Liza With the T

 

Liza Minnelli's memoir is heading to a bookstore near you, although this has "the audiobook will be even better" written all over it!

She writes:

On March 10, my book "Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!" finally arrives in the world. I’m spillin' the tea and tellin' the truth about my life - from “Original Nepo Baby” to carving out my own lane as an artist. It honors my father, my mother, my family… and all but one of my husbands!

My book began as a series of recorded conversations with my dearest friend, Michael Feinstein, over the past 15 years. I used to say, “Michael, tell it when I’m gone!” Yet, as countless people I loved lost their lives to drugs and alcohol, I knew it was time to open up and truly let you inside my heart.

In these pages, I share my loves, heartbreaks, triumphs, the laughter that keeps me going, and my lifelong challenges with what we now call SUD (Substance Use Disorder) - and yes, how I’ve thrived in recovery for over 10 years. If my book helps even one person find their way to healing, then telling my story is worth it. I'm taking all the tremendous love you’ve shown me over the years and giving it right back to you.

The first signed editions of my book sold out immediately … You've asked for more, so it's back to my desk! Kids, I turn 80 in March, so I can’t keep signing forever. I invite everyone who connects with me here to be aware that we have a limited number of signed copies. If you'd like, we'll share my life, my memories, my recovery, my joy and my love for you.

Order HERE.

Impulse Purchase

 

Love it -- but where's Dagwood? Prints available HERE.

P.S. I'm really starting to look forward to Chris Stein's coming memoir, "Under a Rock," which promises to far more detailed than what Debbie Harry's editor was able to drag out of her!

"The recording took six weeks. The final session found everyone half asleep on the Record Plant floor at 6 a.m."

"It was a great apartment… I’d shipped a Teac four-track back from Tokyo, the first one I owned, and I set up in the living room using a kitchen appliance rack for gear." 

Stocking Stuffers: 15 LGBT Books to Gift This Christmas

A book always makes a great present -- especially with less than two weeks to shop before Christmas. See my suggestions BELOW.

Memoirs of a Narcissist (or Two)

Surprised Damian by taking him to see "Celebrity Autobiography" at the Triad Theater last night -- and I don't think I've ever seen him laugh so hard. For the uninitiated, the show features a rotating group of stars who read from, you guessed it, celebrity autobiographies. And without changing a single word, the results are uproarious! 

Rachel Dratch

Steven Weber 

Mario Cantone 

Tate Donovan and Cecily Strong

Cecily Strong

Mario Cantone and Alan Zweibel

The less I say about it the more hilarious it will be when you go. Check for upcoming shows HERE!

Confessions of a Casting Director

Is this my next read? 

Joel Thurm -- a casting director who famously put John Travolta in "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" then went on to cast everything from "Grease," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Airplane" to "The Bob Newhart Show," "Taxi" and "The Golden Girls" -- has a juicy new memoir out: "Sex, Drugs and Pilot Season."

In it, he details sexual encounters with both Rock Hudson and Robert Reed -- yet doesn't seem to have anything on Vinnie Barbarino ... who just happened to give him a blurb. (A quid pro homo, perhaps?) 

Page Six reports that Thurm writes that he and Rock Hudson locked eyes at an industry house party in the ’70s for the first full-length, big-budget, gay-porn flick called “Boys in the Sand.” The "Giant" star, who was one of Thurn's childhood crushes, beckoned him to follow him into a bedroom.

However, once they were alone, Thurm “couldn’t get it up” for Hudson.

“I was embarrassed and mortified … getting it up was a specialty of mine,” Thurm, now 80, explains with a laugh. “I couldn’t do it because he was Rock Hudson! It so intimidated me. Someone said, ‘Well, why didn’t you just blow him?’ I said, ‘Because I was too …’ I couldn’t do anything.” Thurm claims that the “Pillow Talk” star was unperturbed by the failed sexual encounter as “it had happened to him before.”

