LOS ANGELES — Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is hallowed Hollywood tourist ground — where stars suchas Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra cemented their legends by making hand- andfootprints in concrete.

In late fall, the movie icons were joined by three rodents: Alvin and the Chipmunks (or, moreprecisely, people in chipmunk suits imitating the cartoon characters).

The pace of paw- and other print-making at Grauman’s has taken off in recent months. The complexhosted 11 ceremonies in 2011 for actors, including Jennifer Aniston, Robert Duvall, Mickey Rourkeand the young cast of the Twilight movies. Basketball star Kobe Bryant, French disc jockey David Guetta and theSmurfs have also dipped their digits in concrete.

That was the largest number of ceremonies that the theater has had since its opening year, 1927,when nine took place.

Some film buffs think that, with forecourt space limited, the owners should be pickier inselecting stars.

Donald Kushner, who bought the theater with Elie Samaha in May from Warner Bros. and Viacom,said some older prints are deteriorating and must be removed from the forecourt to be preserved.But not all new prints are getting prime real estate in front of the theater, so don’t look for theChipmunks or the Smurfs there.

“They’re not going in the forecourt,” Kushner said. “They weren’t real ceremonies; they weremock ceremonies.”

Kushner wants to broaden the range of individuals that the theater salutes in the forecourt toinclude athletes and musicians. Grauman’s is talking to Michael Jackson’s kin, he said, aboutimprints of a shoe and glove used by the pop star.

Policies at Grauman’s not fixed in concrete

Andy Williams revealed to concertgoers in at his Branson, Mo., theater he has bladder cancer, the Branson Tri-Lakes News reports.

"I do have cancer of the bladder," the 83-year-old "Moon River" singer and long-ago TV variety show host said. "But that is no longer a death sentence. People with cancer are getting through this thing. They're kicking it, and they're winning more and more every year. And I'm going to be one of them."

Williams made the announcement at the Moon River Theatre in Branson, which he opened in 1992. Williams thanked the crowd for being there during his "time of need" and promised he would return to the stage next year — his 75th year in the entertainment industry.

Watch videos of Andy Williams

"I'll be coming back here next year, in September and October," he said. "I'm going to do the shows I've planned to do."

He had a weekly TV show, which won three Emmys for Best Variety Show and ran through most of the 1960s until 1971; among his regulars were the Osmond Brothers, and he's credited to boosting the career of Jonathan Winters. In the 1960s, he was one of the most popular singers in the nation, and he has more gold albums than any solo act than Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley.

His earliest TV exposure came on that became the Tonight show with Steve Allen.

Andy Williams Suffering From Bladder Cancer

True Love was written by Cole Porter and performed by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in the 1955 film, High Society, which also starred Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong. True Love was the first and only gold record for Grace Kelly and was the 21st gold record for Bing Crosby. The song stayed on the charts for 22 weeks, rising as high as number 3. True Love was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Song in 1956, although it lost to Doris Day's Que Sera, Sera.

Cole Porter was a highly experienced songwriter when he wrote True Love. The decades of the 1930's and 1940's were full of Cole Porter hit musicals. During the 1930's alone, Porter wrote music and lyrics for ten Broadway musicals for New York and two film musicals for Hollywood.

Cole Porter was born in Indiana in 1891 to parents who were wealthy. He received an extensive musical education, learning the piano and the violin by age six. His favorite of the two was the piano which he practiced two hours daily. By age ten he was writing words and music to original songs, and by age seventeen he published his first song.

Porter also received an impressive academic education which carried him through Yale and into Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Music. While at Yale, Porter became the president of the Glee Club and a cheer leader, and, among the 300 songs he wrote while at Yale, he wrote two football fight songs that are still played today. Despite being the roommate of Dean Acheson, the future Secretary of State under President Truman, Porter dropped out of Harvard Law School to continue with his music education.

After World War I, Porter moved to Europe where he met and married Linda Lee Thomas, a beautiful and rich divorcee and a descendant of the Lees of Virginia. Their relationship was a loving, supportive, lifelong partnership. Cole Porter was gay and had numerous male interests which Linda had agreed to allow. However, the marriage was at times unstable when Porter's gay interests threatened the couple's carefully maintained social appearances.

Following their marriage in 1919 in Paris, the Porters lived an extravagant lifestyle in Europe through the 1920's. Their palatial home in Paris had floor to ceiling mirrors and zebra skin upholstery. Later, they moved into a famous palace in Venice where their lush parties included fifty gondoliers, circus acrobats, and a ballet company. They also built a night club outside their palace which accommodated 100 guests.

Back in New York, Porter's first few contributions to Broadway musicals were poorly received. However, by the end of the 1920's Porter gained recognition, and through the 1930's and 1940's he was one of the brightest stars on Broadway. He worked excessively and tirelessly on his musical productions and spent time in both New York and Hollywood.

