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Gordon Glantz is the managing editor of the Times Herald and an award winning columnist.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Madman Across The Water

When Elton John provided the musical entertainment for Rush Limbaugh's 44th wedding, I reserved judgment (nice of me, since I know both were holding their collective breath). While it seemed odd from a distance, a closer look revealed that Limbaugh -- conservative nutcase that he is -- does not join some of his brethren in gay-bashing. Moreover, Sir Elton took the funds from the gig and flipped them straight into his AIDS Foundation.

Elton John, my favorite performer in my pre-Springsteen period, has again made headlines -- and defied pretzel logic -- by refusing to pull the plug on a scheduled concert in Tel Aviv.

As the rest of the world goes with the flow of following its natural instinct to hate on Israel (code word for Jews), with the rationale being the misunderstood but regrettable flotilla raid on a humanitarian ship carrying aid to the Gaza strip, John refused to follow the path of Elvis Costello and The Pixies and boycott the scheduled concert that drew 50,000 fans (many of whom may not even agree with the policies of its right-leaning, hard-line government).

According to the Jerusalem Post, he performed in Tel Aviv on Thursday despite "pressure" from human rights groups.

"Shalom, we are so happy to be back here! Ain't nothing gonna stop us from coming, baby," John said during his performance.

He added: "Musicians spread love and peace, and bring people together. That's what we do. We don't cherry-pick our conscience."

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Don't Say You Don't Remember

I have been tinkering with my screenplay about my summers at the Jersey shore for about, oh, 25 years now. The title has changed from "The P of President" to "That's What People Do" to "Down Da Shore" to original title.

Other than that, I have about 5-10 minutes of movie on paper and the rest in my head now full of flickering and fading brain cells.

The soundtrack? Well, that's walk in the park -- or beach.

Keep in mind that these are not necessarily songs I like. Some I have come to loathe. Nonetheless, they are the tunes that take me back to that time and place.

Here we go:

One Of These Nights, The Eagles
Note: This will be the opening track, after a brief interlude of just the sound of Atlantic Ocean at night. The camera follows through the windswept summer-night streets and into my grandparents' summer house before abruptly ending when my step-father tells me to shut off the radio I have tucked under my pillow. (If the Eagles don't allow the song to be used, the backup is, gulp, The Hustle by Van McCoy.

Knock Three Times, Dawn
Note: Confession time, my mother used to perform other Tony Orlando and Dawn songs during breakfast (after she convinced herself she should have been in show business after the teachers at her school did some sort of talent show), but those others -- Sweet Gypsy Rose, Tie A Yellow Ribbon -- are not going to be any movie of mine. Knock Three Times? Gotta admit, it's a guilty pleasure.

I Honestly Love You, Olivia Newtown John
Note: Another one my mother performed all summer that is almost passable.

Mandy, Barry Manilow
Note: See Knock Three Times entry. There were other Barry Manilow songs she sang, but I don't want to chase people out of the theater.

Delta Dawn, Helen Reddy
Note: See Knock Three Times and Mandy entries.

Vehicle, Ides Of March
Note: The coolest character in the movie is my older cousin Beth, modeled after my cousin Sue, and this was her anthem in her wilder younger days (or so I was told).

Do You Wanna Make Love?, Peter McCann
Note: Was it a beach day or a Two Guys day? If the weather was not optimum, we would go to the closest discount department store, Two Guys. One day, Beth/Sue told my cousin Robert (Richard in the movie) and I (Jordan) we could each pick out one 45. This was my choice. His was the theme from Star Wars.

We've Got To Get It Again, The Addrissi Brothers
Note: No real reason to put it in, other than it was a cool song forgotten by time.

Blinded By The Light, Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Note: Written by Springsteen, the lyrics to the more popular cover kept us up nights on the porch trying to figure out the meaning. Years later, when I became a Bruce addict, I realized we were perplexed for two reasons. One, they were mixed up and taken out of context in this version. Two, Springsteen wrote the song more as an exercise in word play about the characters in his world than to have any deeper meaning.

Magic, Pilot
Note: See We've Got To Get It On Again for rationale. Planned for use during the amusement park scene at Million Dollar Pier.

All By Myself, Eric Carmen
Note: Appears in the part of the movie when there is a lot of soul-searching and friction amongst the characters.

Show Me the Way, Peter Frampton
Note: The big wrap-up song, where all issues are resolved, before the titles roll and the theme song, to be written by Mike Post, plays.

That's it -- for now -- if and when I wrote more, additional songs -- particularly for flashback scenes to when my mom and aunt were younger -- will be revealed.