Duet of the Day: Cher and The Jackson 5

Jackson 5 Cher

Between February 1975 and January 1976, Cher hosted her own variety show on CBS after her divorce from Sonny Bono had led to the end of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which had run on CBS from 1971 to 1974. Like the preceding show, Cher featured a number of talented guests singing with their host. One such memorable moment occurred on March 16, 1975, when The Jackson 5 appeared on her show.

In this segment, Cher joins The Jackson 5 on such songs as “I Want You Back,” “I’ll Be There,” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.” While nobody can keep up with Michael Jackson’s moves, Cher gives it a good shot. Check it out.

After Cher’s successful solo variety show and Sonny’s 1974 The Sonny Comedy Revue, she re-teamed with her ex-husband for The Sonny & Cher Show, which ran from 1976-1977. The Jacksons appeared on the various incarnations of the Sonny and Cher shows several times, also including September 1972 and March 1974 appearances on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. After the couple split up, the Jacksons did not take sides. In addition to the above appearance on Cher, the group appeared on The Sonny Comedy Review in September 1974.

What do you think of the Cher-Jackson 5 performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Cover of the Day: “Walking in Memphis”

    Lewis, Henry
    Back in 1991, I played my cassette of Marc Cohn’s debut self-titled album until it nearly wore out. I loved the entire album, but like everyone else, I especially was mesmerized by his song “Walking in Memphis.” The song has held up well through the years in both the original and cover versions.

    I still love the version by Marc Cohn, who continues to tour. But I am happy that some other folks have introduced the song to a new generation, as Lonestar did with their 2003 version, which appeared on their album From There to Here: Greatest Hits.

    One of my favorite covers of the song is the one by Cher, who, of course, has the pipes to sing almost anything. Cher originally recorded “Walking in Memphis” not long after Cohn’s version was released, and the song appeared on her 1995 album It’s A Man’s World.

    Cher often played the song in concert, as she does in this video from a 1999 performance, where she follows it with her song “Just Like Jesse James.” Check it out.

    Cher’s performance was filmed at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada and appeared on the DVD Live in Concert.

    Illustration of Memphis by Henry Lewis, public domain. What is your favorite cover of “Walking in Memphis”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Buy from Amazon

    Eddie Valiant Is Off the Case

    who framed roger rabbit bob hoskins There was sad news today that 69-year-old British actor Bob Hoskins announced he is retiring from acting because — like Muhammad Ali and Michael J. Fox — he has Parkinson’s Disease. When I think of Hoskins a number of great roles rush through my mind, including his wonderful performances in Mermaids (1990) with Cher and in Hook (1991) with Dustin Hoffman. Even his smaller roles stood out, such as when he played Spoor in Brazil (1985) and Nikita Khrushchev in Enemy at the Gates (2001). His most recent movie was this year’s Snow White & the Huntsman.

    But for me, the first thing I think about when I think of Hoskins is his wonderful performance as Eddie Valient in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). Although Steven Spielberg’s first choice for the role was Harrison Ford, the movie would not have been as good if it were not for Hoskin’s funny performance as the hard detective with a heart. His performance in that role made us believe a film noir character in a cartoon world. We thank Mr. Hoskins for the joy he gave us and wish him well in in his retirement.

    What is your favorite Bob Hoskins film? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Hudson Brothers?

    Some people noticed that a current episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm contained a reference to filmmaker Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, etc.). And others laughed at the episode’s references to Pinkberry frozen dessert, “chat-n-cuts,” and “pig parking.” But few caught that the Harlin conversation on the show also referenced the 1970s television and music stars, The Hudson Brothers.

    On the episode (“The Vow of Silence“), Tessler (Michael McKean) invited Larry David to stay at Renny Harlin’s apartment in New York, referring to his own involvement in filming “Pandemonium,” based on a “Hudson Brothers movie.” There is no Hudson Brothers movie “Pandemonium,” but McKean’s comment about the “Hudson Brothers” refers to the singing brothers who had their own television show in the 1970s and did a movie named Hysterical. Since I started writing this post, a comment on a another page clarified that “Pandemonium” was a film with Tommy Smothers, so McKean may have accidentally referenced the wrong movie. But who are the Hudson Brothers?

