Kursed by Kardashian; Garry Marshall turned 80

Garry Marshall is probably best know for being the creative force behind such TV shows as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork and Mindy, and The Odd Couple.

kim-kardashian1There is infotainment in popular culture that I chose not to know, such as just about anything about the Kardashians. I can’t help but know there’s a bunch of sisters, some the daughters of the late OJ Simpson murder trial attorney Robert Kardashian. All their names begin with the letter K. They have (had?) a reality show that must be popular. Kim has a child named North West.

There becomes a time, though, when “everyone’s talking about it.” I was watching this ad for a new game show called Celebrity Name Game, hosted by soon-to-be-former late-night talk show ringmaster Craig Ferguson. Courtney Cox is giving a clue, “She’s on TV and she’s got a big butt,” and the contestant immediately responds, “Kim Kardashian.”

I would have had no idea. Seriously.

Shortly thereafter, I become inundated with KK news. She’s on an ad for the show Two Broke Girls, playing herself. Kim sues an actress for copying her poses and having a large butt; apparently, she’s very litigious.

Then, there are the recent magazine shots, which Mark Evanier helpfully described as having “her bare butt glistening with oil and, it would seem, her waistline photoshopped down to make it thinner, therefore making her butt seem bigger.” And then she showed even more.

Fortunately, KK’s bottom did not get as much social media response as the recent comet landing, so she failed to “break the Internet,” whatever that means.

Not knowing about Kim Kardashian was really nice. And now I can’t unknow it.

Garry-MarshallIn general, I’m just not that social media aware. Of the 50 items listed in The Best Memes of the Last 15 Years, I had not heard of 2/3s of them. I’m perfectly fine with that.

Oh, I do need another topic here.

I managed to miss the fact that Garry Marshall turned 80 on November 13. In case you don’t know him, he’s an actor. He was a writer for the Dick Van Dyke Show in its later years. He directed several movies such as The Princess Diaries, Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman, Beaches, and The Flamingo Kid. He’s probably best known for being the creative force behind such TV shows as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork and Mindy, and The Odd Couple.

Thanks to newspaper writer Mark McGuire, I discovered something. Those of you who watched The Odd Couple might remember the intro (WATCH): “On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife.” Thus that date, November 13, was not random, but rather self-referential.

For next year, know that, according to McGuire, “Happy Odd Couple Day… can celebrate the fact that opposites attract. It can be a day to give a shout-out to old friends. It can commemorate one of the all-time great comedies. Really it can mean just about anything you want it to mean.”

Here’s the Password episode
***
Speaking of Jack Klugman (sort of), Glen A Larson has died. I was an avid watcher of Quincy, M.E., as well as McCloud, Switch and It Takes A Thief. He was also involved with Magnum P.I., Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider, and much more.

#1 songs on my birthday, 2004-2014

Katy Perry, Lady Gaga
Katy Perry, Lady Gaga

My friend Dan Van Riper sent me this list of all the #1 songs since August 4, 1958.

I have links only to the middle tune, the song of my birthday. You can go to the website and hear the other contenders. If I’ve heard it before, I won’t play it again. If I’ve never heard of it, I’ll play it once. But I won’t listen to the adjacent tunes. My goal: am I happy with THAT choice to celebrate my birthday? Or (as will be the case in the latter stages of the game), I have no idea?

2/21/04 Twista feat. Kanye West & Jamie Foxx – Slow Jamz
2/28/04 Usher feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris – Yeah!
5/22/04 Usher -Burn

Slow Jamz has lyric content I hate. Didn’t know either Usher song, but wasn’t thrilled with Yeah, so I’ll pick Burn, unheard.

1/1/05 Mario – Let Me Love You
3/5/05 50 Cent feat. Olivia – Candy Shop
5/7/05 Gwen Stefani Hollaback Girl

I like the Mario song, but I really like the Stefani song. The 50 Cent song, which I didn’t know, I pretty much hate.

1/21/06 Nelly feat. Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp – Grillz
2/4/06 Beyonce feat. Slim Thug – Check On It
3/11/06 James Blunt – You’re Beautiful

Don’t know Grillz, though I probably heard it at some point. Didn’t know the Beyonce either, though it should be noted that she mentioned twerking much earlier than the general public was aware of it; it did not do much for me on first listen. Blunt, by default.

2/24/07 Nelly Furtado – Say It Right
3/3/07 Justin Timberlake – What Goes Around…Comes Around
3/10/07 Mims – This Is Why I’m Hot

That I really never heard ANY of these I must attribute to raising a toddler. Rather like the Timberlake song, now that I’ve listened to it. If there are songs you think I REALLY need to hear on this list, please let me know.

