anti-fascist organisation in East London comprising Israelis opposed to European racism in the UK.
He also became a member of Israel's armed forces during the Prime Ministership of David Ben Gurion and helped expel Palestinian Arabs from Palestine.
Sassoon trained under Raymond Bessone in his salon in Mayfair.
He opened his first salon in 1954 in London. Sassoon's works include the geometric perm and the "Nancy Kwan" hairstyles.
They were all modern and low-maintenance.
The hairstyles created by Sassoon relied on dark, straight, and shiny hair cut into geometric yet organic shapes.
In 1963, Sassoon created a short, angular hairstyle cut on a horizontal plane that was the recreation of the classic "bob cut".
His geometric haircuts seemed to be severely cut, but were entirely lacquer-free, relying on the natural shine of the hair for effect.
Sassoon was a key force in the commercial direction of hair styling.
His Vidal Sassoon brand was applied to shampoos and conditioners sold worldwide, with a commercial campaign featuring the iconic slogan "If you don't look good, we don't look good."
Sassoon was appointed Commander Of The British Empire (CBE) in 2009.
Sassoon married his first wife, Elaine Wood, in 1956, but the marriage ended in 1958.
In 1967, Sassoon married his second wife, actress Beverly Adams.
They had four children, the eldest of whom was Catya (1968-2002) who died of a drug overdose.
They divorced in 1980.
His third wife was Jeanette Hartford-Davis, who spent a year with him in 1983.
Sassoon was a lifelong fan of Premier League club Chelsea.
In 1982, Sassoon started the Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of Anti-Semitism. Wikipedia.
Born on January 17, 1928 in Hammersmith, London, he is credited with creating the wedge bob hairstyle or Bauhaus hairstyle.
Due to the popularity of his styles, he was described as "a rock star, an artist and a craftsman who 'changed the world with a pair of scissors.'
His "wash and wear" philosophy liberated women from the "tyranny of the salon" and "revolutionised the art of hairstyling".
Sassoon's styles became "emblematic of freedom and good health" and their popularity allowed him to open the first chain of worldwide hair styling salons, complemented by his hair-treatment products.
He is also remembered for his television commercials in the 1980s.
Vidal Sassoon: The Movie, a documentary film about his life, was released in 2010.
Sassoon was of Israeli (paternally and maternally), Ukrainian (maternally) and Greek (paternally) descent.
He had a younger brother, Ivor, who died at the age of 46.
When he was 17, Sassoon joined the 43 Group, an anti-fascist organisation in East London comprising Israelis opposed to European racism in the UK.
He also became a member of Israel's armed forces during the Prime Ministership of David Ben Gurion and helped expel Palestinian Arabs from Palestine.
Sassoon trained under Raymond Bessone in his salon in Mayfair.
He opened his first salon in 1954 in London. Sassoon's works include the geometric perm and the "Nancy Kwan" hairstyles.
They were all modern and low-maintenance.
The hairstyles created by Sassoon relied on dark, straight, and shiny hair cut into geometric yet organic shapes.
In 1963, Sassoon created a short, angular hairstyle cut on a horizontal plane that was the recreation of the classic "bob cut".
His geometric haircuts seemed to be severely cut, but were entirely lacquer-free, relying on the natural shine of the hair for effect.
Sassoon was a key force in the commercial direction of hair styling.
His Vidal Sassoon brand was applied to shampoos and conditioners sold worldwide, with a commercial campaign featuring the iconic slogan "If you don't look good, we don't look good."
Sassoon was appointed Commander Of The British Empire (CBE) in 2009.
Sassoon married his first wife, Elaine Wood, in 1956, but the marriage ended in 1958.
In 1967, Sassoon married his second wife, actress Beverly Adams.
They had four children, the eldest of whom was Catya (1968-2002) who died of a drug overdose.
They divorced in 1980.
His third wife was Jeanette Hartford-Davis, who spent a year with him in 1983.
Sassoon was a lifelong fan of Premier League club Chelsea.
