Pierce Brosnan’s 007

Guest Blogger: Tom DeMichael, author of James Bond FAQ. Today, we celebrate Pierce Brosnan’s 60th birthday with a reflection on his iconic role as 007.

Celebrating his sixtieth birthday today, Pierce Brosnan was well-known in the 1980’s as the title character of private investigator Remington Steele, from the ABC-TV show of the same name. But that notoriety nearly cost him the role of James Bond.

Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in County Meath, Ireland. An only child to mother May, Pierce’s dad, Thomas, was a carpenter who walked out on the family after only a few years. May moved to London to seek work as a nurse, leaving Pierce to move among relatives, friends, and even a Christian Brothers mission. In a 1997 interview in Cigar Aficionado magazine, Brosnan admitted, “It wasn’t all bleak…you learn how to create your own happiness.” When May remarried, eleven year-old Pierce joined the couple in London. One day, stepdad William took the boy to the cinema to see a film called Goldfinger. Young Pierce was very impressed, realizing, “…James Bond was very cool.”

Brosnan attended school to be a commercial artist and landed an apprentice job in a small South London studio at the age of eighteen. But he had become enamored with movies and, at the urging of a co-worker, joined up with a local theater workshop. Soon, they had formed the Oval House Theater Company and Pierce quit his art job. He waited tables, cleaned houses, anything that allowed him to be free to act in the evenings. Brosnan attended drama school, acting in repertory theater and London West End productions like Red Devil Battery Sign by Tennessee Williams. The playwright had personally selected Brosnan for the lead role.

British theater led to appearances in British TV by 1980. His wife, actress Cassandra Harris, landed a supporting role in the 1981 Bond flick For Your Eyes Only. Brosnan would amuse Harris by offering his impression of 007 when he would drive her home from the studio (Perhaps a view of things to come for Brosnan. Tragically, Harris would succumb to ovarian cancer in 1991.) A successful 1981 ABC-TV mini-series, The Manions of America, lead to Brosnan’s casting in NBC-TVs Remington Steele in 1982. The detective show ended up being in the top twenty-five TV ratings, but was canceled after four seasons as those numbers waned. Broccoli recalled Brosnan from the For Your Eyes Only days and he tested for the role of Bond for the upcoming The Living Daylights. Pleased with the results, producers named Pierce Brosnan as the new James Bond.

Apparently, NBC read the trade papers that day and, realizing the ratings boost having the “next James Bond” would give the network, they immediately renewed Brosnan’s contract as Remington Steele – effectively blocking his chances to play Bond. Ironically, the series would only air six episodes before getting the axe once more, but the damage was done. The Living Daylights would shoot with Timothy Dalton as 007.

Brosnan was understandably upset, but continued to work on TV and in films, including hits like Lawnmower Man in 1992 and Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993. When the 007 legal snafus were cleared up in 1994, it became apparent that Pierce Brosnan would be Bond in GoldenEye (over suggestions that included Mel Gibson and Ralph Fiennes) and it wouldn’t be enough to rescue the world – this time, he was expected to rescue the character from oblivion.

So, with that small task at hand, it was Pierce Brosnan who brought Bond into the 21st Century. It was Pierce Brosnan who had to come to terms with a new boss – still M, but this time, a female (gasp!). It was Pierce Brosnan that, with his four Bond films, brought nearly $1.5 BILLION to box offices worldwide. In his four turns as James Bond, Pierce Brosnan brought the suave and calm demeanor to the character that one would expect from an experienced performer. In 1995, he told Big Screen magazine, “The way I see James Bond is as a man with a passion to get the job done…This film is…not a cure for cancer, it’s supposed to be fantasy.” Film critics like Roger Ebert praised his portrayal of 007, offering that Brosnan was  “…somehow more sensitive, more vulnerable, more psychologically complete, than the (other) Bonds.” High praise, indeed.

No matter, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson decided to (get ready, here it comes…) “reboot” the role of Bond once more in 2005, just as Brosnan was in negotiations for a fifth whirl as 007. In a 2005 interview for Premiere magazine, he said, “It would have been sweet to go back for a fifth…It would have been wonderful to go out there for one last game and pass the baton.” Less poetically, he added, “…it f***ing sucks.”