11/31/07 Alicia Keys – No One
1/5/08 Flo Rida feat. T-Pain – Low
3/15/08 Usher feat. Young Jeezy – Love In This Club

Another trio of songs I don’t know. I realize that I must be a real prude, because all these songs specifically about sex make me uncomfortable. So I’ll select Alicia Keys, unheard.

2/21/09 Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent – Crack A Bottle
2/28/09 Flo Rida – Right Round
4/11/09 Lady Gaga – Poker Face

Two Flo Rida songs in a row! I like this one a lot more than the other; it sounds familiar after I played it. Still, I’ll pick Gaga.

1/2/10 Ke$ha – TiK ToK
3/6/10 The Black Eyed Peas – Imma Be Rocking That Body
3/20/10 Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris – Break Your Heart

I like the idea of the Peas’ song more than its execution. Don’t know the Cruz song. I vaguely remember the Ke$ha song which has too much Autotune for my taste, but I’ll pick it anyway.

2/19/11 Wiz Khalifa – Black And Yellow
2/26/11 Lady Gaga – Born This Way
4/9/11 Katy Perry feat. Kanye West – E.T.

I’ve been reading this book about the Beatles, and note that they were struggling to figure out their own philosophy/theology. Gaga seems to have known right off; I pick that one. It STILL sounds like a Madonna tune, though. Don’t know the Khalifa song, and only barely remember the Perry song.

2/18/12 Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
3/3/12 Katy Perry – Part Of Me
3/17/12 Fun. feat. Janelle Monae – We Are Young

For the first time in years, I actually had heard all three songs before! I’ve always had affection for Kelly Clarkson from that first season of American Idol. The changing rhythms of the Fun. song intrigue me. I like the empowerment angle in the Perry song, so I’ll keep that.

2/2/13 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz – Thrift Shop
3/2/13 Baauer – Harlem Shake
4/20/13 Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man

I think Thrift Shop must be a good song, because it conveys the ick factor of used merchandise. I remember when I got the video for Harlem Shuffle before it was popular, and I noted that I didn’t “get” it; it WAS a different video. That leaves the straight-ahead Bruno Mars tune that I’ll choose.

1/18/14 Pitbull feat. Ke$ha – Timber
2/8/14 Katy Perry feat. Juicy J – Dark Horse
3/29/14 Pharrell Williams – Happy

There are parts of Timber I like, mostly the sections without Pitbull. I didn’t know the Perry song, and it didn’t grab me. I read later it’s some sort of “reheated trip hop”; you know you’re getting old when the description of the music is meaningless to you.

So I’ll pick Happy. There was one of those online polls of the worst pop song, the kind of thing I usually pick the Men in My Little Girl’s Life by Mike Douglas (#6 in ’66 – sign of the devil) or We Built This City. Happy showed up several times. I think they are conflating bad songs with songs people get tired of hearing (Freebird, Stairway to Heaven, Yesterday, Piano Man); doesn’t mean the song is bad, but that it’s been heard too often.

 

#1 songs on my birthday, 1994-2003

On episode 3261 of JEOPARDY!, which aired aired 1998-11-09, the category was SONGS BY THE NUMBER $200.

celine.dionMy friend Dan Van Riper sent me this list of all the #1 songs since August 4, 1958.

I have links only to the middle tune, the song of my birthday. You can go to the website and hear the other contenders. If I’ve heard it before, I won’t play it again. If I’ve never heard of it, I’ll play it once. But I won’t listen to the adjacent tunes. My goal: am I happy with THAT choice to celebrate my birthday? Or (as will be the case in the latter stages of the game), I have no idea?

1/22/94 Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, And Sting – All For Love
2/12/94 Celine Dion – The Power Of Love
3/12/94 Ace Of Base – The Sign

I played the Dion song because I didn’t recognize the song by the title, but I HAVE heard the chorus. Neither this nor the Three Musketeers song is my cuppa. Ace of Base, almost by default.

1/28/95 TLC – Creep
2/25/95 Madonna – Take A Bow
4/15/95 Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It

I had only a vague recollection of the Madonna song, but knew neither of the others. It’s OK, but not a favorite.

11/25/95 Whitney Houston – Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
12/2/95 Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men – One Sweet Day
3/23/96 Celine Dion – Because You Loved Me

I actually really love Shoop Shoop, and can’t place the Dion tune. But I must own the team up, because: On episode 3261 of JEOPARDY!, which aired 1998-11-09, the category was SONGS BY THE NUMBER $200. The clue: This 1995-96 hit by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 with 16. I COULD NOT REMEMBER IT. I thought, One Fine Day, then no, that was the Chiffons song. It was the second clue on the show and no one got it right.

