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  • Singers Who Act

    In my last post, I looked at actors who sing… How about a look at singers who act?

    My last post on Pop Rock Nation focused on actors who sing. I know I missed many other thespians who have tried to broaden their audiences by turning to music, but to cover all of them would take way too much time and space. Besides, I have to save up material for the inevitable day when I have writer’s block. Actors are not the only ones looking to broaden their appeal. Quite a few singers have branched out into acting. Some have been surprisingly good at the acting gig, while others have been laughably bad. In the interest of continuity, here’s a look at a few well-known singers who took a stab at the small screen or the silver screen.

    Kenny Rogers as The Gambler… and Brewster Baker!

    In 1978, Kenny Rogers had a hit song called “The Gambler”, which he famously turned into several made for television movies in the 1980s. In 1982, he was in the major motion picture, Six Pack, which was about a race car driver who looks after six rag tag orphans who happen to be pretty good mechanics. The above clip is actually a tribute to the character Swifty, who was played by Robby Still. Robby Still has precious few credits on imdb.com, but he was pretty memorable in Six Pack. You can catch some of Kenny’s acting in this clip. Six Pack also starred future teen idol Anthony Michael Hall, future movie star Diane Lane, and Erin Gray, of whom I had fond memories when she played Colonel Wilma Deering on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

    Olivia Newton-John as Sandy in Grease and Kira in Xanadu


    Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta sing “You’re The One That I Want” on Grease.


    A trailer for the 1980 film, Xanadu.

    Olivia Newton-John was a huge smash when she played exchange student in the 1978 musical film, Grease, alongside John Travolta (an actor who sings). In 1980, she was tapped to play Kira, a muse who helps a couple of guys build their dream nightclub, Xanadu. I must confess that in the early 80s, I simply adored Xanadu! I loved Olivia Newton-John and I thought the film was just plain cool. It really captured my imagination and the soundtrack was pretty awesome, at least to my nine year old ears. Many years later, I think the film is ridiculous, but it’s still fun to pull out every once in awhile for a laugh. And it was also later turned into a musical, which I have yet to see. Olivia Newton-John teamed up with John Travolta again in the film Two of a Kind, which was a bit of a bomb. She has since been in television movies and has had cameos on popular television shows like Glee.

    Dolly Parton as Doralee Rhodes and Truvy Jones


    Dolly as Doralee Rhodes on the film, 9 to 5.


    Dolly as Truvy Jones in Steel Magnolias.

    Dolly Parton has been in more than a few movies, but two of my favorites done by her are 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias. In 9 to 5, she played sexy, feisty secretary Doralee Rhodes, who has to constantly has to put up with a scumbag boss. In Steel Magnolias, she plays Truvy Jones, small town Louisiana hairstylist extraordinaire. In both films, she handily and convincingly played southern women with heart. I think Dolly Parton is one of those singers who really can act, too! As long as she plays people who are a lot like her…

    James Taylor as The Driver


    Opening scene of Two Lane Blacktop…

    It’s hard to think of singer-songwriter-guitarist James Taylor on the silver screen. He seems like such a sensitive, introverted soul. In 1971, he was in the film Two Lane Blacktop, playing The Driver. I have seen this film, but it didn’t really stick with me much. I think that’s a sign that JT is probably better off singing.

    Whitney Houston as Rachel Marron

    Whitney Houston died last year as she was completing a role in the 2012 film Sparkle. As an actress, she is best remembered for her role as Rachel Marron, a beautiful singer who needs to be protected by “the bodyguard” (Kevin Costner). I don’t know that Whitney’s acting skills were top notch, but the soundtrack for that film was huge and many people loved the film. Today, Whitney’s version of “I Will Always Love You” (written by fellow singer turned actor, Dolly Parton), is much loved and could probably be called her signature song.

    Usher

    Usher Raymond has an impressive string of credits on the small screen. The one I will remember him for is his turn as Will on an episode of 7th Heaven. He played a campus radio station manager who hires Reverend Eric Camden (played by Steven Collins, another actor who sings) to talk to a suicidal caller.