In 1937 a terrible horse riding accident crushed both of Porter's legs. As the story goes, while waiting for hours for help to arrive he composed the lyrics to a verse of his song, At Long Last Love. The accident left him crippled and in pain for the rest of his life. He underwent more than 30 leg operations until his right leg was finally amputated in 1958. Following his leg amputation, Cole Porter dropped out of music production until his death in 1964.

In 1955 Cole Porter wrote the lyrics and music for High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong. The film was a musical remake of the classic 1940 award winning movie, The Philadelphia Story, which won a Best Actor Oscar for James Stewart and which also starred Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. High Society featured nine musical numbers, plus there were five additional songs written by Porter which were not included in the movie.

High Society was one of MGM's greatest musicals. Grace Kelly was the movie's luminous star, and the romantic exchange with Bing Crosby in True Love was one of the movie's highlights.

Here are the lyrics to Cole Porter's True Love.

a new moon moves at last alone

feeling far above her

so on and on it will always be

for you and I have a guardian angel

on high with nothing to do

but to give to you as you give to me

for you and I have a guardian angel

on high with nothing to do

but to give you as you give to me

give me more true love oh yeah

got to give me your oh yeah oh yeah

for you and I have a guardian angel

on high with nothing to do

but to give to you as you give to me

love forever true love.

Step 2: Neighbors protest.

Step 3: Newton apparently will get his wish with a proposed attraction that includes a theater showing footage of himself, memorabilia including a Champagne glass that Frank Sinatra hoisted and a car wash big enough to clean a tour bus, according to an Associated Press report.

What tourists would see: a 40-acre estate with penguins, crystal staircases, rare Impressionist paintings, Arabian horses and gifts from celebrity friends including the late Elvis Presley. No details re opening date, though the AP says construction of a visitors center has begun.

ALSO SEE:  Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville casino going for record today

RELATED:  'Swingers lounge' opens in Vegas

The 69-year-old, who has been performing for a half-century had a "Once More Before I Go" show at the Tropicana in 2009. According to reports, he has had some financial problems in recent years.

According to his website, his upcoming appearances include Nov. 25 at the Fort Lauderdale Christmas Pageantat the First Baptist Church (in Florida) and Nov. 26 at the Polk Theatre inLakeland, Fla.

Readers, have you seen Wayne Newton in concert and are you saying "Danke Schoen" to possibly touring his home in Vegas?

Wayne Newton's Vegas attraction to include a car wash

Two friends and show business veterans swap stories on "Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again" (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA). They are completely at ease with each other and make the most of their contrasts. Brooks, the accomplished comedy filmmaker and producer of "The Producers" on stage and screen, never forgets his roots in bawdy and even scatological humor. Cavett plays the urbane Yale grad and Midwestern WASP to Brooks' Catskills comedian, and their mutual admiration and respect are infectious. Most of "Together" consists of the two men revealing familiar but "never before told" anecdotes about show business luminaries. Aged 84 when this was filmed before a live theater audience, Brooks still brings a giddy, wicked, boyish enthusiasm to his off-color stories. He seems truly ageless. A full decade younger, Cavett appears to be further removed from the talk show persona that depended so heavily on boyish looks. Both men have roots deep in television. Cavett wrote for Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Jerry Lewis, among other hosts, before getting his own series, arguably the best TV talk show ever. Writers for "Your Show of Shows," Brooks and Carl Reiner were regulars on "The Steve Allen Show," where they re-created their long-running routine, the 2000-Year-Old Man. Brooks also co-created "Get Smart" with Buck Henry, who wrote "The Graduate" at roughly the same time Brooks was making "The Producers." Brooks and Cavett share a mid-20th century affection for old Hollywood and the Great American Songbook. Their sensibilities appear to have been well established before Elvis Presley cut a record. And that's what makes them so special, and increasingly rare. It's fun to hear these old pros egging each other on and spilling not-so-secret tales about the eating habits of Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles, Cary Grant's insecurities, Frank Sinatra's dubious associates, Fred Astaire's opinion of Katharine Hepburn and the amorous excesses of Tallulah Bankhead and Grace Kelly.

–Proof that Bravo's success has inspired imitators on other networks can be seen on "Unleashed by Garo" (9 p.m., Sundance). To those who care, Garo is rather famous for having designed garments for Madonna and other fabulous types. On this show, Garo promises to help regular people "find themselves" with his creations. But these aren't your average off-the-rack personalities for sale. He's designing wings for rock drummer Tim, who is 20 going on 57. Monica may be a newlywed, but she's never felt beautiful. Garo thinks a corset may be the answer. So to find "the beauty inside her," Monica must submit to pain and truss up her outsides with a sausage-like casing. Can Garo make the corset, once a symbol of oppression, a means of self-expression? Garo takes himself very seriously and appears to be striking a pose in every scene. And as with every self-created character, it is his attempts at sincerity that seem the most false. – The voice of Neil Patrick Harris animates a new chapter of "The Penguins of Madagascar" (8 p.m., Nickelodeon, TV-Y), "Blowhole Strikes Back."

