Wednesday, February 22, 2006
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NEVER BE A STAR WHEN YOU'RE A KID.
Two Cowsills in six months -- damn! They're dropping faster than the Ramones...
If I was in the Partridge Family, I'd be making an appointment for a physical...
When I was a kid I really liked the Cowsills. I think it's because they were kids like me, and they could play their instruments. Of course, they weren't allowed to do that in the STUDIO, fer gosh sakes, but they were always decent on TV.
And, although all of their hits were penned by professional songwriters, the rest of the songs on their albums were written by the brothers. (I'm not a big fan but I do know that what few songs I've heard that were written by them were more "filler" stuff than the stuff of hits. They even did a concept album in the late 60s -- based on the book of Revelation -- that even JESUS wouldn't buy.)
However, all was not happy in Mudville. One of the very first VH1 "Behind the Music" shows was about the Cowsills, and none of them had a nice thing to say about their days as a family group. They were pushed into it by their dad, against their will, when he noticed they had some talent. They were never happy and when the bubble finally burst ("The Partridge Family" was originally designed for them, but they proved to be horrible actors) after their last hit (ironically, a number-one smash cover of "Hair"), they each went off to their own unhappy drug puddle.
Mom Cowsill died about 20 years ago. Since then, the only one you might have heard about was little sister Susan, who grew up, married one of REM's producers, Peter Holsapple, and started a band called Continental Drifters with him and Vickie Peterson of the Bangles. (Their first album is fantastic. Try to find a used copy somewhere.)
And then Hurricane Katrina washed away Barry Cowsill, the one the whole family was worried about because he just wasn't "right in the haid." And then I see that Bill Cowsill, who was the lead singer for the group, died from emphysema and a bunch of other maladies that were basically brought on through too much chemical abuse over the years. On the VH1 show, you could tell they'd all been down some hard roads. Nearly every other word from their mouths had to be bleeped and they had clearly never forgiven their father, who was by that time long dead. Susan Cowsill summed it up at the end of the show, saying something like: "If you have a dream about making your kids live your rock-and-roll fantasies, do everyone a favor and go kill yourself."
If you need any other reason why you shouldn't be famous when you're young, I actually have footage of the Cowsills near their demise in 1969, appearing on a show called "Music Scene," and mouthing their latest post-Hair flop of a single, a cover of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles." It is obvious that NONE of them, not even Mom, wants to be there.
RIP, Bill and Barry. And the rest of you -- get some therapy.
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Bryant Gumbel's comments about the Winter Olympics being nothing but a commercial enterprise were, I thought, a little bit outrageous. But he did make some good points, especially about announcers having to look like they "give a damn" about sports for which they know little and care even less.
I haven't watched too much but I did see some of the skating this year but wasn't near a TV when Sasha Cohen was on and my wife said that was the best part.
I LOVED that Dutch speed skater about a week back who left everybody else in the dust.
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It's funny how the speed skaters' full-body suits tend to make everybody look like each other. Then the race is over, the hood comes off and holy cow, there's a real person in there!
TT
NEVER BE A STAR WHEN YOU'RE A KID.
Two Cowsills in six months -- damn! They're dropping faster than the Ramones...
If I was in the Partridge Family, I'd be making an appointment for a physical...
When I was a kid I really liked the Cowsills. I think it's because they were kids like me, and they could play their instruments. Of course, they weren't allowed to do that in the STUDIO, fer gosh sakes, but they were always decent on TV.
And, although all of their hits were penned by professional songwriters, the rest of the songs on their albums were written by the brothers. (I'm not a big fan but I do know that what few songs I've heard that were written by them were more "filler" stuff than the stuff of hits. They even did a concept album in the late 60s -- based on the book of Revelation -- that even JESUS wouldn't buy.)
However, all was not happy in Mudville. One of the very first VH1 "Behind the Music" shows was about the Cowsills, and none of them had a nice thing to say about their days as a family group. They were pushed into it by their dad, against their will, when he noticed they had some talent. They were never happy and when the bubble finally burst ("The Partridge Family" was originally designed for them, but they proved to be horrible actors) after their last hit (ironically, a number-one smash cover of "Hair"), they each went off to their own unhappy drug puddle.
Mom Cowsill died about 20 years ago. Since then, the only one you might have heard about was little sister Susan, who grew up, married one of REM's producers, Peter Holsapple, and started a band called Continental Drifters with him and Vickie Peterson of the Bangles. (Their first album is fantastic. Try to find a used copy somewhere.)
And then Hurricane Katrina washed away Barry Cowsill, the one the whole family was worried about because he just wasn't "right in the haid." And then I see that Bill Cowsill, who was the lead singer for the group, died from emphysema and a bunch of other maladies that were basically brought on through too much chemical abuse over the years. On the VH1 show, you could tell they'd all been down some hard roads. Nearly every other word from their mouths had to be bleeped and they had clearly never forgiven their father, who was by that time long dead. Susan Cowsill summed it up at the end of the show, saying something like: "If you have a dream about making your kids live your rock-and-roll fantasies, do everyone a favor and go kill yourself."
If you need any other reason why you shouldn't be famous when you're young, I actually have footage of the Cowsills near their demise in 1969, appearing on a show called "Music Scene," and mouthing their latest post-Hair flop of a single, a cover of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles." It is obvious that NONE of them, not even Mom, wants to be there.
RIP, Bill and Barry. And the rest of you -- get some therapy.
------
Bryant Gumbel's comments about the Winter Olympics being nothing but a commercial enterprise were, I thought, a little bit outrageous. But he did make some good points, especially about announcers having to look like they "give a damn" about sports for which they know little and care even less.
I haven't watched too much but I did see some of the skating this year but wasn't near a TV when Sasha Cohen was on and my wife said that was the best part.
I LOVED that Dutch speed skater about a week back who left everybody else in the dust.
------
It's funny how the speed skaters' full-body suits tend to make everybody look like each other. Then the race is over, the hood comes off and holy cow, there's a real person in there!
TT
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