Since leaving the world of Bond, Brosnan has worked steadily in films, with a wide variety of genres – drama, comedy, romance, western – even singing his own parts in Mamma Mia!, the quirky musical featuring the music of ABBA.

Like several of the actors who played 007, Brosnan has used his celebrity status to further many philanthropic causes. He has championed environmental activities by organizations like Save the Whales and Global Green, among others. Brosnan’s work for children’s welfare includes First Star and UNICEF in his home country in Ireland. The actor has also supported animal rights and women’s health.

James Bond FAQ is a book that takes on the iconic cinema franchise that’s lasted for so many years. Sometimes serious as SPECTRE, sometimes quirkier than Q, but always informative, this FAQ takes the reader behind-the-scenes, as well as in front of the silver screen. Everyone’s included: Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig; little-known facts about TV’s first shot at 007, the same Bond story that was made into two different films; whatever happened to those wonderful cars and gizmos that thrilled everyone; plus much more. It’s a book for the casual, as well as hardcore, James Bond fan.

U2′s Controversies

In honor of Bono’s 53rd birthday today, we’re sharing some of U2′s more entertaining controversies, excerpted from the pages of U2 FAQ: Anything You’d Ever Want to Know About the Biggest Band in the World…And More! by John D. Luerssen (Backbeat Books).

1. Jamaica Mistake-a
On January 16, 1996, Bono and his family wound up on the receiving end of police gunfire when his plane landed in Negril, Jamaica. Planning to meet up with Adam Clayton on the island, somehow local police were of the belief that a plane loaded with drugs would be landing in the same area around the same time. When the gunfire finally stopped, the Hewsons, Chris Blackwell, and Jimmy Buffett were offered an apology by the local police, who had fired at the wrong plane.

2. Oasis Kiss
In March 1996, a photo of Bono and Liam Gallagher of Oasis sharing an open-mouthed kiss caused a stir. Taken backstage at the Point Depot in Dublin, fans of both bands quickly derived that it was an alcohol-fueled joke, but not before the media got a lot of mileage out of it. Bono confirmed this to Rolling Stone in 1999, saying, “Actually, what happened was he had a guitar pick in his mouth, and he dared me to take it off him while the paparazzi were standing around. I couldn’t resist.

3. Tabloid Trash
In September 1998, U.K. tabloid the Daily Star published photos of Bono’s bare ass. Bono had been changing his clothes on an Italian beach during a vacation with his wife Ali at the time the paparazzi snapped his bottom. The couple sued the paper for invasion of privacy.

4. Shut Up, Paul
In June 2008, after Paul McGuinness suggested that Radiohead’s 2007 pay-what-you-like download release of In Rainbows had backfired, Bono announced his disagreement with U2′s long running manager. Bono called the Thom Yorke-fronted band “courageous and imaginative in trying to figure out some new relationship with their audience,” in an open letter to the music weekly NME. Calling Radiohead a “sacred talent,” Bono added, “such imagination and courage are in short supply right now,” and explained that U2 “feel blessed to be around at the same time.”

In U2 FAQ, award-winning music journalist John D. Luerssen goes beyond the essential facts, delving into the legendary fables and unique anecdotes that make U2 FAQ an indispensable read for all U2 disciples. How did Bono recover his cherished suitcase of lyrics 23 years after its 1981 disappearance? What movie dialogue is sampled in the middle of “Seconds”? What effect did bull’s blood have on Larry’s drumming? How did Bono’s visit to Central America inform The Joshua Tree? What are the details of Adam’s 1989 marijuana bust? How did Mick Jagger wind up on All That You Can’t Leave Behind? These are just some of the topics U2 FAQ explores.

David Tennant – The Tenth Doctor

It’s David Tennant’s birthday!  Below is an excerpt from Dave Thompson’s Doctor Who FAQ in honor of the Tenth Doctor.

At the same time, the Tenth Doctor remains the most personable of all his 
incarnations, well groomed and humorous, loyal and intense, capable of swinging from crushing sentimentality to seething rage on whims that are all the more alien for their sheer humanity. He is a Doctor who has imbibed the best qualities of every one of his predecessors, without weeding through them to discover which might actually clash with one another to set up a fresh internal conflict.