TONIGHT'S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS – Scheduled on "48 Hours Mystery" (8 p.m., CBS): a survivor tells of an encounter with "The Railroad Killer." – On two episodes of "Friends With Benefits" (NBC, TV-14): work (8 p.m.), buddies (8:30 p.m.). – Olivia puts her trust in Sam on "Fringe" (9 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14). – A couple of survivors endure a forest fire on "Man, Woman, Wild" (9 p.m., Discovery). – A family friend murdered on "Blue Bloods" (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14). – Time for a lockdown on "Haven" (10 p.m., Syfy). – One final mission on "Torchwood" (10 p.m., Starz, TV-14). – An outdoor garden sprouts vermin on "Rat Busters NYC" (10 p.m., Animal Planet).

CULT CHOICE All work and no play makes Jack (Jack Nicholson) a dull boy in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel "The Shining" (9 p.m., BBC America).

SERIES NOTES California screaming on "Kitchen Nightmares" (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … "Shark Tank" (8 p.m., ABC, r, TV-PG) … Alex goes rogue on "Nikita" (8 p.m., CW, r, TV-14). A shootout at the crime lab on "CSI: NY" (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14) … "Dateline" (9 p.m., NBC) … "Karaoke Battle USA" (9 p.m., ABC) … The battle for heaven continues on "Supernatural" (9 p.m., CW, r, TV-14) … "20/20" (10 p.m., ABC).

LATE NIGHT Jay Leno welcomes Bill Maher, Octavia Spencer and Alice Cooper on "The Tonight Show" (11:35 p.m., NBC). Kristin Chenoweth, Freddie Wong and Brandon Laatsch appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (midnight, ABC). Lauren Graham, Joel Edgerton and Pearl Jam chat on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Craig Ferguson hosts Alfred Molina and Brie Larson on "The Late Late Show" (12:37 a.m., CBS).

Kevin McDonough can be reached at kevin.tvguy@gmail.com.

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Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett dish the dirt

Pop music is a genre of popular music distinguished from classical or art music and from folk music . The term indicates specific stylistic traits, but the genre also includes artists working in many styles such as rock, hip hop, rhythm and blues (R&B), and country, making it a flexible category. The expression pop music may also be used to refer to particular subgenres (within the pop music genre) that are in some cases referred to as soft rock and pop/rock.

Characteristics as a subgenre
Pop is designed to appeal to everyone and doesn't come from any particular place or mark off any particular taste. In musical terms, it is essentially conservative in that it attempts to resonate with a large segment of its target demographic rather than pushing artistic boundaries. It is provided from on high (by record companies, radio programmers and concert promoters) rather than being made from below. (Frith 2001, p.95-96). But over time, pop has gone from popular in general to a genre described as sounding musically similar to rap, but with singing. This is due to radio stations labeling themselves as pop stations taking heavy preference over certain sounds, tossing other popular bands who don't fit into the sound or other categories like rock into the alternative label.

Often used to describe the current popular genres of music of any given time, the term pop cannot be used describe any one particular style.

History of pop music

1930s and 1940s
Styles influencing the later development of pop include the Blues (Chicago), and Country (Tennessee)

1950s
Early Pop music artists include Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, and Peggy Lee, but other artists like Bill Haley and his Comets, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley become popular with the younger generation.

1960s
The decade starts out with such Teen Idols such as, Johnny Tillotson, Bobby Vee, Brian Hyland, Tommy Roe, Gene Pitney, and Frankie Avalon. It explodes midway with Carole King, Neil Diamond, Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Isley Brothers, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel. It can be said that The Beatles led the British Invasion in this decade.

1970s
A proliferation of new sounds from the disco of the BeeGees, the piano sounds of Billy Joel and Elton John, the country of the Eagles, the rock-influenced pop of artists like Rod Stewart, Steely Dan, and Fleetwood Mac. ABBA was a swedish band who grew to fame after winning Eurovision Song Contest and starting a whole new revolution of pop music.
1980s
Notable highlights for pop music in the 1980s are Michael Jackson's second Epic label release, Thriller, which went on to become the best-selling album of all time, and Madonna albums Like a Virgin, True Blue, Like a Prayer . Michael Jackson was sometimes referred to as The King of Pop and Madonna was named The Queen of Pop. Other artists included Michael Bolton, Prince, Janet Jackson, Duran Duran, The Police, ABBA, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Kylie Minogue and Culture Club.

1990s and 21st century
The 1990s and 21st century were marked by a resurgence of boy band and girl group trends. From the UK came the likes of Take That, Blue, the Spice Girls, a highly successful formula. Irish boy bands of the time include Boyzone and Westlife. The US had New Edition, New Kids On The Block followed by the Backstreet Boys, Hanson, girl trio Destiny's Child and then 'N Sync and Pop Princesses Willa Ford, Mandy Moore, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera. Canadian Avril Lavigne became popular with her album Let Go. Australia had Boys from Oz. 1999 saw the rise of the Latin explosion with Ricky Martin at the forefront with his worldwide smash hit Livin' La Vida Loca. Other latin artists to follow were Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, and Marc Anthony. In 2002, Justin Timberlake had critical and commercial acclaim with his Justified album, emerging as the new Prince of Pop, Jesse McCartney has emerged from Dream Street as a high-rating singer with songs like She's No You, Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff has become popular in the 2000s. Artists like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and Madonna have also been highly successful. Reality television shows, such as American Idol, begin producing multi-platinum artists like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken. British pop rock groups such as McFly emerge.