12/7/96 Toni Braxton – Un-Break My Heart
2/22/97 The Spice Girls – Wannabe
3/22/97 Puff Daddy feat. Mase – Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down

I thought the Spice Girls was very disposable pop. But the hook, “Tell me what you want…,” was annoyingly infectious. The Braxton song is great, though. I rather dislike the Puff Daddy, which samples that seminal Grandmaster Flash song The Message, to far lesser effect.

2/14/98 Usher – Nice & Slow
2/28/98 Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
3/14/98 Will Smith – Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It

Don’t know the Usher. DO know the Will Smith, which is OK. Whatever value the Dion ever has been driven away from overplaying. Yet I’ll take it anyway, as a reaction to the Titanic haters.

1/30/99 Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time
2/13/99 Monica – Angel Of Mine
3/13/99 Cher – Believe

We can eliminate the Cher song, which brought to the fore Autotune, which actually does not bother me here as much in MANY subsequent recordings. I’ll own up to liking the Spears song. But I think the Monica song is quite pleasant, though it could do with a little less Mariah Carey-type melisma.

2/19/00 Mariah Carey feat. Joe and 98° – Thank God I Found You
3/4/00 Lonestar – Amazed
3/18/00 Destiny’s Child -Say My Name

Speaking of Carey, most of her songs sound alike to me, but this is a good use of a boy band, so I’ll take this one. Don’t much like the Destiny’s Child vocal. The Lonestar was new to me, and maybe it could grow on me.

2/17/01 OutKast – Ms. Jackson
2/24/01 Joe feat. Mystikal – Stutter
3/24/01 Crazy Town – Butterfly

Don’t know Butterfly. Like the OutKast chorus. I’d never heard Stutter; I like the concept of the stuttering and liked the main theme, but hated the rap. OutKast by default.

12/22/01 Nickelback – How You Remind Me
2/23/02 Ja Rule feat. Ashanti – Always On Time
3/9/02 Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule – Ain’t It Funny

Bashing Nickelback is a pretty regular exercise. Still, I’ll pick it over The Ja Rule song, which I had not heard before, even though I like the Ashanti parts. Don’t know the JLo song either.

2/1/03 B2K feat. P. Diddy – Bump, Bump, Bump
2/8/03 Jennifer Lopez feat. LL Cool J – All I Have
3/8/03 50 Cent – In Da Club

Don’t know the B2K. The JLo song, previously unknown to me, didn’t grab me. There are appealing hooks in the 50 Cent song, which I had heard, so it’s the winner.

#1 songs on my birthday, 1984-1993

I remember talking with my friend Fred Hembeck and we agreed that Straight Up, the one Paula Abdul song he ever put on a mixed CD, was probably her only good one.

mariah-carey-whitney-houstonMy friend Dan Van Riper sent me this list of all the #1 songs since August 4, 1958.

I have links only to the middle tune, the song of my birthday. You can go to the website and hear the other contenders. If I’ve heard it before, I won’t play it again. If I’ve never heard of it, I’ll play it once. But I won’t listen to the adjacent tunes. My goal: am I happy with THAT choice to celebrate my birthday? Or (as will be the case in the latter stages of the game), I have no idea?

2/4/84 Culture Club – Karma Chameleon
2/25/84 Van Halen – Jump
3/31/84 Kenny Loggins – Footloose

I own all three of these; this may be the last time that’s true. Footloose is fun, and I like the Boy George song, but this is probably my favorite Van Halen tune, certainly my favorite of their hits.

2/2/85 Foreigner – I Want To Know What Love Is
2/16/85 Wham! feat. George Michael – Careless Whisper
3/9/85 REO Speedwagon Can’t Fight This Feeling
Continue reading “#1 songs on my birthday, 1984-1993”

#1 songs on my birthday, 1974-1983

I share a birthday with Peter Wolf (b. 1946) of J. Geils.

Bee_Gees_Stayin_AliveMy friend Dan Van Riper sent me this list of all the #1 songs since August 4, 1958.

I have links only to the middle tune, the song of my birthday. You can go to the website and hear the other contenders. If I’ve heard it before, I won’t play it again. If I’ve never heard of it, I’ll play it once. But I won’t listen to the adjacent tunes. My goal: am I happy with THAT choice to celebrate my birthday? Or (as will be the case in the latter stages of the game), I have no idea?

2/9/74 Love Unlimited Orchestra – Love’s Theme
3/2/74 Terry Jacks – Seasons In The Sun
3/23/74 Cher – Dark Lady

Don’t particularly remember the Cher song. Unfortunately, I DO remember the drippy Seasons in the Sun, which I HAVE heard by someone else, to better effect. So, I pick yet another instrumental.

2/22/75 Average White Band – Pick Up The Pieces
2/29/75 Eagles – Best Of My Love
3/8/75 Olivia Newton-John – Have You Never Been Mellow
Continue reading “#1 songs on my birthday, 1974-1983”