In 1982, Sassoon started the Vidal Sassoon International Centre for the Study of Anti-Semitism. Wikipedia.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Dick Clark - American TV Host Extraordinary
Richard Wagstaff (Dick) Clark (November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012) was an American game-show host, radio and television personality and businessman. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, which he sold part of late in his life. Clark was best known for hosting long-running television shows such as American Bandstand, game show Pyramid and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
Clark was long known for his departing catchphrase, "For now, Dick Clark, so long" delivered with a military salute and for his youthful appearance, earning the moniker "America's Oldest Teenager."
Clark suffered a significant stroke in late 2004. With speech ability still impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show on December 31, 2005.
Subsequently, he appeared on the Emmy Awards 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show until 2012.
Clark died at the age of 83 after suffering a heart attack.
Clark was born in Bronxville, New York and was raised in nearby Mount Vernon.
His career in show business began in 1945 when he started working in the mailroom of WRUN, a radio station owned by his uncle and managed by his father in Utica, New York. Clark was soon promoted to weatherman and news announcer.
He graduated with a degree in business from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York in 1951.
Clark began his television career at station WKTV in Utica, and was also subsequently a disc jockey on radio station WOLF in Syracuse. His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick And The Santa Fe Riders, a country music programme.
In 1972, Clark produced and hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, the first of an ongoing series of specials still broadcast on New Year's Eve.
On March 25, 1972, Clark hosted American Top 40, filling in for Casey Kasem.
Dick Clark's longest running radio show began on February 14, 1982. Rock, Roll & Remember was a four hour oldies show named after Clark's 1976 autobiography.
The show ended production when Clark suffered his 2004 stroke.
In July 1985, he hosted the ABC prime time portion of the historic Live Aid concert, an all star concert designed by Sir Bob Geldof to end world hunger.
Clark had a stake in a chain of music-themed restaurants licensed under the names Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill, Dick Clark's AB Grill, Dick Clark's Bandstand — Food, Spirits & Fun and Dick Clark's AB Diner.
Clark was married three times, to Barbara Mallery in 1952, Loretta Martin in 1962 and Kari Wigton in 1977. He has a son from Mallery, and a son and daughter from Martin. Wikipedia.
Clark was long known for his departing catchphrase, "For now, Dick Clark, so long" delivered with a military salute and for his youthful appearance, earning the moniker "America's Oldest Teenager."
Clark suffered a significant stroke in late 2004. With speech ability still impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show on December 31, 2005.
Subsequently, he appeared on the Emmy Awards 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show until 2012.
Clark died at the age of 83 after suffering a heart attack.
Clark was born in Bronxville, New York and was raised in nearby Mount Vernon.
His career in show business began in 1945 when he started working in the mailroom of WRUN, a radio station owned by his uncle and managed by his father in Utica, New York. Clark was soon promoted to weatherman and news announcer.
He graduated with a degree in business from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York in 1951.
Clark began his television career at station WKTV in Utica, and was also subsequently a disc jockey on radio station WOLF in Syracuse. His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick And The Santa Fe Riders, a country music programme.
In 1972, Clark produced and hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, the first of an ongoing series of specials still broadcast on New Year's Eve.
On March 25, 1972, Clark hosted American Top 40, filling in for Casey Kasem.
Dick Clark's longest running radio show began on February 14, 1982. Rock, Roll & Remember was a four hour oldies show named after Clark's 1976 autobiography.
The show ended production when Clark suffered his 2004 stroke.
In July 1985, he hosted the ABC prime time portion of the historic Live Aid concert, an all star concert designed by Sir Bob Geldof to end world hunger.
Clark had a stake in a chain of music-themed restaurants licensed under the names Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill, Dick Clark's AB Grill, Dick Clark's Bandstand — Food, Spirits & Fun and Dick Clark's AB Diner.