Sound and themes
Pop music, in whatever musical influence form it derives from, may be produced by a more basic songwriting approach and arrangement. The emphasis is often on a simpler melody, which makes the songs more memorable, and may use stripped-down rhythms. The combination of the melody and the rhythm allows for harmony to be a driving force of the song. Themes range from personal songs to vivacious party jams. However, the most common theme deals with the wide range of emotions which stem from physical or emotional love.

Music videos and live performances are often used for exposure in the media, and artists may have extravagant stage shows and use choreographed dancing. Many pop tunes are used in both Dance clubs and Sport clubs.

Have you ever been told that you have a voice like a crow, or that you haven't a note in your head and still you wish it wasn't true you wish you could sing? Well almost anyone can learn how to sing – fact.

One of my favourite singers is Irish folk singer Liam Clancy – Bob Dylan once described Clancy as the greatest living ballad singer and when you listen to the way he controls his voice you'll understand why. The late Frank Sinatra is another of my favourites – again listen to the control he has over his voice. Wouldn't we all love to sing like those two troubadours. Believe it or not though it is possible. Granted you are going to have to put some effort in, but it is possible. Today I want to share with you three killer tips that when put into practice will improve your voice by one hundred percent.

Watch a new born baby and see how it breaths; it uses its diaphragm. Unfortunately as we grown up we forget how nature taught us to breath and start to take the lazy way out i.e. breathing though our chest. By inhaling and fully filling your diaphragm and slowly exhaling as you breath out you will get a fuller and rounder tone as opposed to the harsh often broken tones that comes from singing from your throat, which is the way most people sing.

Watch any great singer and you'll notice the control they have over their breathing, and that is probably the most important aspect of learning to sing correctly – learning how to control your breathing. It often amazes me how many professional singers get away with poor breathing techniques, or how many pretty decent armature singers have no concept of how to breath correctly. The correct way to breath (and not just while you are singing) is through your diaphragm, its home is just below the rib cage.

The next tip has to do with reaching those high notes. Most people when they are singing try to hit the high C try to hit it exactly, they think it is the right thing to do. It's not there is a better way and that's to aim slightly above high C. You'll find that by aiming a little bit higher you will in effect hit C spot on. Don't ask me why it seems more of a psychological trick than a physical one; but who cares it works – try it

For the last tip I want to concentrate on your vocal chords. Try and visualize your vocal chords as you would the strings of a piano. Look inside a piano and you will see that the lower notes are longer and the strings are thicker while the opposite is true of the higher notes, they are shorter and the strings are thinner. When you are singing you've got to learn how to shorten the vocal chords when you are reaching for the higher notes, otherwise the sound will be off.

You are probably wondering by now how you can tie all this together. How in effect you can learn to sing. That's not a problem there are several well proven courses out there that will tie it all together for you. Check my signature below for a review of a great resource that will teach you to sing and have you in demand at all sorts of functions.

You may not become a Clancy or Sinatra but you'll certainly be popular

Typically, when drummer Mike Streeto gets ready to pay homage to one of rock 'n' roll's greatest bands, he has to jump on a plane, train or bus to do it.

However, for the next week or so, he'll get a chance to take a much-shorter trip. Streeto, who lives in New Haven, will be playing the part of Ringo Starr for the MopTops, a Beatles tribute band that will be performing through Sept. 4 at Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Mashantucket, as part of the "Legends in Concert" show.

"I'm excited that the people around here will finally get a chance to see me perform," he said last week.

Streeto, who had his first paying gig when he was only 13 years old, has played in a number of Beatles tribute bands over the years, such as Fab Fourever, Abbey Road, Yesterday and The Cast of Beatlemania. Most recently, he joined the band MerseyBeat.

His talent has taken him to places such as Las Vegas; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Atlantic City, N.J.

For the "Legends" show, he will be a part of a larger cast who will be performing as Donna Summer, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood and Frank Sinatra. After Streeto's run, which is Aug. 3 to 8, his friend and East Haven resident Carmine Grippo will resume his seat with the band.

"All of these performers are not only excellent musicians … on their own, but they embody the character of these performers … in a true tribute, not an impersonation," said Mark Kogan, who handles the sales and marketing for "Legends." "They are the closest thing to a real deal."

Streeto said the effort to bring an authentic experience to the audience goes beyond the music. It's about capturing the right look through the wardrobe, the equipment and the mannerisms.

And that, he said, takes time and diligence.

For years, he has been a fan of the Beatles, starting with a trip when he was about 10 to a movie house with his aunt to see "Help," the 1965 film that was the follow-up to the band's first movie, "A Hard Day's Night."

"I have always loved them," he said of the Beatles. "I was actually more impressed with Paul McCartney, but I ended up playing drums."