Despite the blip with Hudson, Page Six writes that the casting honcho claims to have had a more successful rendezvous with Robert Reed, who was best known for playing Mike Brady on “The Brady Bunch.” At the time, Thurm had cast and was producing the 1976 TV movie “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble,” starring a young John Travolta. He claims that Reed was irked at having to play second fiddle to Travolta and particularly incensed by having to have his hair kinked and then unkinked twice -- a laborious process -- in one day. In an effort to smooth things over, Thurm allegedly went to Reed’s dressing room.

“It was known [that he was gay],” Thurm says. “But I didn’t go in there with the intention of that. I went in there with the intention of just, ‘Hey, thank you for putting up with what we have to do … “And then, I don’t know, I just started rubbing his back. I thought, ‘Well that’s what you do in a situation like that.’ I had no intention of anything more than that. But he seemed to respond.”

Thurm notes with a laugh that after the assignation Reed “went back to being the same prick he was before.”

"Sex, Drugs and Pilot Season" is available HERE.

Ted Danson and Marilu Henner turned out for Joel's event last Friday at Book Soup in West Hollywood, where I had my book own signing in 2014!

Still 'Koo Koo' for Debbie Harry

Chris Stein reports on Twitter that he just signed off on his U.S. book deal for his memoir -- this is going to be good! -- that the new Blondie album is terrific ("if I do say so myself) and the Debbie/Giger book with all the intel on their collaboration with him is out in April 

I joked to my friend that this was the book "dozens have been clamoring for" as I reached for my book about the film "Union City"(!). 

Exciting times to be a Blondie fan! Pre-order HERE.

Speedo Sunday

 

Here's a special retro post, to celebrate the release of “well-endowed, blond top twink” Shawn Mayotte's NEW MEMOIR!

Page 1 Roundup (11/11)

 

The Daily News: 'This girl is the devil’: 15-year-old Bronx girl, teen accomplice busted for friend’s fatal stabbing over sexually explicit photos

Pompeo joins Trump, Barr, Mitch in pathetic bid to flip elections

Towleroad: Shocker! Postal worker recanted allegations of ballot tampering, officials say

Gr8er Days: Watch almost the entire cast of 'Family Ties' (minus Mallory) reunite

Beantown Cubano: Johnny Diaz gives us an update on life post-heart surgery

It's Either Sadness or Bookphoria: A gay review of 'A Very Punchable Face' by Colin Jost

Instagram: Remembering the gay clones

Dlisted: Who is October's hot slut of the month?

Reuters: Viggo Mortensen defends decision to play gay role in new film ‘Falling’

Greg in Hollywood: YouTube hottie Andrew Neighbors shares his ideas about gay dating during the pandemic

New York Post: NYPD retirements surge past 2019 levels, new report shows

 School board president resigns over wife’s racist tweets about Kamala Harris

NewNowNext: Everything you need to know about butt-care products

The Washington Post: Biden speaks on health care, calls Trump refusal to concede ‘an embarrassment’

Vatican’s McCarrick report says Pope John Paul II knew of misconduct allegations nearly two decades before cardinal’s removal

The New York Times: Not counting Trump and his cronies, election officials nationwide find no fraud

Key justices signal support for Affordable Care Act

The Wall Street Journal: UPS lifts ban on beards in diversity push

When pigs fly, they want drinks, leg room

Penthouse at No. 1 Grosvenor Square sells for £140 million

Hot Cat of the Day: Harvey needs this kitty's crocheted couch, stat!

Song of the Day: 'Aie a Mwana' by Bananarama

 

Anyone interested enough to read this is probably already a member of the Bananarama Facebook group from which I stole these photos. But it was nice to (finally) learn who recorded the original version of "Aie a Mwana," the quirky song the gals decided to cover as their first single. 

[The song] was first recorded in 1971 under the title "Aieaoa" by the Yamasuki Singers on the album "Le Monde fabuleux des Yamasuki." In 1975, a version with predominantly Swahili lyrics by Black Blood, an African group recording in Belgium, was released as "A.I.E. (A Mwana)". (The Swahili version also appeared in a football video game, "Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.)" In 1981, "Aie a Mwana" became the first single released by English girl group Bananarama. In 2010, with an identical melody but new lyrics and released as "Helele," it became an official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in a version by Velile and Safri Duo.

