Another FunkMeister gone - Garry Schider R.I.P.

Just read on the wires that Garry 'StarChild' Shider, longtime stalwart of George Clinton's P-Funk organization has died of cancer.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37764601/ns/today-entertainment/

Despite their deliberately tongue-in-cheek, cartoonish carry on, P-Funk were seriously brilliant musicians; none less so than Shider. I don't think it's much more than a year ago that I saw him play live with P-Funk and they were incredibly good. Seeing a 50-something man playing live wearing just a nappy was something else!

Here's a uTuber of Garry doing his thing on one of the classics - 'Cosmic Slop'.
http://bosanovasweetshop.blogspot.com/2010/03/cosmic-slop-fashion-never-dies.html

The Byrds - Going Back

The Byrds miming their excellent version of Goffin & Kings 'Going Back'.  Think Dusty Springfield's version is a lot more well known, and is usually used on ads for certain brands of tea.

Anyhoo, this is probably from about 1968, when David Crosby had been fired and Gene Clarke returned briefly to fill in.

Linda Martin vs Twink

I promise to stop posting about Twink, as it is turning into something of a very strange fetish, but there was a great interview with Linda Martin today in one of the Sunday Tribune supplements.

It seems the reason these 2 queens of Irish showbiz fell out was because lovely, dog-loving, professional Linda (who is  apparently only 57, not 62 as was being widely insinuated by Twink in other media circles recently!) had retired to her hotel room after a stunning but gruelling performance of 'Menopause, the Musical', only to over-hear her co-star ranting about fragrant Linda, to any cast member who would listen, in a 2 hour bitching session (from an open window in an adjoining room).

"What's that Skippy? Ireland's top all-round entertainer Twink called Eurovision legend Linda Martin a C*NT and implied that Linda has had more work done on her than Michael Jackson? I don't what that 'C' word means, but my instincts tell me it's very, very naughty Skip."

Despite being deeply wounded by the cruel remarks, trouper Linda managed to struggle through a couple more half-empty shows, before looking deep inside herself, and realising that she could never again work with Twink (a.k.a. Adele King) and would need to sell/tell everything to any newspaper that could be bothered.

Anyhoo, this might be the way to settle things between both gals:-

"Menopause, the Massacre". Linda and Twink sort out their differences, like real women. Hope nobody slips on the fake tan...

Wahoo! Twink is alive and well

It was with much relief when I saw Ms. Twinkleton on Tubridy last night, after her recent medical issues.

Have to hand it to her in the sense that she looked well, is an old stage trooper - show must go on - she had the balls to talk about it etc, although the constant reference to problems with asthma medication didn't quite ring true... 

Didn't see all of the interview, but some really funny moments, e.g. when she intimated that some actress was probably 15 years older than both she and Ryan. Now, I'm no expert in guessing people's ages, but Twink is old enough to be Tubridy's granny.

Anyhoo, strange to hear an ad on RTE Radio 1 this morning for Menopause the Musical, wherein Linda Martin is named as the lead actress in the show and there is no mention of her highness at all, so looks like she got the bullet from the project (which wasn't doing too well anyway, by all accounts)...

I'm sure she will bounce back and can get a gig coaching the Billie Barry kids or something...

Hellraisers - a jolly good read

Recently raced through a cheap copy of this multi-biog on these major movie star party boys from the 60s/70s.

Burton's alcoholic intake at times, could probably have anaesthetised a herd of elephants.

Oliver Reed comes across, in the most part, as a nasty, bullying drunk, despite efforts from people like Michael Winner to portray Ollie as a shy and gentle soul in real life.

It's Harris and O'Toole though who provide the humour, with copious hilarious anecdotes on lost weekends, bar brawls, onstage feck-ups, doing crap movies just for the money and apparently not regretting a moment of it all.

O'Toole is the last surviving Hellraiser as he sticks to the occassional bottle of Chablis these days, following a medical scare some 20 years back. He still has hopes for a lead-actor Oscar, although he received an honorary one a couple of years back.


All in all, a great read!