Streeto said Starr's style as a drummer is unique, leaving an integral stamp on many of the band's songs. Streeto said he was particularly impressed by Starr's playing on the band's song "Rain."

Kogan, who previously toured with Sinatra and bands such as Styx years ago, said "Legends" is the kind of show that can spark memories among those who caught the original acts in concert years ago.

But it also can help to form new memories.

"For people who have never seen what Elvis looked like in concert, or Michael Jackson or Frank Sinatra … they get a chance to experience what it must have been like."

The show, which features the performers, dancers, a live band and multimedia elements, first started in Las Vegas 28 years ago. Since then, it has branched out across the country and beyond. At any one time, Kogan said, performers all over the world are bringing to life the industry's top talents.

It is a task Streeto knows well. He just recently began another tribute project, Hey Tonight!, which plays the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival.

But Streeto is as fond of taking a seat in the audience as he is of getting behind his drum kit.

"I've been to two `Legends' shows," he said. "I'm a big fan."

The Fox Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino, 350 Trolley Line Boulevard, Mashantucket. Aug. 3-Sept. 4. Mondays, Thursdays-Saturday 8 p.m.; Wednesdays 1, 8 p.m.; Sundays 4 p.m. $30. 800-369-9663, www.foxwoods.com.

Legends show to feature homegrown talent

Some movies are so good we have to show them again. In August 2008, we showed "To Kill a Mockingbird" and, this week, Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch is back on the big screen. In 1960, author Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for this book about the Depression-era South and the people who lived in a small Alabama town. Finch, a lawyer, defends a black man charged with rape. We see the story through the eyes of his young daughter, Scout. Universal Studios took a huge chance that America was ready to know the truth. Horton Foote was chosen to write the screenplay and what a great job he did taking home an Oscar for his efforts. Peck won the Oscar for Best Actor. Elmer Bernstein scored the film that was nominated for 14 Oscars. Robert Duvall plays Boo Radley. This is a movie to bring your young people to see. Now, you can share the story with your entire family.   The Lincoln Theatre will have its third annual clam bake and steak fry Aug. 27. We will serve the food at the historic Massillon Club and then go to the theater for a showing of "Ocean's Eleven" with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Honest Abe's Casino will be open upstairs with live entertainment. We promise a great night. Tickets are $35 and all profits go to maintain your Lions Lincoln Theatre. Call 330-832-0717 for information and tickets. Remember the Lions Lincoln Theatre is the best show in town.   Reviewed by Lynda Blankenship, Lincoln Classic Film Club

At the Lincoln: Peck returns as Atticus Finch in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’B

Need some suggestions for a play list for an up coming party of female artists in the same genre as classic music like Frank Sinatra. we can't seem to come up with any names at the moment. thanks!

K.D. Lang's "Skylark"
Peggy Lee

amy winehouse
sarah vaughn
marilyn monroe
billie holidsay

It seemed an obvious choice to start once again on the syllabus with the worst offenders, and the worst of the worst is I Married a Communist by Philip Roth.

Radio witch hunts and inflammatory press allegations told by a brother from the sidelines …it's not my fave, but I'm glad I got through it.

If you like, try:
The Manchurian Candidate -1962- the Frank Sinatra one , brilliant for surreal scenes depicting brainwashing at costume parties.
The Crucible- 1953- Arthur Miller- same shit different day.
American Pastoral-1997- Philip Roth- gold standard.

We stand all amazed. For the sake of brevity and my paucity of knowledge concerning the other equally important foundational pillars of ‘Music Mankind’, namely country, classical, semi-classical, gospel and jazz, I will only mention them peripherally and trust that no one will take umbrage over my omissions.

Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra

Over the years I watched with interest and amusement as my children, growing up, discovered the likes of Jackie Wilson, P J Proby, The Beatles, and to my surprise, names from the primordial past of the thirties and forties such as the music of Benny Goodman and generation spanners like Sinatra.

When the big band sound was still alive (though on the wane) we were there. It may have been our parent’s music but the swing era gave us kids our first ‘awareness’ that there was something magical called ‘music’ and there was something on the horizon that was about to storm the world.

Music then and now, can tingle the ears and do strange things to charge the body and soul. Ever watch a toddler move to the beat of music? they don’t know what they are hearing, but they know it feels good.

When the first big changes in music hit the radio airways in the early Fifties, my friends and I were there. I can remember sitting transfixed in front of our 19” B & W RCA tube TV watching Joyce Hahn, Wally Koster, Robert Goulet, and The Travellers on Cross Canada Hit Parade (1955 – 60), little understanding the full impact, the extra dimension of life that television was bestowing upon ‘pop’, ‘folk’, and the emerging era of (hail, hail, the new kid in town) rock and roll.

Then came the boogaloo Sixties. This decade lit up the airways with the explosive force of a 20th Century Krakatoa. (Krakatoa, August 27, 1883 was the loudest, most violent volcanic explosion in recorded history.