    Janet Jackson as Penny Woods, Cleo Hewitt, and Charlene DuPrey…

    In all fairness, Janet Jackson was probably better known as an actress before she became a megastar singer. But when most people think of Janet Jackson, they think of her as a singer. She acted on Good Times, Diff’rent Strokes, and Fame when she was coming of age. Later, after selling millions of records, Janet was in Nutty Professor II with Eddie Murphy (a comedian and actor who sings).

    Michael Jackson as The Scarecrow

    Janet Jackson’s older brother, Michael, was also not a total stranger to the big screen. In 1978, he performed as The Scarecrow in the film, The Wiz. In 2002, he played Agent M in the sequel to Men In Black, Men In Black II. Michael Jackson’s role as The Scarecrow was probably his biggest one as an actor, though he was a man of many talents– singing, dancing, and drawing among them!

    Looking at this incomplete list of a few singers who act, I think maybe some of the singers were more successful at trying their hands at acting. Give me a few months, though, and this subject is bound to come up again!

  • #18 album of 2012 – In the Rock Hall by BidiniBand

    Artist: BidiniBand

    Album: In the Rock Hall

    BidiniBand are a skilled heartland folk-rock band a la Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s Freedom/ Ragged Glory mode. Not the vocals, mind; almost 50 years old, novelist/ journalist Dave Bidini sings with a boyish clarity and enthusiasm Neil Young didn’t have even at 20 (let’s face it, bidiniband_rock_hallNeil’s last name always seemed ironic). But BidiniBand aren’t trying to sell originality in their power-chords, their acoustic picking, or their 4/4 time, although they’re fluid and sometimes imaginative players with an excellent sense of dynamics. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers have made albums not far from here, as have Jason & the Scorchers, as have John Mellencamp & the Unmentioned Sidekicks. In the Rock Hall fits a sing-along tradition that I grew up with; what that will mean to you is yours to guess. I do think it’s an outstanding example of its form.

    There’s depth here, but most of the songs have a for-fun vibe. The Best Thing about the ’80s was You, two minutes of guitar-pop with cheesy drum-machine and robotic voice processing, is entirely goofy, but “Meet me on the corner at a park after school/ We’ll synthesize minds” still sounds good to me at my own advanced age. Hey Paul and Donna is as casual and harmonized and pretty as Peter, Paul, and Mary’s children’s album, goofily rhyming its title with “Glad you took the train to Torontuh” and “Let’s get high and smoke marijuana”. You’d almost miss its sympathetic summary of parenthood: “First they got married, then they had a kid/ then they had another, they don’t know what they did/ a toy-bomb exploded in their bed/ raccoon eyes and a weary head” — or the song being written to express “You picked me up when we were down/ Now I’m happy that you’re around”. Popcorn has elegant guitar filigrees from the very start, but Bidini’s singing trawls along with lazy good cheer and nostalgia: “Ever since I was a young boy, I played the silver ball/ from Soho down to Brighton, yeah, I must’ve played them all…/ I’m a juvenile product of the working class/ my best friend lives at the bottom of a glass/ of popcorn!/ Give me some popcorn”. When an angelic female chorus takes over the song – and then Bidini takes over their words for his own committed take on them — it evolves into a paean to love and belated responsibility. Which has more power, I think, emerging from the jolly half-assedness it began with.

    Needle Beach/ Outboard Motors goes from easy strums to punk-folk aggression, while Big Men Go Fast on the Water evolves in stages from ominous guitar pointillism to rousing folk-rock triumph to urgent fury — each features an excellent guitar solo from Paul Linklater. Each holds onto adolescent refusal to accept wrongness: “Reality’s out of reach/ all the things they preach, you don’t believe”. “I keep fighting, fighting for more/ and mourn for the waters before./ On Sundays, they close the store/ you can’t go swimming cuz there’s swimming no more”. “Captain smiles as he swallows his last/ It’s midnight for the graduating class/ impressions won’t last, it’ll be about money”. “I’ll take the wound, stay out of reach/ the poison water laps at your feet”.