    Hudson Brothers Hysterical

    If you were not around in the 1970s, you may not have heard of the brothers Bill, Mark, and Brett. They started out playing music in the 1960s, had a few minor hits in the early 1970s (“So You Are a Star,” “Lonely School Year,” and “Rendezvous”). But most young Americans at the time knew the group from their two U.S. TV shows. During the summer of 1974, CBS gave a TV variety hour to the Hudsons on Wednesday nights. Variety shows were big back then, with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour ending around that time, and Tony Orlando & Dawn then getting a variety show that year to take over the divorcing couple’s time slot. The Hudson Brothers, however, were only in prime time for the summer. Later that fall, the network moved the brothers to a half-hour show on Saturday mornings. That show, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, ran for a year from September 1974 to August 1975.

    When they were sent to Saturday mornings, the humor understandably became a little more juvenile, as you can see in the opening to the Saturday show, which is available on DVD. I still remember some of the characters from the show who made me laugh, including Chucky Margolis, about a kid who never saw his parents and lived in a basement. And I was not alone in enjoying the show. Their friend John Lennon once referred to them as “The Kings of Saturday morning.”

    Here is one of their songs “So You Are a Star.” Two of the brothers performed the song more recently in 2008. Below is the original version with all three brothers.

    The above song was supposedly written for Goldie Hawn, and many Americans may only connect with the brothers’ name through actress Kate Hudson, who has genes and a last name from one of the brothers. Bill, who was married to Goldie Hawn for awhile, is Kate’s father (although unfortunately father and daughter are estranged). But The Hudson Brothers had more than their fifteen minutes of fame. Behind the scenes, they have done various music and television projects through the years. They seem to be still around and working together. Mark Hudson, who has written a number of songs including Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the Edge,” was recently spotted in Chicago at a Beatlefest. In 2007, Bret explained how the brothers are still close even if they do not see each other all the time. And the brothers have a MySpace page.

    After the two U.S. TV series, the Hudson Brothers had a short-run series called Bonkers in the UK in 1979, and several years later the Hudsons performed in the movie that McKean probably meant to reference on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Despite my fond memories of the television show, I have not seen the  movie Hysterical (1983).

    In 2007, Brett Hudson was diagnosed with Stage Four throat cancer. He has made a serious film about an alternative to the usual American medical system. His website explains how Cher led him to the discovery of a treatment center that Hollywood knows about, but most Americans do not. The movie has a Facebook page. The most recent news I found, which was from 2009, stated the great news that Brett was found to be cancer-free. This clip from Extra tells Brett’s story and his recollection of Farah Fawcett and her struggle with cancer.

    About a year ago the brothers made a video to promote a new television show in Canada called What The?. I cannot find what happened to the show.

    Anyway, it was nice and a funny obscure reference when Michael McKean remembered The Hudson Brothers on Larry David’s show. So it gave Chimesfreedom an opportunity to recall some Hudson Brothers memories and provide a very long explanation for the Curb Your Enthusiasm reference and why I found it funny. . . in case there is anyone in the world besides me who wondered about it. How about a guest appearance of The Hudson Brothers on Curb Your Enthusiasm?

    Do you remember the Hudson Brothers? Leave a comment.

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    Jimmy Soul on Happiness

    On June 25 in 1988, singer Jimmy Soul died of a heart attack at the age of 45. Who was Jimmy Soul, you ask? He had a short career in music, starting off as a gospel singer as a teenager and then had a huge hit with a calypso-sounding song rejected by Gary U.S. Bonds. The song, “If You Wanna Be Happy” went on to become a number one song in 1963. Unfortunately, he never had a hit song again, and he gave up his music career to join the army.

    Jimmy Soul In case the title does not ring any bells for you, the lyrics go:

    If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life,
    Never make a pretty woman your wife;
    So from my personal point of view,
    Get an ugly girl to marry you.

    The hit song was a version of a previously recorded Calypso song, “Ugly Woman.” I doubt the song is politically correct these days. But I’m not sure how anyone can hear it without smiling at least a little and wanting to get up and dance. You can see it here in this final scene from the movie Mermaids (1990), starring Cher, Winona Ryder, and a very young Christina Ricci in her first movie role. So, if you wanna be happy, just put on Soul’s one big hit song.

    Bonus “If You Wanna Be Happy” Information: Although nobody tops Jimmy Soul’s version of the song, actor Robert Mitchum did an interesting take on the song, entitled “From a Logical Point of View.” Yes, I actually own Robert Mitchum’s calypso CD. On several places around the Internet, several people incorrectly list the singer of Jimmy Soul’s version as The Coasters, including on some YouTube clips. Although The Coasters did not record the hit “If You Wanna Be Happy,” they had several other big hits, including “Yakety Yak” and “Charlie Brown.” The lead singer of the Coasters, Carl Gardner, passed away less than two weeks ago on June 13. Rest in peace.

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