It was heard around the world.) This twentieth century ‘renaissance’ of music crescendo’d with Motown, the California sound and the ‘British Invasion’. Once again, we war boomers were there to hear it happen.

I, and my best friend grew up in the blue-collar north end of the city of Winnipeg known as West Kildonan. I am like a quote from Themistocles, “I cannot fiddle yet I can make a great state out of a little city”. with this analogy, coupled with all the confidence of a poker player holding four aces, I make the following declaration: The collective sum of my musical abilities might (small might) add up to one. I can keep a reasonable beat on a pair of bongos and that is about it.

The Rockin' R – Randy Bachman

The friend of which I speak is Randy Bachman and as Canada and much of the world knows, when it comes to his musical abilities, on a ten scale he’s an eleven. Ever heard the expression opposites attract? One… eleven… say no more, say no more.

The Rockin’ R is a man who has mastered his craft. Over the span of decades, he has planted flags of accomplishment on the highest summits of The Rocking Mountains.

Flashback: It was the early sixties when his unique guitar licks first charged the airways with “Shakin’ all Over”.

Flash Forward: Last Thursday as he and Fred Turner, the man with a throat like a gravel avalanche, burned the house down at The Commodore. three days later… ear-bleed, face smash during the half-time show at The Grey Cup as they rolled down the highway and took care of business in Edmonchuk while serving notice on the next Pepsi generation that the greatest rock to ever roll was back.

Having a legend of rock and roll as a close friend has been one of the great pleasures in my life. Over the half-century plus that we’ve known each other I have never ceased to be entertained, fascinated, and educated by Randy’s insightful views and his sharing of what goes on behind the words and music of the artists who occupy the hallowed harmonic halls of vinyl and MP3 players. Today, anyone who listens to CBC radio and his hugely popular ‘Randy’s Vinyl Tap’ knows exactly what I am talking about.

In this, and the coming chapters of my ‘Rockin’ Retrospective’, I’ll share some of my favorite stories horded away in my treasure chest of memories. If some of them give you the warm fuzzies… cool! If they trigger fond memories of your own, super cool!! AND, if you decide to share any jewels of thought buried under your own rock pile, that would be uber ice cool.!!! as our Francophone neighbors would say, “Je me souviens… tabernac… je me souviens!” (Dazzled you with my bilingualosity, haven’t I?)

And now… (Gary Peterson drum roll please)… On to The Fifties!

As rock-a-billy introduced the beginnings of rock and roll, it was the insatiable ears of the young who first recognized the signs that there would soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on. Names on the radio (before they were faces on the tube and in the news) like Bill Haley and the Comets, Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, Chuck Berry, little Richard, Richie Valens, and Buddy Holly and of course King Elvis were the vanguard of an air force that was about to bomb the hell out to conservative white music conventionality.

We in Canada were hardly affected, unaware of the how deep the roots of racism had grown in the land of the stars and stripes and were also largely ignorant of the bigoted good old boy mentality that attempted to keep ‘the black music of the devil’ off the radio. in concert with the young music warriors of the day, disc jockeys like Alan Freed courageously fought the good fight and ultimately, sometimes at great sacrifice, were able to prevail. Freed was the Cleveland DJ who recognized how amazing the R & B sound of the day was and who is credited with coining the term ‘rock and roll’.

As a booking agent working for legendary music giants of the west coast, Bruce Allen and Sam Feldman, I had the opportunity and privilege of meeting vinyl deity such as Chuck Berry and little Richard. in the twilight days of The Cave, Vancouver’s landmark nightclub, I called Robert Penniman at his home in L.a. (Robert was little Richard’s brother and manager at the time) and asked him if The Georgia Peach would like to make a return visit to play The Cave.

Little Richard took the phone, and sounding like a kid who had just been given the keys to the candy store, said he would be delighted. The first hint that told me I was speaking with a rare and special human being came when little Richard took what we offered with no negotiating over dates, terms or money. come opening night I sat with the sold out crowd, (needless to say that week, every night, two shows a night, was sold out.) absolutely mesmerized by the music and the showmanship of the gentleman from Georgia.

Maybelline Man – Chuck Berry

( Hard to believe this past summer little Richard celebrated his 78th birthday.) after the show I went backstage to his dressing room where I was completely disarmed and charmed, greeted by the friendliest unprepossessing celebrity I’ve ever met. from the heart, with a sincerity that was emotionally moving, The Man thanked me for bringing him back to “one of my most favorite cities in the whole world”.

In contrast, I cite the time we booked Chuck Berry into Calgary’s hottest show room of the day, Lou Blair’s Refinery. I and my resident agents in cow town had the responsibility of picking Maybelline Man up at the airport and catering to his every whim, of which there were many. in all my years working with music ‘biggies’ I never met a more unfriendly, cold and at times positively rude celebrity as the week Chuck Berry blew into town.