    BidiniBand are proud of that refusal. Last of the Dead Wrong Things is the dark-sounding track here, with Linklater’s most adventurous playing, and one of the best: starting “I drove all night, from dark to light, to bury you”, it envisions Canada’s full emergence into
    bidini_band_photofascism, with rebels from teens to striking fisherman being shot dead to shut them up. BidiniBand don’t imagine they could stop such a thing: “We’re just a two-bit rip-off Neil Young attack/ We stole this song, now we’re stealing it back/ doesn’t matter how good or bad you can sing”. But if a nation is overrun by men who view both people and the earth itself as nothing but short-term resources, “What kind of love do you bring?” is a necessary challenge to make.

    I’ve gotten this far into my In the Rock Hall review without explaining that Dave Bidini used to be one of the three songwriters of possibly my all-time favorite band, the Rheostatics. Any Rheostatics fan can guess at In the Rock Hall‘s sound from the more straightforward of his tracks with his old band: Queer, Legal Age Life at Variety Store, Beerbash, My First Rock Show, Mumbletypeg, Here to There to You, Polar Bears and Trees. BidiniBand are, nonetheless, different, which is nowhere clearer than on Earth (Revisited). Under the original title Earth/ Monstrous Hummingbirds, the Rheostatics’ version was an art-rock monstrosity, its dynamic swoops and warps as melodramatic as any camera shot on Citizen Kane. I love it dearly. Whether the music had anything to do with the song’s essence, though — starting from its brilliant eulogy for our species “The earth was born from a giant box/ You ripped the lid right off the top/ You couldn’t wait to collect your prize” — is another question. Here, it’s a hard-charging *rock* song driven by Don Kerr’s drums. It’s full of musical ideas at its edges — sound effects, abrupt echoes, interesting harmonies — but it’s carried through on passion, percussion, and energy. It’s welcoming.

    The last two new songs on In the Rock Hall total 18 minutes and wander a lot of territory. Folk songs, not progressive rock; just many ideas loosely organized. If I fully warm up to them, I’ll have no excuse for leaving this album out of the top ten. Until then, they’re a pleasant enough reminder of how woolly Dave Bidini and chums are choosing not to be.

    – Brian Block

    To see the rest of our favorites, visit our Favorite Albums of 2012 page!

     

  • Actors Who Sing

    In show business, there can be great rewards when actors are double or even triple threats. Behold these actors who sing!

    Today’s blog post about actors who sing was partly inspired by my recent obsession with the old WB/CW television show, 7th Heaven. I actually hate that show… I mean, I hate it so much that it’s like a train wreck that I can’t turn away from. I usually end up screaming at the TV when I watch it, and yet I can’t turn away. It’s one of my many quirks. As I was forcing myself to watch old episodes of 7th Heaven last week, I was reminded that sometimes actors decide to sing. Sometimes it makes sense to exploit other talents; while other times, it doesn’t work out so well.

    Stephen Collins and Catherine Hicks sing on 7th Heaven

    Actor Stephen Collins, who played 7th Heaven patriarch Reverend Eric Camden did indeed release a couple of albums, both of which were pitched on the TV show. Beverley Mitchell, who played his daughter, Lucy Camden, also released an album. I recently listened to and reviewed both of Stephen Collins’ CDs. I hated the first one, while the second one didn’t seem that bad. As annoying as I found Collins on 7th Heaven, I think he’s a better actor than singer. It turns out Stephen Collins has also written a couple of novels. I just started reading one and, I must say, it’s decidedly not something I’d expect from Reverend Camden. The above clip is from the television show, 7th Heaven. I couldn’t find any clips from his albums. Having heard those albums, I’m sure there’s a good reason for that.