Clark was married three times, to Barbara Mallery in 1952, Loretta Martin in 1962 and Kari Wigton in 1977. He has a son from Mallery, and a son and daughter from Martin. Wikipedia.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Forrest Gump Is Not Conservative But Liberal And Progressive
From www.colorfulrevolution.com
By Joel Meyerson
The sprit of the 1960s and 1970s, that which reshaped our nation, redefined a people, and changed America on a fundamental level, can be summarised in three words: “Run Forrest, run!”
Robert Zemeckis’s 1994 classic Forrest Gump is a film about a country in transition.
Its title character embodies that country and represents its journey through history, running the whole way.
Forrest Gump represents change and a challenge to the established status quo, yet he is a character that has been adopted by right-wing politicians as a shining example of why we should look to our past to recover our lost virtues.
Conservatives latched on to the film’s less-than-favourable depiction of radical Liberalism.
But their analysis overlooked the fact that this film does not advocate for a return to past values and instead recommends a rationed approach to progress.
As a character born from deep within American history, Gump breaks the oppression of earlier generations, navigates the tumult of cultural flux and leads the nation from past to present — not the other way around.
A feather falls from the sky, blowing one way, then the other. Up, down, left, right — it glides through the small-town streets and lands at the feet of Forrest Gump.
We are first introduced to Forrest through a close-up on his shoes, ragged and covered in mud.
“You can tell a lot about a person from their shoes,” he would later recite.
The camera tracks out to a longer shot of his body as he sits at a bus stop.
As he picks up the feather, the camera pans to his suitcase, filled with keepsakes from the last two decades.
He pulls out his favourite book, Curious George and places the feather inside.
This is a man on the move.
This is a man who carries with him the lessons of his past but is not afraid to progress onwards to forge a new path.
Named after the Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest, Gump carries in his very name the memory of a failed past, to remind him, his momma Elizabeth Gump said “that sometimes we all do things that, well, just don’t make no sense.”
He was raised in a house that had been in his family for generations, since they came across the ocean “a thousand years ago or something like that.”
This house in the rural south, rented out to travelers passing through represents Old America and a history of all the people that have composed it.
Although his momma nurtures him, Forrest is a victim of this era.
He is classified as “stupid,” “different” and literally shackled in his leg braces.
Jenny Curran is his childhood friend, neighbour, schoolmate and one true love.
Also a victim of her past, she came from a broken home with an abusive father and wanted nothing more than to turn into a bird and “fly far, far away.”
Jenny would come to directly represent the era’s yearning for change and the radical youth of America trying, by whatever means possible, to escape their history. Both characters are held in bondage by their inherited troubled pasts.
In an early pivotal scene, Forrest is chased down by his bike-riding classmates (in a later, near-identical scene, they ride in a car with Confederate Flag plates). Jenny’s famous calls to “Run!” empower Forrest to finally break from his leg braces, physically and symbolically freeing him from the constraints imposed upon him. As the braces fell from his legs, clattering as they tumbled to the ground, the new, vibrant spirit of a nation was born, heading full speed away from what it once was. “From that day on,” Forrest says, “if I was going somewhere, I was running.”
And everywhere Forrest ran, change came with him.
He showed Elvis how to dance.
He helped integrate the University of Alabama.
He was a Vietnam War hero, then unwittingly led an anti-war rally and inspired the lyrics of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
He met Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, then (without trying to) got Nixon kicked out of office.
Many of these sequences featured classic televised images with Forrest edited in, establishing him as an integral part of American history and the images that define it.
Jenny becomes an agent of change as well, but chooses a different path.
She gets swept up in every counter-culture movement that comes along and at every step her ideals are exploited.
She wanted to become a folk singer like Joan Baez, but the only gig she can get is in a strip club, playing her guitar naked under the name “Bobbi Dylan.”
When she becomes involved in the anti-war movement, she gets beat by her activist boyfriend from Berkeley.
Her unrelenting desire to fly away put her on the wrong side of change.
In the seventies she gets caught up in partying and drugs, eventually culminating in a scene in which she stands out on a balcony considering suicide.
As Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” blares in the background, Jenny contemplates “flying away” from her troubles for good and ending her life.
Jenny’s character is typically where conservatives latch on in an attempt to brand the film as promoting their ideals.
In 1994, Newt Gingrich argued that this film is a “reaffirmation that the counterculture destroys human beings and basic values” and used Forrest Gump as fuel for his campaign to “reverse the moral decline” he believed began in the 1960s.
While the film does warn against radical and uncontrolled liberalism, it is equally critical of staunch conservatism and stresses the necessity to progress.
After all, Forrest didn’t break free until Jenny told him to do so, imparting some aspect of her escapism on him.
“Death is just a part of life,” Elizabeth told him before she passed, “Something we’re all destined to do. I didn’t know it, but I was destined to be your momma.”
As the matriarch of the Gump house, she represented the America that cared for, nurtured and raised Forrest. The time before the 1960s.
When Forrest’s mother died, so too did an era and an ideology.
He went back to live in the old house, but it felt empty.
We see Forrest all alone in the massive house of the mythic Old America, cutting the grass of its sprawling empty lawn.
Somehow, returning to the past didn’t seem right. That time was done.
When Jenny returned briefly to the Gump estate, the two were happy again.
They conceived a child, laying the seeds for a new American chapter, but Jenny ran off yet again the next day.
In a beautiful series of shots, Forrest wakes to find Jenny gone, looks at his medals from the war, looks at Jenny’s empty bed, sits all alone in the painfully empty house and then steps onto the porch.
The camera zooms in on his brand new pair of running shoes, then up to his face.
Then, he puts on his hat and jogs off.
He runs across America, time and time again and with massive media coverage and public attention he symbolically brings the entire nation with him.
He spends most of his running time thinking about Jenny, the Vietnam War and everything he’s done for the past two decades.
“Momma always said you got to put the past behind you before you can move on,” Forrest explains.
“And I think that’s what my running was all about.”
This segment represents America’s search for something new.
It does anything but demonstrate a reliance on traditional values or long-forgotten ideals.
The final chapter of this film shows Forrest and Jenny finally rejoining and raising their son.
When Gump returns from his run, he visits Jenny to find that he is the father of her child, who she named Forrest.
His son is incredibly intelligent and “the most beautiful thing [Forrest Sr] has ever seen.”
Jenny and Forrest Sr get married and raise their son in the old Gump house, bringing new life to the estate and beginning a new chapter for America.
Like his father before him, Forrest Jr was named after his ancestors.
He is a product of his history but represents a new life and a new future separate from anything before him.
But this new, glorious child, would not be possible without both the rationed progress of Forrest Sr and the tumultuous journey of Jenny.
It is the combination of the two, the lessons learned and the progress made by both, that made way for this new creation.
Conservatives claim that this film reinforces their ideological platform, returning to “traditional” American values, because it condemns the counter-culture of the sixties and seventies.
While it may take a stance against radicalism, showing that rejecting all tenants of society and trying to “fly away” can be suicidal (both literally and figuratively), the film never hints that looking backwards is the answer.
When we’re lost, the film proposes, we need to find our own way, one that incorporates all that we’ve learned from our triumphs and mistakes and move forward from there.
Forrest’s example shows that we need to find a way to progress without becoming radical or regressive.
We shouldn’t move too recklessly, but we shouldn’t stand still — we should run.
By Joel Meyerson
The sprit of the 1960s and 1970s, that which reshaped our nation, redefined a people, and changed America on a fundamental level, can be summarised in three words: “Run Forrest, run!”
Robert Zemeckis’s 1994 classic Forrest Gump is a film about a country in transition.
Its title character embodies that country and represents its journey through history, running the whole way.
Forrest Gump represents change and a challenge to the established status quo, yet he is a character that has been adopted by right-wing politicians as a shining example of why we should look to our past to recover our lost virtues.
Conservatives latched on to the film’s less-than-favourable depiction of radical Liberalism.
