Morning Wood

Happy Birthday, Olivia Newton-John!

 Years before Debbie Harry, my younger self was madly in love with another older blonde -- one born in England but an Aussie through and through. My elementary-school years were spent saving up change to buy Olivia's latest albums -- usually $4.99 at Korevettes -- which I would listen to nonstop on the hi-fi in my family's (unfinished) rec room in the basement of our house on East 13 Mile Road, while dreaming of being with her. She could do no wrong -- from Bob Dylan covers (""If Not for You") and Broadway show tunes ("Don't Cry for Me, Argentina") to the endless list of hits by her writer/producer John Farrar (from "Have You Never Been Mellow," "Don't Stop Believin'," "Hopelessly Devoted to You,: "Magic"). In what was perhaps a prelude to my leaving her for Deb as a teen,  my favorite period of Olivia was her post-"Grease" grown-up look, best exemplified by the "Totally Hot" album in 1979. I just thought Olivia was spectacular -- totally hot, you might say! -- in her leather pants and stiletto heels, and the single "A Little More Love" was as haunting as it was catchy. (And "Boats Against the Current" always made me dream of being in a doomed relationship!) Oddly, by the time "Physical" came out -- her biggest success ever -- I didn't even buy it. (My friend Greg had it so I would just listen to it when I was at his house.) By then I was knee-deep in Debbie, Chrissie Hynde and Romeo Void, and ready for the New Wave invasion that was right around the corner. Happy birthday, Livvy. Your plastic surgery is freaky, but I love you just the same!

P.S. I hear ONJ is touring soon, although Jersey and Long Island seem to be as close as she's getting to the city. I saw her in 2005 and she was a hoot, but I don't think I'd "travel" for a show that included zero songs from my favorite album. (To hear "Deeper Than the Night" live just once ... )

UPDATE: See comments section for surprising set list info!

All Right, Mr. DeMille: 'Sunset Boulevard' Is Ready for Its Blu-Ray

In general, I don't collect movies anymore. But if I were going to replace one of my VHS classics, it would be Billy Wilder's "Sunset Boulevard," which is about to receive the royal Blu-ray treatment. From a release:

SUNSET BOULEVARD Blu-ray
The SUNSET BOULEVARD Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English Mono Dolby TrueHD, French Mono Dolby Digital, Spanish Mono Dolby Digital, Portuguese Mono Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.  Disc contents are as follows:

• Commentary by Ed Sikov, author of On Sunset Blvd: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder

• Sunset Boulevard: The Beginning

• Sunset Boulevard: A Look Back

• The Noir Side of Sunset Boulevard

• Sunset Boulevard Becomes a Classic

• Two Sides of Ms. Swanson

• Stories of Sunset Boulevard

• Mad About the Boy: A Portrait of William Holden

• Recording Sunset Boulevard

• The City of Sunset Boulevard

• Franz Waxman and the Music of Sunset Boulevard

• Morgue Prologue Script Pages

• Deleted Scene—“The Paramount-Don’t-Want-Me Blues” (HD)

• Hollywood Location Map

• Behind the Gates: The Lot

• Edith Head: The Paramount Years

• Paramount in the ‘50s

• Galleries:

• Production

• The Movie

• Publicity

• Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Order yours HERE.

RIP, Andy Williams

   Sad to read the great* Andy Williams just died at 84. He won't be forgotten. If it's not "Moon River" it's the English Beat's cover of "Can't Get Used to Losing You" blasting at my house. And of course, his classic Christmas album, which ranks only behind Old Blue Eyes'! RIP, Andy. Read his New York Times obit HERE -- and pay close attention to the Lauren Bacall "job"!!!!

* Yes, he became a cranky old white guy who accused President Obama of being a Marxist. Seeing as I never had one, I'll go ahead and give him the "grandfather pass" on that period of his life. Plus he stood by his ex-wife when she was involved in one of the most glamorous murders of all time!

Kiss and Tel

In honor of Yom Kippur, thought I would share some photos from my pal Jason Rowan's recent trip to Tel Aviv. which he documented for Logo Online. If you're anything like me, you're going to be asking for an extra day of atonement once you get done looking at some of these guys. His blog report HERE.

German Engineering

 Here's KIT212 favorite Tommy Haas with American hopeful Jack Sock, who tweeted this photo after a practice session with the veteran in L.A.