Thursday, June 03, 2010

A Woman and A Man

A book-signing event for Belinda Carlisle's new juicy* new memoir, "Lips Unsealed," was given a fun New York twist yesterday at the Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side with Sandra Bernhard conducting a talk-show-style interview with everyone's favorite Go-Go. Although I'd already read the book -- my friend Matt had a review copy, which I read in two sittings over the weekend -- I gladly shelled out the required 28 bucks to ensure a seat to see two of my favorite performers (good friends in real life, as you'll learn in the book) in a little pre-signing tete a tete. I don't believe in book "reviews" that give away all of the good stuff, but I will say that within the first two pages we learn that Belinda was a fan of Anton LaVey's "Satanic Bible" (comes in handy for when you wanna put spells on cute boys you like) and was a coke-head until just a couple years ago (so much for her "getting sober" when "Belinda" came out in '86) and she addresses just about every bit of gossip you've ever heard about her -- and then some.

Sandra was sharp and funny, but reiterated why she's best as a monologist rather than a talk-show host (read: Belinda barely got a word in edgewise -- and need I remind you about "The Sandra Bernhard Project"?). It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Belinda is a bit shy -- most of her what she said was almost verbatim from the book -- but Sandra was finally able to draw out of her a couple new tidbits, like how Belinda thinks Elizabeth Taylor didn't like her when they met back in the day. She never really explained why, but she did say that hubby Morgan Mason starred as a child opposite La Liz and, at the request of Life magazine, took countless behind-the-scenes photos of the screen legend, who happened to like to fill her thermos with liquor. (Another fun moment was when Belinda mentioned working with Brian Wilson on her album "A Woman and A Man" and, like, three people started cheering for her 1996 release, to which she replied, "Come on, it really wasn't that good.")

The book is definitely not something that would be of interest to anyone who's not a Go-Go's fan. But if you've got -- or ever had -- the beat, you won't wanna miss this one.



* I've since learned she censored what really happen to not include other band members' drug use. While it may seem noble, you can't help but question the veracity of EVERYTHING in a book that cherry picks how much truth to tell.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have been pictured with other celebs, but this is the first time that I am green with envy. G-R-E-E-N!!!!!

nojarama said...

Congratsarama! Me & my childhood friend, Betz are very jealous of you hanging out with both gals!

Anonymous said...

Sandra has always been hid-E-ous.

But what up with B?

Too much sun? Botox?

Greg Hernandez said...

Great post Kenneth! I love when you get to meet your faves!