What do Bozo the Clown and The Beatles have in common? I mean, besides the obvious raw sex appeal. Answer: Alan W. Livingston. Mr. Livingston, who was the former president of Capitol Records, passed away today at the age of 91. He started at the company in 1946 writing kids' records, back when Capitol did the best anyone has ever done...with full orchestras (sometimes led by Billy May) and superstar voice casts. On one of the first ones he wrote, he created the character of Bozo the Clown, who became the star of best-selling albums and a kind of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval on the entire Capitol line.
As Mr. Livingston worked his way up to the presidency of the company, he did a lot of different things. He signed Frank Sinatra at a low point in his career and steered a major comeback. He signed a new comedian named Stan Freberg. He was involved in the launch of a new TV show called Bonanza. And, oh yeah...he signed The Beatles. Can't do much better than that.
That's only some of what this man did (more but not all is listed in this obit) but it's more than enough to warrant a salute and our thanks for stacks and stacks of memorable wax.
I'm not going to embed Jon Stewart's interview last night with Jim Cramer. From the lethargic way it's loading right now, it's obvious the Daily Show website is being inundated with hits. They've posted the unedited interview in three parts and if I embed all three parts here, this page will load at about the speed of Heinz Ketchup mixed with black strap molasses. So you'll have to go to that site and find it yourself to watch.
Note that they've posted the interview in two versions, each carved into thirds. One is the edited version as aired last night. The other is unedited and uncensored. The latter is probably what you want.
(P.S. Talking Points Memo has embedded the whole thing. It'll save you some time to watch it there.)
Speaking of historical accuracy in Frost/Nixon: Here's James Reston Jr. — a participant in the debates and a key character in the play and movie — telling what he thought of the play.
Every two years, folks in Great Britain celebrate Red Nose Day. What, I hear you cry, is Red Nose Day? Good question. It's a day when folks do something silly to raise money which goes to Comic Relief, a most worthwhile charity that helps the impoverished.
My pal Ken Plume and his pal Widgett Walls have decided this is such a great idea that they're stealing borrowing it and bringing it to America...and guess what. It's today! And lemme tell you about the silly thing they're doing. They're doing a 24 hour live webcast starting at Noon (East Coast Time), which is 9 AM out here where I am. There will be phone-in guests (including me at some point) and music and puppets and silly stories...all to encourage you to donate to Comic Relief.
Wanna know more about it? Wanna watch these silly guys in action? You'll want to go to their website and follow them on this Twitter page.
You know, I don't really care what happens with Sarah Palin's daughter and her boy friend and whether they get married or not. It's none of our business.
But I can't help but think: If someone on the Democratic ticket last year had an unwed mother for a daughter, the whole G.O.P. campaign would have been about that; about how if your kid gets pregnant like that, you're an unfit parent and you should be ashamed of yourself for thinking you can run the country when you can't even run your own family.
March 12, 2009