Have a listen to the other versions, below. But first check out this adorable Zoom interview on the Australian "60 Minutes," where Sara and Keren discuss their 40 years in music -- "including stints as a trio"(!) -- and their new memoir, "Really Saying Something." 

Listening options HERE.

Yohancé Salimu: The Real Enemy Was Always Poverty

The buzz is good for Y.A. Salimu's upcoming memoir, "Underprivileged Overachiever A Crenshaw Story." described as the inspiring saga of a boy who grew up amidst poverty, gang warfare and drugs in South Los Angeles. With nerve and resilience, he broke through and realized his dreams, graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy, with a degree in Geospatial Science and becoming an Air Force pilot.  

At age 14, I ran away, but not from home -- because I never had one to begin with. At school I participated in every sport, club, and after-school activity, so that when the other kids finally left, I could settle in for the night by my locker. I spent my childhood dealing with gangs, drugs, violence, and my mother's mental illness, but the real enemy was always poverty.

Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times writes: "This story is shocking for its honesty. It might need a warning label before parents allow their teenagers to read. But it's a compelling read and one that provides insights into today's daily struggles for families seeking a path to a better life."

I was curious what that might mean -- as horrifying as gangs and violence are, they usually don't elicit this kind of warning -- then a friend who has already read the book wrote to say:

"Underprivileged Overachiever" has one surprise chapter. This handsome hunk picks up a pretty girl and they go back to her place. They have sex -- and she is really a gay male cross dresser who rapes him. It’s a humbling moment in his life ... he’s very forthcoming about it and the episode is related without homophobia.

Pre-order your copy HERE.

Song of the Day: 'He Was Really Saying Something' by the Velvelettes

Two-thirds of legendary British girl group Bananarama will tell their story in a memoir due out in this fall. Named after the girls' first top-billed hit, "Really Saying Something" was actually a cover of an old Motown song by the Velvelettes that surprisingly stalled at No. 64 on the Billboard singles chart. (It reached No. 21 on the R&B charts. Perhaps the book will explain how the Ramas ever came across it.) 

Super Deluxe writes that the memoir tells the story of how the two best friends arrived at the YWCA in London in the early 1980s, with their sights set on careers in journalism and the media. But with a vibrant social scene (!) and a chance meeting with former Sex Pistol Paul Cook, things changed. Working from Malcolm McLaren’s old office, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward started rehearsing and singing backing vocals for Paul’s new band, before teaming up with Sara’s college friend Siobhan Fahey, and forming their own group. The rest, as they say, is (pop) history as the girls become one of the most successful female bands of all time. The publishers say that "Really Saying Something" is the story of “two friends who continue to pursue their dreams their way -- and have a great time doing it.”

The book is due in October and is available for pre-order in many countries. Sadly, the U.S. is not one of them, at least so far.

The 1964 Velvelettes version.

A mashup of the original and the 1982 Bananarama/Fun Boy Three version

Wasn't Tomorrow 'Wonderful' Again?

I happened to notice my 2014 memoir, "Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?," is suddenly selling again on Amazon. Thanks to everyone who has bought it -- and for those of you looking for something to read while sheltering-in-place, might I humbly recommend it now? Order HERE.

P.S. Always appreciate a new review on Amazon. The more a book gets, the more play it receives in Jeff Bezos Land! 

Valentine's Day

If you're not already wanting to read Kathy Valentine's rock 'n' roll memoir, "All I Ever Wanted," this new trailer should do the trick. Blondie fans will especially appreciate details in the pages about the Go-Go's bassist's relationship with drummer Clem Burke.

Order HERE.

Mama Mia, That's a Spicy Memoir!

I hope this Harvey doesn't get blacklisted for posing with the long-awaited autobiography by Woody Allen, which I can't wait to dig into.