Losing the companionship of Rose Tyler and her family would become the single defining moment of the Tenth Doctor’s life span, just as her companionship was the single most important relationship. Subsequent cotravelers Martha Jones and Donna Noble attempted to break through the resultant isolation, but they were never going to do so, while the other “friends” who passed through his life would likewise fall a long way short of the Rose-shaped ideal, no matter what depths of pathos they descended to in their attempts to pierce his armor. Rather, he recruited them for what he could get out of them, maintaining their presence until they asked to be released, but disdaining their friendship in his rugged pursuit of a higher goal.

Even Donna’s grandfather, a whiskery old gentleman with a kitbag full of war stories, only briefly captured the Doctor’s attention, while a cynical viewer might think that Martha entered the Doctor’s life only so there could be a personal side to his oncoming confrontation with her sister’s employer, the fast-rising politician Harold Saxon. If we were discussing the Seventh Doctor, by the way, that would not even have been in doubt.

Doctor Who FAQ

Doctor Who is indisputably the most successful and beloved series on UK TV, and the most watched series in the history of BBC America. Doctor Who FAQ tells the complete story of its American success, from its first airings on PBS in the 1970s, through to the massive Doctor Who fan conventions that are a staple of the modern-day science fiction circuit. Combining a wealth of information and numerous illustrations, Doctor Who FAQalso includes a comprehensive episode guide.

Singing Songs About the Doctor

In which we learn that it isn’t all Dum-de-dum, Dum-de-dum…Woooo-ooooooooo!

In celebration of Peter Davidson’s birthday today…

The following is an excerpt of Doctor Who FAQ by Dave Thompson. Here, we list the author’s selection of songs about Doctor Who, but pick up a copy of the book to read the history, descriptions, and opinions that go with each song. Time for Doctor Who fans to load up their iPods with as many as they can get their hands on.

The Go-Gos—“I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas with a Dalek”

Roberta Tovey with Orchestra—“Who’s Who?”

The Earthlings—“Landing of the Daleks”

Jack Dorsey—“Dance of the Daleks”

Frazer Hines—“Jamie’s Awa’ in the TARDIS”

Bongo Herman and Les—“Doctor Who”

Jon Pertwee—“Who Is the Doctor?”

Thin Lizzy—“Doctor Who”

I-Roy and the Upsetters—“Doctor Who”

The Art Attacks—“I Am a Dalek”

Radio Stars—“Johnny Mekon”

Mankind—“Doctor Who”

The K-9s—“The K-9 Hassle”

Dalek I Love You—“Destiny (Dalek I Love You)”

Worzel Gummidge—”Worzel’s Song“

The Human League—“Tom Baker”

Blood Donor—“Doctor ?”

The Prisoners—“Revenge of the Cybermen”

Bullamanka—“Doctor Who Is Gonna Fix It”

Dr. Pablo and Dub Syndicate—“Doctor Who”

Bonnie Langford—“Just One Kiss”

Frank Sidebottom—sci-fi medley

Who Cares—“Doctor in Distress”

The Timelords—“Doctoring the TARDIS”

The Cybermen—“Doctor Who on a Mission”

Dalek Beach Party—“Teddy Boy’s Picnic”

Orbital—“Doctor Who”

Mitch Benn—“Doctor Who Girl”

Bill Bailey—“Dr. Qui”

Martin Gordon—“Her Daddy Was a Dalek, Her Mummy Was a Non-Stick Frying Pan”

John Barrowman—“The Doctor and I”

Chameleon Circuit—“Type 40”

The latter, Chameleon Circuit, provided the music to this book’s book trailer:

Doctor Who is indisputably the most successful and beloved series on UK TV, and the most watched series in the history of BBC America. Doctor Who FAQ tells the complete story of its American success, from its first airings on PBS in the 1970s, through to the massive Doctor Who fan conventions that are a staple of the modern-day science fiction circuit. Combining a wealth of information and numerous illustrations, Doctor Who FAQ also includes a comprehensive episode guide.

Gender Wars and Some Big Ideas from Howard Hughes

The following is an excerpt from Film Noir FAQ by David J. Hogan, as posted on Bookgasm. Visit Bookgasm to read this entire excerpt.