On the other side of the coin however, when Johnny B. Goode hit the stage he gave one of the greatest live performances I ever witnessed. his contract called for a 45 minute set but Chuck Berry sent the audience to rock and roll heaven for a full hour and a half. Even then (this was 1979) the man resembled a dessicated mummy. Yet that skinny, leather-faced black man, one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, unleashed an energy flow and a stage presence that was un…believable.

as a teen-ager, growing up with Elvis was a pleasure but Presley was more of a magnet for the girls than us guys. I liked his music but I loved the old rockers more. from the age of 13 I was also a dancing fool. those were the days of school and community dances where contests were always held and guys loved making moves on the dance floor..Through the teen years guys like Gary Bachman and Eddie Guest and Fred Duna, cool studleys that I hung out with at places like our local Perth Canteen were always competing to see who had the best groove. The Madison, The Continental, The Twist…. oh yah, baby… we were smoother than an Exlax milkshake. Saturday mornings, going down to Winnipeg’s answer to Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, Channel 7’s (CJAY) television studio and being a member of the regular dance crowd on Bob ‘Bug Eye’ Burns’ Teen Dance Party? How cool was that?.The teen-age years of the late fifties and early sixties were exciting years of discovery for all who lived through them. The Kookie comb, the Brylcreem look, brush cuts, boogie cuts, pastel Pat Boone jackets and white bucks, the Elvis gold and silver threaded shirts… the music affected how we dressed and how we felt. ( No different than today, is it?) The music of the Fifties was the axis around which our lives merrily revolved.

Bad memories, like zits, clear up with the passing years and now, only the good ones seem to count. Ricky Nelson, among his multitudinous hit records recorded a song called “The Garden Party”. Search it out on YouTube and listen to the lyrics. We’ll all be there one day, and maybe, just maybe we can relive the early days of rock and roll in the company of those entertainers who first took us there. at least it comforts me to think so….

That's DentertainmentDennis Tkach is a Chilliwack resident who is well-traveled and has a long history in the entertainment business. a music aficionado, a voracious reader and world traveler, his columns can be found on all three Today Media Group community websites regularly.Chilliwack Today

Answers are at the bottom of the page.  

1. Which actress played Rosemary in the famous horror film, "Rosemary's Baby"?

A. Jane Fonda

B. Mia Farrow

C. Tuesday Weld

D. Sharon Tate

2. Which of these movies did not include a scary shower/bathtub scene?

A. "The Grudge"

B. "Psycho"

C. "The Shining"

D. "A Nightmare on Elm Street"

3. What does Linda Blair's character NOT do to scare others in "The Exorcist"?

A. Curse in a high pitched and scratchy female voice

B. Spin her head all the way around

C. Throw pea green soup at people

D. Violently shake the bed

4. What did the star villain in "Halloween" wear?

A. Overalls and a mask

B. Mask and a chainsaw

C. Sackcloth rags

D. Doctor's uniforms

5. What did the director of "The Omen" do to the child actor to make him fit the role of Damien better?

A. Put him on a small diet to make him thinner

B. Dyed his hair black

C. Put him through voice coaching lessons

D. made the child wear dark black contacts

Movie trivia answers

1. B. While Fonda, Weld and Tate were all considered for the role, Farrow had wide television media exposure and was Frank Sinatra's wife at the time, giving her even wider public fame.

2. C. in "The shining," Jack Nicholson's character confronts the bathroom attendant and finds out that his son has a talent that he will use against Nicholson's character, but he is not in the tub or shower.

3. A. Blair's character does all of these things, but when she curses and blasphemes, she does so in a male voice that was dubbed by producers. The revelation that much of her part in the movie used a prop or dubbing cost her what many thought would result in an Academy Award.

4. A. The character of Michael Myers infamously wore overalls and a mask when he attacked his victims using everything from blades to telephone cords.

5. B. Actor Harvey Stephens played Damien. Director Richard Donner had Stephens' naturally blonde hair dyed black to make him appear more sinister.

Top horror movies

1. "Psycho" (1960)

2. "Alien" (1979)

3. "The Shining" (1980)

4. "Diabolique" (1955)

5. "The Thing" (1982)

6. "Rosemary's Baby" (1968)

7. "The Exorcist" (1973)

8. "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920)

9. "Frankenstein" (1931)

10. "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" (1922)

11. "Faust" (1926)

12. "Werckmeister Harmonies" (2000)

13. "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935)

14. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956)

15. "Dawn of the Dead" (1978)

16. "Night of the Living Dead" (1968)

17. "Ghost Stories" (1964)

18. "What ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962)

19. "Onibaba" (1964)

20. "Shaun of the Dead" (2004)

Source: imdb.com

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton © AP

This piece was originally published June 14, 1999, on Time.com.

