"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis
Friday, September 11, 2020
Midnight Meme Of The Day!
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by Noah It's been two weeks since the Republican Drug-Fueled Freak Show on the White House lawn. Anybody seen Kimberly Guilfoyle since then? Don Jr.? Kellyanne grabbed her broom and flew away for parts unknown. Eric is safely put back in an attic closet. Rudy's probably in the Ukraine screaming, texting like mad, and sweating profusely as he tries to keep his teeth in. The FOX "News" goons are back in their KKK Klubhouse. Boats are sinking... Anyway, Oakland, CA based artist Eddie Colla has assembled a nice commemorative video (above). Gee, for some reason, the Repug Party doesn't want anything to do with it. He sent it to them with a nice letter, too; a beautiful letter! I have no sympathy for them. Whatever abuse and derision is aimed at them is more than well-deserved. Well done, Mr. Colla! Well done!
Frank Sinatra Had The Perfect Message For Señor Trumpanzee
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I was just starting to think about what high school would be like when Frank Sinatra started Reprise Records... as a refuge for himself and for his pals from the tyranny of the major record labels. Reprise was a label founded on the basis of real artist freedom. I only met him a couple of times and never got to know him at all, but I was the next CEO of Reprise after Sinatra-- after a long interregnum. By then it was a owned by Warner Bros which, in 1987, decided to revive it as a full-fledged label. I never for a minute lost sight of Sinatra's original intent and did my best to always keep it as a refuge of artist freedom for artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Enya, Green Day, Depeche Mode, The Smiths (and Morrissey), Chaka Khan, the Barenaked Ladies, Yaz, The Replacements, The Fugs, Nick Cave, Rickie Lee Jones, Erasure, Lou Reed, Wilco, Cher, the Tom Tom Club... So I was proud to read in The Independent over the weekend how Sinatra once told Señor Trumpanzee to go fuck himself. Trumpanzee was trying to get Sinatra to reduce his fee for performing in 1990 at the opening two weeks at one of the crooked Trumpanzee casinos in Atlantic City. He told Elliot Weisman, Sinatra's manager and the author of a new book that talks about the episode, that Sinatra's costs were "a little rich." Trump is a notorious cheapskate who has always been delighted in offering second and third-rate everything wherever he's been in business.
According to Weisman’s book, Mr Trump also cut the support acts including Sinatra’s dying friend Sammy Davis Jr. Weisman managed Sinatra from 1975 to 1998 and recounted the incident in his book The Way it Was, released this month. He said Sinatra was due to perform at the opening of Mr Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City and had a deal in place with the new venues original operator Mark Grossinger Etess, who died in a helicopter crash. [Trumpanzee] then stepped in to take over the deal which is when he questioned how much Sinatra expected to be paid for his 12 performances. According to Weisman, Mr Trump began the new negotiations by saying the cost for the 12 dates Sinatra was slated to perform was “a little rich.” Mr Trump then also decided he did not need to book the other acts included including Sammy Davis Jr, who had just been diagnosed with cancer, and husband-and-wife pop duo Steve [Lawrence] and Eydie [Gorme]. When challenged by Weisman, Mr Trump asked “Who’s Steve and Eydie?” Weisman says he then tried choking the future president by his tie, but that his son restrained him. He said he then called Sinatra to tell him what had happened, and singer told him he had two choices; either tell Mr Trump “to go fuck himself” or give the reality show star’s phone number to Sinatra so that he could do it himself. Weisman says he returned to Trump’s office and told him “Sinatra says go fuck yourself!” Sinatra ended up playing at the Sands in Las Vegas instead.