One of the most highly regarded films noir, RKO’s The Narrow Margin (1952), came perilously close to oblivion after being completed. During thirteen days in May–June 1950, studio contract director Richard Fleischer shot the suspenseful story of a Chicago police detective who risks his life to transport a hoodlum’s wife to Los Angeles, via train, so that she can be a witness in a mob trial.

Most of The Narrow Margin is restricted to the train’s passenger cars, a marvelous construction of claustrophobic sets (by Albert S. D’Agostino and Jack Okey) with breakaway sections that allowed full camera access. The narrative is tense, and although many interludes are violent, the tale isn’t contrived. After the shoot was complete, RKO owner Howard Hughes suggested, with great enthusiasm, that the male protagonist, Detective Sergeant Walt Brown (Charles McGraw) leave his charge (Marie Windsor) in order to conduct a (literally) running gun battle with murderous mobsterson top of the train, as in innumerable westerns. Though cinematic, the added sequence would have removed the story from the realm of the plausible and turned it into a comic book adventure. Richard Fleischer thought it was one of the worst ideas he’d ever heard.

Well, Hughes abandoned that notion. Then he came up with a bigger one. Because The Narrow Margin had turned out so well, Hughes wanted to scrap all footage with McGraw and Windsor. The editors would salvage as many other sequences as possible, and the leads would be recast with RKO’s two biggest assets, Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. In a commercial sense, the idea wasn’t without merit, but it would obviously have meant the destruction of an exceptionally well-done B thriller. Fleischer, still typecast around the studio as a B-picture director, would probably have been cut out of the revamped project. He knew he could do Bs and ached to step up to the A-picture level. Hughes’s idea would be a setback to Fleischer’s career, particularly because rumors would spread that the McGraw-Windsor footage was deficient. Fortunately, the ceaseless activity of Howard Hughes’s mind brought with it some positive ramifications. Project ideas, endless memos with editorial revisions, a never-ending search for new starlets—all of that and more bubbled in his head like a stew. He eventually decided against—or simply forgot—the Mitchum-Russell idea, but time had passed. The Narrow Margin had been sitting on the shelf for nearly eighteen months.

Keep reading this excerpt on Bookgasm.com! 

Film Noir FAQ celebrates and reappraises some 200 noir thrillers representing 20 years of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Noir pulls us close to brutal cops and scheming dames, desperate heist men and hardboiled private eyes, and the unlucky innocent citizens that get in their way. These are exciting movies with tough guys in trench coats and hot tomatoes in form-fitting gowns. The moon is a streetlamp and the narrow streets are prowled by squad cars and long black limousines. Lives are often small but people’s plans are big – sometimes too big. Robbery, murder, gambling; the gun and the fist; the grift and the con game; the hard kiss and the brutal brush-off.

Q & A with Gary J. Jucha

Gary J. Jucha is the author of Jimi Hendrix FAQ. Here is a snippet of an interview he did with Music Tomes. Visit their site to read the whole interview!

In the introduction to the book you give a great account of how you first began to pursue the music of Hendrix. What inspired you to write the book?

Frankly I was asked by Robert Rodriguez the FAQ Series Editor if I was interested in possibly writing a book for Backbeat. He had seen a piece I wrote about The Clash at my old website and contacted me. At the time, I didn’t know he meant a book for his FAQ series and so – 9 being my favorite number – I sent him a list of 9 music related titles on subjects that I thought would make good books and that I could write better than anybody.

I can’t remember all of them but I do remember suggesting The Clash in America, which would solely focus on The Clash’s concerts and recording sessions in America as well as their cultural impact on the country they had been bored with, and Jimi Hendrix: The Posthumous Years. I believe that as timeless as the three Jimi Hendrix Experience studio albums are, that it his posthumous recordings that have really contributed to his enduring fame. We had some back and forth discussions and that resulted in me writing Jimi Hendrix FAQ: All There’s Left to Know about the Voodoo Child.

Was there anything that surprised you in your research?

I was dismayed by his neglected childhood, by how many of his tales were really tall, and how isolated he was at the time of his death. But wanting to stress the positive let me say that what was really a discovery was how truly talented the Band of Gypsys was. That’s Jimi’s all black trio that included Buddy Miles on drums and vocals and Jimi’s army buddy Billy Cox on bass and vocals. Their legacy rests almost entirely on four concerts played on two consecutive nights after a few weeks rehearsal. Now they had been playing together at recording sessions since May 21, 1969 – a few of which are on the new People, Hell and Angels collection – but their performances at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East still stand out.