But their analysis overlooked the fact that this film does not advocate for a return to past values and instead recommends a rationed approach to progress.
As a character born from deep within American history, Gump breaks the oppression of earlier generations, navigates the tumult of cultural flux and leads the nation from past to present — not the other way around.
A feather falls from the sky, blowing one way, then the other. Up, down, left, right — it glides through the small-town streets and lands at the feet of Forrest Gump.
We are first introduced to Forrest through a close-up on his shoes, ragged and covered in mud.
“You can tell a lot about a person from their shoes,” he would later recite.
The camera tracks out to a longer shot of his body as he sits at a bus stop.
As he picks up the feather, the camera pans to his suitcase, filled with keepsakes from the last two decades.
He pulls out his favourite book, Curious George and places the feather inside.
This is a man on the move.
This is a man who carries with him the lessons of his past but is not afraid to progress onwards to forge a new path.
Named after the Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest, Gump carries in his very name the memory of a failed past, to remind him, his momma Elizabeth Gump said “that sometimes we all do things that, well, just don’t make no sense.”
He was raised in a house that had been in his family for generations, since they came across the ocean “a thousand years ago or something like that.”
This house in the rural south, rented out to travelers passing through represents Old America and a history of all the people that have composed it.
Although his momma nurtures him, Forrest is a victim of this era.
He is classified as “stupid,” “different” and literally shackled in his leg braces.
Jenny Curran is his childhood friend, neighbour, schoolmate and one true love.
Also a victim of her past, she came from a broken home with an abusive father and wanted nothing more than to turn into a bird and “fly far, far away.”
Jenny would come to directly represent the era’s yearning for change and the radical youth of America trying, by whatever means possible, to escape their history. Both characters are held in bondage by their inherited troubled pasts.
In an early pivotal scene, Forrest is chased down by his bike-riding classmates (in a later, near-identical scene, they ride in a car with Confederate Flag plates). Jenny’s famous calls to “Run!” empower Forrest to finally break from his leg braces, physically and symbolically freeing him from the constraints imposed upon him. As the braces fell from his legs, clattering as they tumbled to the ground, the new, vibrant spirit of a nation was born, heading full speed away from what it once was. “From that day on,” Forrest says, “if I was going somewhere, I was running.”
And everywhere Forrest ran, change came with him.
He showed Elvis how to dance.
He helped integrate the University of Alabama.
He was a Vietnam War hero, then unwittingly led an anti-war rally and inspired the lyrics of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
He met Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, then (without trying to) got Nixon kicked out of office.
Many of these sequences featured classic televised images with Forrest edited in, establishing him as an integral part of American history and the images that define it.
Jenny becomes an agent of change as well, but chooses a different path.
She gets swept up in every counter-culture movement that comes along and at every step her ideals are exploited.
She wanted to become a folk singer like Joan Baez, but the only gig she can get is in a strip club, playing her guitar naked under the name “Bobbi Dylan.”
When she becomes involved in the anti-war movement, she gets beat by her activist boyfriend from Berkeley.
Her unrelenting desire to fly away put her on the wrong side of change.
In the seventies she gets caught up in partying and drugs, eventually culminating in a scene in which she stands out on a balcony considering suicide.
As Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” blares in the background, Jenny contemplates “flying away” from her troubles for good and ending her life.
Jenny’s character is typically where conservatives latch on in an attempt to brand the film as promoting their ideals.
In 1994, Newt Gingrich argued that this film is a “reaffirmation that the counterculture destroys human beings and basic values” and used Forrest Gump as fuel for his campaign to “reverse the moral decline” he believed began in the 1960s.
While the film does warn against radical and uncontrolled liberalism, it is equally critical of staunch conservatism and stresses the necessity to progress.
After all, Forrest didn’t break free until Jenny told him to do so, imparting some aspect of her escapism on him.
“Death is just a part of life,” Elizabeth told him before she passed, “Something we’re all destined to do. I didn’t know it, but I was destined to be your momma.”