Sleater-Kinney, The Ramones, Frank Sinatra... And Ted Cruz, The Trumpf Slayer
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This year-- after an 8 year hiatus, Sleater-Kinney got back together, released a new album, No Cities to Love, and have been touring non-stop (this week New York-- Kings Theater in Brooklyn tonight-- and then off to New Zealand and Australia in February). Thursday night at the House of Blues in Cleveland, they performed a cover of the 1987 Ramones classic "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)." The original Ramones video is pretty rare too-- and, if I remember correctly, the first one that C.J. was in instead of Dee Dee. The video gives you some insight into the kind people who vote for corrupt, garbage, self-serving congressmembers like Steve Israel, Peter King and Kathleen Rice, all of whom have represented Mineola, mentioned, disparagingly, in the video:
Also in music news-- Frank Sinatra, founder of Reprise Records, where I used to work, would have been 100 today. (He died in 1988.) The city of Hoboken, where he was born and grew up-- at 415 Monroe Street-- is celebrating tonight. In 1935, at the age of 20, he was a member of the Hoboken Four (pre-Sinatra, the 3 Flashes). Sinatra's mom, Dolly, was a Democratic Party ward leader in Hoboken and in 1944 he met FDR and campaigned for FDR and Democrats that year, especially for liberals like Henry Wallace. He was vehemently anti-racist and, later, was even accused of being a Commie. Subsequently, he campaigned for Truman, Stevenson and JFK. By 1970, though, he was the poster boy for the whole concept of the Reagan Democrats, endorsed both Nixon and Reagan and contributed $4 million to Reagan's election campaign.
UPDATE: Cruz!Cruz!Cruz! The Trumpf Slayer Maybe Trumpf's remarks about Iowa voters being brain damaged from too much exposure to toxic chemicals has finally caught up with him, but the newly released Des Moines Register poll, shows him losing to an even more dangerous and venal fascist, Ted Cruz, who isn't even constitutionally qualified to serve as president, having been born in Canada:
What would happen if Lindsey Graham came out of the closet? His polling couldn't get any lower than it's been for the entire campaign. He should totally try it.
Frank Sinatra Contest-- The Best Is Yet To Come… For South Dakota
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Today Blue America is launching an effort on behalf of prairie populist Rick Weiland who's running for the open blue Senate seat in South Dakota. With two Republicans running against the GOP Establishment pick in the general election, this should be a great opportunity to elect a dedicated tribune of working families in what the DC pundits see as a tough race. One Republican is an ex-U.S. Seantor, Larry Pressler, and the other is a Tea Party extremist, Gordon Howie (no relation) who switched his registration so he could run as an independent. This week, Rick released his first television ad. You can you watch it above and on the special Frank Sinatra contest page we set up. So I want to ask DWT readers and my Facebook friends to consider chipping in to get the ad seen-- and you can do that on the same page you watch the ad on. There are basically two big media markets in South Dakota. One covers the Democratic-leaning half the state (East River)-- Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, Huron, Mitchell and Yankton-- and the other covers the more conservative half of the state (West River)-- Rapid City, Spearfish, Sturgis, Custer, Wall, Lead, Deadwood and Hot Springs. This is a sample of what a typical contribution can buy in the eastern part of the state:
• $28- All In With Chris Hayes • $35- Southern Charm • $125- Good Morning America • $165- Face The Nation • $225- Wheel of Fortune • $400- 48 Hours
And this is what we can get in the western part of the state:
• $34- The Rachel Maddow Show • $50- Inside Edition • $75- Big Bang Theory • $120- The Today Show • $150- 60 Minutes • $300- The Blacklist
So what's all this got to do with Frank Sinatra? Well, as many of you know, I was the president of the record label Sinatra started, Reprise Records. Sinatra started it as a haven for artists who didn't want to be pushed around by corporate dictators-- and I like to think I successfully continued his artistic freedom ideal. This is also an ethos that epitomizes Rick Weiland's "Take It Back" campaign. When I was still at the company, I was awarded an RIAA-certified plaque when Sinatra's greatest hits album, The Very Good Years, went double platinum… two million records sold in the U.S. I've given this gorgeous, historical collector's item to Blue America to award to one randomly selected donor to this Rick Weiland effort. The "contest" ends next Monday, April 28, at noon. It doesn't matter how much you give, just that you do give on this page. And, for the Sinatra fans, some of the songs that are on The Very Good Years: Cole Porter's "I Get A Kick Out of You," "Luck Be A Lady," "Fly Me To The Moon," "Love and Mariiage," "Send In The Clowns," "The Lady Is A Tramp," "Strangers In The Night," "I've Got You Under My Skin," and the song I'm calling the perfect theme for Rick's campaign for South Dakota, "The Best Is Yet To Come." Also of note: some of the musicians who played on this record-- Nelson Riddle, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Quincy Jones...