On This Day in Herstory: The Go-Go's Sign Deal With IRS Records

If what transpired at Kelbo's Tiki Hut in Hollywood on April 1, 1981, is as significant to you as it is for me, there's no better place to read all about it than HERE.

Thirty-nine years ago today, #thegogos signed a recording contract with IRS Records at Kelbo's Tiki Hut.
"The only sure way for a small company to get ahead is to take chances. But, we don't feel like we're doing that with the Go-Go's. They're a safe bet." --Miles Copeland pic.twitter.com/CvMX5TOqzU

— The Go-Go's (@officialgogos) April 1, 2020

It's Everything but Party (in Person) Time

ICYMI: Kathy Valentine will celebrate the release of "All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir' today at 7 p.m. Central time. Details HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Camouflage' by Kathy Valentine

Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine's long-awaited memoir, "All I Ever Wanted," finally comes out this week, and I sure feel for my pal as it has to be hard to not be able to promote it the way she wanted to with live events and face-to-face conversations. Still, she's getting some incredible press -- I've read it and it's a real page-turner! -- and not just for the book. The quixotic accompanying soundtrack is out now, too.

Billboard: Kathy Valentine on Writing Her Memoir and Rejoining the Go-Go's

Icon vs. Icon: Kathy Valentine on Bringing Her Rock 'n' Roll Memoir to Life

Houston Press: Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's Reveals All She Ever Wanted

Listen to the soundtrack on Spotify HERE.

Listen to Kathy on "WTF With Marco Maron" HERE. 

#TimesUp, Mia: Woody Allen Memoir ‘Apropos of Nothing’ Released by New Publisher

Bravo to Arcade Publishing (an imprint of Sky Horse Publishing) for releasing Woody Allen's long overdue memoir, "Apropos of Nothing." (I ordered my copy but it quickly went out of stock everywhere.) The book reportedly tackles all subjects, including Mia Farrow's dubious allegations that he molested daughter Dylan one time -- and one time only(?!!) -- in the immediate aftermath of Farrow's discovery that he was having an unseemly sexual affair with her adopted daughter. 

To which crimes are you referring, Ronan? Two separate investigations -- not to mention common sense -- cleared your father of any wrongdoing. And one strongly suggested your mother was culpable.

Jeannette Seaver, an editor who acquired the book, said that Arcade decided to publish the book not only on the merits of the material, but also on principle, to take a stand against Mr. Allen’s critics. 

“In this strange time, when truth is too often dismissed as ‘fake news,’ we as publishers prefer to give voice to a respected artist, rather than bow to those determined to silence him,” she said in a statement. “We firmly believe in upholding the right to freedom of speech in the world of publishing and, as a result, we’re pleased to support not only this terrific book but also -- and even more importantly -- this democratic principle."

The timing couldn't be any more perfect during this pandemic-induced period of self-isolation -- can't wait to dig in!

Description:

In this candid and often hilarious memoir, the celebrated director, comedian, writer, and actor offers a comprehensive, personal look at his tumultuous life. Beginning with his Brooklyn childhood and his stint as a writer for the Sid Caesar variety show in the early days of television, working alongside comedy greats, Allen tells of his difficult early days doing standup before he achieved recognition and success. With his unique storytelling pizzazz, he recounts his departure into moviemaking, with such slapstick comedies as "Take the Money and Run," and revisits his entire, sixty-year-long, and enormously productive career as a writer and director, from his classics "Annie Hall," "Manhattan" and "Hannah and Her Sisters" to his most recent films, including "Midnight in Paris." Along the way, he discusses his marriages, his romances and famous friendships, his jazz playing, and his books and plays. We learn about his demons, his mistakes, his successes, and those he loved, worked with, and learned from in equal measure. This is a hugely entertaining, deeply honest, rich and brilliant self-portrait of a celebrated artist who is ranked among the greatest filmmakers of our time.

Note to publisher: Congrats on nabbing the memoir of the year. But please fix your promotional materials that refer to his 1986 film as "Annie and Her Sisters." Yikes!