    Lindsay Lohan sings “Over”

    There have, of course, been some more famous actors who’ve turned into singers. Lindsay Lohan immediately comes to mind. She used to make cute movies for Disney, then expanded into music. Sadly, Lohan’s career has declined recently, owing to her legal troubles. I don’t pretend to be an expert on Lohan’s music, but I actually kind of like this song. I’d rather listen to her than Stephen Collins, anyway.

    Patrick Swayze sings “She’s Like The Wind”

    Patrick Swayze famously sang a song for the soundtrack of his 1987 film, Dirty Dancing. “She’s Like The Wind” was a hit, even though it was said that Swayze wasn’t much of a singer. Listening to this, I think Swayze does alright.

    Ashlee Simpson sings “Boyfriend”

    The first time I ever heard of Ashlee Simpson, she was acting on 7th Heaven alongside Stephen Collins. Later, I found out that she’d actually started as a ballerina and then became a rock star. Her style was very different from that of her sister’s, Jessica Simpson’s. I don’t think Ashlee does too badly with this song. In fact, I think I like her better as a singer than an actress, even if she did do a lame “hoedown” on Saturday Night Live when she was busted for lip syncing.

    Lisa Whelchel, “Blair Warner” turns into a Christian singer

    If you were around in the 1980s, you might remember actress Lisa Whelchel on the hit sitcom The Facts of Life. She is also a singer and in 1984, she released a Christian album that won awards. Most recently, Whelchel was seen as a contestant on Survivor, where she did surprisingly well.

    Tyra Banks sings “Shake Ya Body”

    Retired supermodel Tyra Banks has tried just about everything. She’s written a novel, acted in movies, had a couple successful television shows, and yes, she even sang a song. In 2004, Tyra Banks debuted her song “Shake Ya Body” and even turned making the video into a challenge on her hit reality show, America’s Next Top Model. While I don’t think this song is as bad as it could be, I do think Tyra was wise to abandon the music scene and go back to what she does best…

    Paris Hilton sings “Stars Are Blind”

    While we’re thinking about model types, I might as well include a song by heiress Paris Hilton, who with her friend Nicole Richie, sort of acted on a reality show called The Simple Life. In 2006, she had a minor hit with the song “Stars Are Blind”. I have to admit I didn’t know about this song until I saw a parody of it on YouTube. It’s not bad… not bad at all. I mean, it’s catchy and kind of sultry. I don’t know how much help Paris got with her vocals, but this doesn’t make me cringe. I think I’d still probably prefer the parody, mainly because it makes me laugh. No, Paris didn’t sing the parody… that was done by OMovies.com! I think whoever sang the parody has a better voice than Paris does… but I have to admit, “Stars Are Blind” is kind of a guilty pleasure for me.

    Jack Wagner… soap star extraordinaire sings “All I Need”

    Jack Wagner famously played Frisco Jones on General Hospital back in the 1980s. Since I didn’t watch that show, I knew him as a singer before I knew him as an actor on Melrose Place, I show I loved in the 1990s. His song “All I Need” takes me right back to 7th grade, where it was often played at school dances. The song is a bit anemic, but pleasant enough for pop. I’d rather see Jack act than hear him sing even though I’d prefer him over Stephen Collins.

    Maureen McCormick, aka Marcia Brady, sings “When You Get A Little Lonely”

    And finally, here’s a performance by Maureen McCormick, who famously played Marcia Brady on The Brady Bunch. There shouldn’t be any surprise that Maureen McCormick released an album. She sang on The Brady Bunch and The Brady Bunch Hour; she released albums in the early 1970s in support of the show; she’s even done musical theater. I’m not sure what possessed her to try to sing country music. She’s not from Nashville and doesn’t sound convincing when she tries to sound like she’s from Nashville. But she has a decent enough voice. I actually own this album. I resisted buying it for seventeen years and finally broke down because I was dying to review it. It’s not bad. It could be much better, though.

    Like I said, sometimes actors really can pull it off when they try to sing. And sometimes, they really do need to hang up the microphone.