As the matriarch of the Gump house, she represented the America that cared for, nurtured and raised Forrest. The time before the 1960s.
When Forrest’s mother died, so too did an era and an ideology.
He went back to live in the old house, but it felt empty.
We see Forrest all alone in the massive house of the mythic Old America, cutting the grass of its sprawling empty lawn.
Somehow, returning to the past didn’t seem right. That time was done.
When Jenny returned briefly to the Gump estate, the two were happy again.
They conceived a child, laying the seeds for a new American chapter, but Jenny ran off yet again the next day.
In a beautiful series of shots, Forrest wakes to find Jenny gone, looks at his medals from the war, looks at Jenny’s empty bed, sits all alone in the painfully empty house and then steps onto the porch.
The camera zooms in on his brand new pair of running shoes, then up to his face.
Then, he puts on his hat and jogs off.
He runs across America, time and time again and with massive media coverage and public attention he symbolically brings the entire nation with him.
He spends most of his running time thinking about Jenny, the Vietnam War and everything he’s done for the past two decades.
“Momma always said you got to put the past behind you before you can move on,” Forrest explains.
“And I think that’s what my running was all about.”
This segment represents America’s search for something new.
It does anything but demonstrate a reliance on traditional values or long-forgotten ideals.
The final chapter of this film shows Forrest and Jenny finally rejoining and raising their son.
When Gump returns from his run, he visits Jenny to find that he is the father of her child, who she named Forrest.
His son is incredibly intelligent and “the most beautiful thing [Forrest Sr] has ever seen.”
Jenny and Forrest Sr get married and raise their son in the old Gump house, bringing new life to the estate and beginning a new chapter for America.
Like his father before him, Forrest Jr was named after his ancestors.
He is a product of his history but represents a new life and a new future separate from anything before him.
But this new, glorious child, would not be possible without both the rationed progress of Forrest Sr and the tumultuous journey of Jenny.
It is the combination of the two, the lessons learned and the progress made by both, that made way for this new creation.
Conservatives claim that this film reinforces their ideological platform, returning to “traditional” American values, because it condemns the counter-culture of the sixties and seventies.
While it may take a stance against radicalism, showing that rejecting all tenants of society and trying to “fly away” can be suicidal (both literally and figuratively), the film never hints that looking backwards is the answer.
When we’re lost, the film proposes, we need to find our own way, one that incorporates all that we’ve learned from our triumphs and mistakes and move forward from there.
Forrest’s example shows that we need to find a way to progress without becoming radical or regressive.
We shouldn’t move too recklessly, but we shouldn’t stand still — we should run.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Davy Jones - 1960s Pop Icon
DAVID Thomas Jones, better known as Davy Jones, passed away of a heart ailment on February 29, 2012. The British singer and actor will always be remembered as a pop icon of the 1960s, one fourth of teen pop sensation The Monkees, together with Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork. Born on December 30, 1945 in Manchester, he first found fame acting in British soap opera Coronation Street when he was 11. He also appeared in the BBC police series Z-Cars. Jones then became active in West End and Broadway, most notably in the musical Oliver! From 1965-1971, he was a member of US pop quartet The Monkees. Jones sang lead vocals on many of the Monkees' recordings, including I Wanna Be Free and Daydream Believer. After the band disbanded, Jones reunited with Dolenz as well as Monkees songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart in 1974 as short-lived group Dolenz, Jones, Boyce And Hart. He also set up a street market in New York City called The Street. Jones made a cameo appearance as himself in SpongeBob SquarePants. Other appearances included The Brady Bunch Movie, Sledgehammer, Boy Meets World , Hey Arnold!, The Single Guy and Sabrina The Teenage Witch. In 2006, he recorded the single Your Personal Penguin. Yahoo Music named him The Number One Teen Idol Of All Time in 2008. Jones was also a horse racer. He is survived by his third wife, Mexican TV personality Jessica Pacheco and four daughters (two from his first wife Linda Haines and two from his second wife Anita Pollinger). Wikipedia.
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