Summer Nights & Mornings
RIP Olivia Newton-John, 73. Born in England, her family emigrated to Australia when she was six. Early in her career, she was a star on Aussie TV. She returned to the UK, where her recording career began in 1966. She showed signs of breaking out in 1971 with the release of her first solo album. She frequently appeared on It’s Cliff Richard and starred with him in the telefilm The Case. Her second album flopped, but her 1973 single Let Me Be There cracked the Pop and Country top ten and earned her a Grammy for Best Country Female Vocal. She would go on to win three other Grammys: Pop Vocal, Record and Video. She had an incredible run in the mid-’70’s, a record straight seven AC #1’s: I Honestly Love You (1974) — 3 weeks; Have You Never Been Mellow (1975) — 1 week: Please Mr. Please (1975) — 3 weeks; Something Better to Do (1975) — 3 weeks; Let It Shine/He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother (1976) — 2 weeks; Come on Over (1976) — 1 week; Don’t Stop Believin’ (1976) — 1 week. After a brief lull, she vaulted to the top of the entertainment world, co-starring in Grease, the number one box office film of ’78. The soundtrack spent twelve weeks at #1 and yielded three #1 singles. Hopelessly Devoted to You and Summer Nights were in the Billboard top 5 simultaneously, a female feat only Linda Ronstadt had achieved. She kept churning out hits and again went to the stratosphere with the 1981 release of Physical, which spent ten weeks at #1. She continued to chart, then was hit with a bombshell in 1992, a diagnosis for breast cancer. She fought a couple of recurrences through the years. She continued to record and perform. More than a hundred million of her records have sold. Eleven of her singles (including two Platinum) and 14 of her albums (including two Platinum and four double Platinum) have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. There are 86 screen titles under her name at IMDb, spanning 1965–2020. Married three times, she is a mom of one. Few artists have ever had her success. What I liked best about her was her positive, sunny aura. Awesome, Madam. Thank you. (Facts from Wiki, photo from Google Images):
I enjoyed this headline from nypost.com: “Al Sharpton and landlord in dispute over National Action Network HQ rent, lease.” Mr. Landlord, shake down that tax cheat like he shakes down corporations and politicians.
I was wide awake at three AM, so I went out to see if either of the prime parking locations was available in terms of the floating book shop. Sure enough, one was, so I’m set until closing time Thursday. There’s nothing like a summer morning before the sun rises. I dreaded returning to the apartment. Later, the shade didn’t cover the spot until mid-session. I set up slowly, stepping in and out of the shadow cast by the six-story apartment building, sipping water. Although it was a struggle, I was glad I put everything on display, as the breeze kicked up and it was so pleasant I was tempted to stay a lot longer. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much action. My thanks to Ira, who bought Companies That Changed the World: From The East India Company to Google by Jonathan Mantle , and to Movie Buff, who purchased Random Violence by Jassy Mackenzie and Blood Orbit by K. Richardson; and to the young man who took home Freedom from the Known by J. Krishnamurti; and to the woman who dropped off a bunch of kids' books as I was packing up. When a person brings stuff, I feel compelled to take it even when the inventory is maxed out. I’ve been telling those who ask that I don’t want anything at present.
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