Peter Krause Helping to Make TV Safe for Smart People by Jay S. Jacobs The fall of 1998 was a tough time for television comedy. The networks tried to come up with a plan for post-Seinfeld TV, but the best they seemed to be able to come up with were tired retreads like Jesse, Two of a Kind and Maggie … Continue reading
Jimmy Webb All He Knows… by Ronald Sklar If you are under thirty and have even the slightest retro sensibility, chances are you are familiar with the classic pop songs of Jimmy Webb, and good for you. And if you are over thirty, endlessly toiling in an office and music appreciation is just a faint … Continue reading
Tony Burrows The Greatest Singer Whose Name You’ve Never Heard by Jay S. Jacobs Tony Burrows. You may not know the name, but you know the voice. Burrows is quite probably the greatest voice of seventies pop. He’s definitely the only singer in history to have four top forty singles with four groups in the … Continue reading
BOBBY VEE SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE BY RONALD SKLAR Rock and roll is cram-packed with ironic stories. Read the bio of almost any artist and you’ll find the woulda-coulda-shoulda tale of how he almost became an accountant. And prefacing almost every Top 10 hit is the tiresome fable of how the song nearly wound up … Continue reading
Debbie Gibson Shocks Your Mama by Jay S. Jacobs (PopEntertainment.com Archives: This interview was conducted in 1994 when Debbie’s fourth album was released.) Debbie Gibson played a stripper in the video for her recent single, “Losin’ Myself.” Her current single is called “Shock Your Mama” and the promo clip features Debbie in a scantily clad … Continue reading
Sixpence None the Richer – There She Goes by Jay S. Jacobs Originally posted on June 14, 1999. Sixpence None the Richer are just one of a long, storied tradition in music– the overnight sensation that had been toiling away in obscurity on the sidelines for years. Sixpence – which is made up of singer Leigh … Continue reading
Alan Rafkin The King of Nick at Nite by Ronald Sklar “I’m still working,” sixty-eight-year-old Alan Rafkin says. “They’ll have to carry me out in a body bag.” If you had his job, they would drag you out kicking and screaming too. Alan Rafkin is a TV sitcom director. And not just another forgotten name … Continue reading
Gregg Oppenheimer He Loves Lucy by Ronald Sklar Dig this if you can. It’s a Monday night in 1954 and you want to go clothes shopping. Forget it, daddy-o. All the stores in town are closed for the evening and you look like a damned fool for being the only idiot walking the streets. And … Continue reading
Peabo Bryson Feel The Fire by Jay S. Jacobs The first time I listened to Peabo Bryson’s music – I mean really listened to it – was the spring of 1984. I was at Pennsylvania State University on a date with Denise, a girl with whom I thought I might just be in love. Before going out, … Continue reading
Elwood Reid He Didn’t Six By Ronald Sklar Elwood Reid and I have formed the I-Love-Richard-Price Club. You already may (and should) know that Richard Price (The Wanderers, Ladies’ Man, Blood Brothers and Clockers) is the most brilliant working-class writer who ever lived. Elwood and I worship and adore him. So, kids: now you know the yin-yang of … Continue reading