What romances defined love in the twentieth century? Many come to mind. there was Mrs. Strauss aboard H.M.S. Titanic, refusing to be rescued and declaring, "we have been living together for many years. where you go, I go." Then there was actress Marion Davies. when her lover, publisher William Randolph Hearst, fell on hard times, she sold off her real estate, stocks and jewelry to keep his creditors at bay. there was the scandal of Charlie Chaplin, who married the very young Oona O'Neill and actually got to live happily ever after with her. and of course Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, battling and drinking in their epic '50s melodrama. Ernest Hemingway said all great love affairs end in tragedy: either disillusion sets in and people "settle" or separate, or one member of the affair dies, leaving the other alone. By that reckoning, all romances are equal, the more famous ones no better, no worse, no more desperate or idealistic than thousands of others. But five relationships kept us spellbound in the twentieth century. Extraordinary because of the attention we lavished on them, they are our emblems of that most irrational of emotions and our insights into what we expected of our own hearts.ANNE MORROW AND CHARLES LINDBERGHHe was America's first hero of the century. she was the shy, self-conscious daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Together they were one of America's first celebrity couples in a media-crazy century. with his encouragement, she wrote memoirs of their life that made her one of the country's most popular and famous diarists. Early in the relationship, as Anne wrote ecstatically in 1928, when the couple were "together, alone – all gold, that extra golden bloom over everything!" But, as Lindbergh's biographer A. Scott Berg writes, "Their 'storybook romance,' as the press always presented it, was, in fact, a complex case history of control and repression, filled with joy and passion and grief and rage." Lindbergh wanted his wife to be an independent, modern woman – and yet he wanted to remain the focus and center of her life. she stuck with him through heartbreak and controversy, including the murder of their son and Charles' infatuation with Hitler's Germany. But she was capable of quiet rebellion. she made Charles jealous by becoming smitten with French aviator and writer Antoine de St.-Exupery in 1939. in the '50s, as the marriage stagnated, she allowed a friendship with her doctor to blossom into a short-lived affair. But though Anne believed she and Charles were "badly mated," she deliberately chose to play the role of the hero's wife. as her daughter Reeve told Berg, "Mother enjoyed wearing her hair shirt." Reeve wrote in her own memoir, "it was sometimes an uneasy and uncomfortable union, but my belief, nonetheless, is that neither one of my parents felt fully alive, or truly like himself or herself, unless the other one was there."GERTRUDE STEIN AND ALICE B. TOKLASAvant-garde writer and culture impresario Gertrude Stein was a stolid, heavy presence, monolithic, unladylike. she liked to gossip and had a great laugh. she boxed with welterweights for exercise. Art expert Bernard Berenson described her as looking "like a statue from Ur of the Chaldees." Alice B. Toklas was a chain smoker with a slight mustache, given to exotic dress, Gypsy earrings and manicured nails. they met in Paris in 1907. Alice, 29, found Gertrude, 33, "a golden brown presence." Gertrude insisted that Alice had heard bells heralding Stein's "greatness." Alice said Gertrude was simply struck by love at first sight.

Who's been sniffing the Elmer's glue? according to The Times, Oscar winners George Clooney and Angelina Jolie are set to play two of Old Hollywood's biggest icons in a feature film. Can you imagine Clooney as the smooth, yet rustic Frank Sinatra? Or how about Jolie as the voluptuous yet vulnerable Marilyn Monroe? If you can't, you should try because that's exactly what's going to happen.

Clooney and Jolie will play the actors in an upcoming adaptation of the book, The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend, Marilyn Monroe. you can let out a mild sigh of relief knowing that this isn't that highly anticipated Martin Scorsese biopic that we're talking about. The book centers on the final two years of Monroe's life taken from the perspective of her Maltese terrier, a dog that was given to her by Sinatra in 1960.

Besides following the tabloid worthy events of the actresses' life the book also covers several historical moments from the 20th century. There's also a little bit of John F. Kennedy thrown in for good measure. we all know when there's a Monroe story he's never too far behind.

Author Andrew O'Hagan announced at the Edinburgh International Book Festival that the book is set for release this December, but no director is attached to the film adaptation as of yet.

What do you think of Clooney and Jolie playing Sinatra and Jolie? good or bad decision?

Keim also portrayed a daughter having trouble communicating withher divorced mom Ginger Rogers in "Teenage Rebel" (1956) afterperforming the role a year earlier opposite Patricia Neal in the Broadway version, "A Roomful of Roses."

In her early 20s and at the height of her young career, Keimmarried actor Warren Berlinger in 1959 and retired from showbusiness to raise a family.

In a rarity, Keim had a contract with two studios, MGM and Fox. Shemade "These Wilder Years" (1956) with Barbara Stanwyck and JamesCagney, "Wayward Bus" (1957) and "Some came Running" during thisperiod.

A native of Malden, Mass., Keim appeared on Broadway in "StrangeFruit" and then "Crime and Punishment" with John Gielgud beforelanding a key role in the Johnny Mercer 1949 musical "Texas Li'lDarlin'."

On early television, Keim appeared on such shows as "My Son Jeep"and "The Philco Television Playhouse." Her last acting job was in "The Deputy," a Henry Fonda TV series that ran 1959-61.

In addition to Berlinger — who also appeared in "Roomful of Roses"and "Teenage Rebel" — Keim is survived by children Lisa, David, Edward and Elizabeth and eight grandchildren.

Donations in her name can be made to the Red Cross or the MotionPicture & Television Fund.

Actress Betty Lou Keim dies