For example, “Machine Gun” is one of Jimi’s Top Ten iconic songs and that comes from these concerts. And the contributions of Jimi’s fellow gypsys to that song are profound. Billy’s ominous bass line and Buddy’s rat-a-tat-tat drumming really contribute to the song’s mood. And the notable thing that most people don’t realize is they played “Machine Gun” at all four concerts and all four are worth hearing. The one that’s readily available on Band of Gypsys is even arguably not the best version. Others include snatches of “Star Spangled Banner” during Jimi’s solos and I think Jimi didn’t want to release those versions because then it would make “Machine Gun” an anti-Vietnam War song and not the anti-war song that he wanted it to be. (All four versions are available on 2 Nights at the Fillmore, a 6-CD collection.)

Keep reading this interview on Music Tomes!

A modest man but highly competitive musician, Hendrix set the stage for many of the most significant musical movements to emerge between 1970 and 1999, including heavy metal, fusion, glam rock, and rap. Voodoo bluesman, sonic producer, the lyricist that out-Dylaned Dylan: these are what snatch our attention 40 years after his death, as do his “aw, shucks” smile in photos and the raw sexuality of his concert performances. It’s hard to find the man under all the falsehoods told by friends, business associates, and even Jimi himself. Jimi Hendrix FAQ attempts to present the facts in a fast-moving, fan-friendly read.

Doctor Who Loopholes

Tonight is the return of Doctor Who on BBC America. To celebrate, here is what Dave Thompson, author of Doctor Who FAQ, told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette in a recent interview. Please visit the Gazette’s blog to read all that Thompson had to say about the show.

Gazette: According to lore, the 13th doctor should be the last — the 1976 episode “The Deadly Assassin” talked about a regeneration limit of 12 times, and Matt Smith is the 11th doctor. Do you know of a loophole or can you imagine one that would allow the Doctor to go on (I have a parallel universe theory, but that’s too easy).

Thompson: Good question!  I think the loophole they will probably use is, now that he is the “last” of the Time Lords, all laws of Time Lordy-ness can safely be suspended. Or at least forgotten. The 12 regeneration limit has, in any case, been broken by the Master without too many attempts to square it with canon, so it will probably not be an issue.  Unless, of course, the show is plummeting in the ratings and “The Final Doctor” becomes the hook to either win back viewers or end it altogether.

Keep reading this interview on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette!

Doctor Who is indisputably the most successful and beloved series on UK TV, and the most watched series in the history of BBC America. Doctor Who FAQ tells the complete story of its American success, from its first airings on PBS in the 1970s, through to the massive Doctor Who fan conventions that are a staple of the modern-day science fiction circuit. Combining a wealth of information and numerous illustrations, Doctor Who FAQ also includes a comprehensive episode guide.

Patrick Troughton: The Doctor, The Clown

To celebrate Patrick Troughton’s birthday we have posted an excerpt from Dave Thompson’s new book Doctor Who FAQ. Please enjoy!

The Clown was the Second Doctor, formally introduced to his audience still lying on the TARDIS floor, where he fell at the end of the previous adventure.

In what we might call “the real world,” that in which BBC writers, pro- ducers, directors, and crew fuss around to bring the Doctor’s adventures into our living rooms, it was a moment of unparalleled drama, anticipation, and probably fear.

The outgoing William Hartnell was more than a popular actor, after all. To everybody and anybody who had any awareness of the show, he was the Doctor. White-haired and wrinkled, smartly attired and condescending. Whereas now he was dark-haired and shorter. Craggier, with the kind of face that could be described as lived-in. Kindly but a little lugubrious. The eyes sparkled, and the cunning of the First Doctor was a lot less pronounced. Politely, the Second Doctor looked a bit of a bumbler.

Who ever would accept it was the same man?

Certainly not Ben and Polly, his latest companions. And the man who called himself the Doctor didn’t seem too sure, either.

“You’re the Doctor!” said Polly, in answer to one of his rambling remarks. “Oh, I don’t look like him,” replied the Doctor. And the introductions could have gone on all night were it not for one slight problem. There were Daleks about, and if the Doctor had learned one thing over the past three years of television, it was that Daleks—his oldest and most lethal enemy—did not have time for small talk.

That was how this new man was to be introduced, not through the force of his personality, or the delight of his sense of mischievous humor, but through the sheer populist weight of his most implacable foe, the single most popular creation in the show’s entire history and still, all these years later, one of the most beloved (if a metal tin packed to bursting with unrepentant malice could ever be described as “beloved”) aliens in science- fiction history. We will get to know them better later in this book; for now, suffice it to say that the very inclusion of the Daleks’ name in an episode title was worth a million or so extra viewers every week, and The Power of the Daleks did not disappoint.

It still doesn’t. With hindsight, it’s difficult to say which future story was most heavily influenced by The Power of the Daleks: the Ninth Doctor’s Dalek, in which the time traveler’s pleas for an inactive Dalek to remain inactive are ignored, or the Eleventh Doctor’s Victory of the Daleks, in which stupid humans (Britain’s wartime hero Winston Churchill among them) convince themselves that it is they who call the shots, and that the Daleks are simply theirs to command.

Either way, in terms of storytelling, action, and excitement, the Second Doctor’s debut is at least the equal of the former and effortlessly superior to the latter, with the Daleks seemingly even more sinister than usual simply by virtue of behaving so helpfully.

Of course, they will soon be at their screeching, screaming best as well, but what is important here is less the manner in which the Doctor, Ben, and Polly defeat them than in the nature of the understanding that quickly comes to bind the three of them so closely. After all, this Doctor is still a total stranger to them, and while Polly is willing to accept that he might be the same man, Ben is considerably more suspicious. And it will take more than a silly hat and an annoying recorder to win him around.

But somehow, the Doctor succeeded. Yes he was a clown, and in sharp contrast to his prickly predecessor, a lovable one as well. But by the end of his first season, which concluded with another encounter with the Daleks, the Doctor was again the Doctor, and memories of his past personality were just that.

Doctor Who is indisputably the most successful and beloved series on UK TV, and the most watched series in the history of BBC America. Doctor Who FAQ tells the complete story of its American success, from its first airings on PBS in the 1970s, through to the massive Doctor Who fan conventions that are a staple of the modern-day science fiction circuit. Combining a wealth of information and numerous illustrations, Doctor Who FAQ also includes a comprehensive episode guide.

People, Hell and Angels

Guest Blogger: Gary Jucha is the author of Jimi Hendrix FAQ.

I knew when writing Jimi Hendrix FAQ for Backbeat that the risk of the book being out-of-date on its release date was to be expected. Experience Hendrix L.L.C., Jimi’s estate, has been especially active since signing a distribution deal with Sony in August 2009, having issued a standalone CD and two box sets of new material as well as numerous reissues of CDs and DVDs. And so it has come to pass. My book will hit the streets on March 19^th, and the newest collection of Jimi’s work, People, Hell and Angels, was released a fortnight before. Since I couldn’t comment on People, Hell and Angels in Jimi Hendrix FAQ, I thought my publisher’s invitation to contribute to their blog a perfect opportunity for me to weigh in.

First a little background. People, Hell and Angels was the title Jimi Hendrix used in describing a triple album he was planning when feeling reinvigorated by the August 1970 mixing and overdubbing sessions in Electric Lady Studios according to Kathy Eberth, an assistant to Jimi’s manager Michael Jeffery;  Keith Shadwick in Musician also claimed that Jimi used the album title in 1969 interviews. It is well known  Jeffery was advocating a single album so when Eberth told author John McDermott that “… later First Rays of the New Rising Sun…” – another oft-quoted titled for the next album – “ made a comeback of sorts,” it was likely that that title for Jimi’s double album was a compromise on Jimi’s part.

The source material for People, Hell and Angels spans 29 months and features 24 musicians (although not Experience bassist Noel Redding, which means there’s lots of gritty New York City in this collection but no hits of Swinging London psychedelia). There’s two R&B work outs where Jimi’s contribution is limited to guitar and production, two Rainbow Sun and Gypsys tracks (that’s the line-up that played Woodstock), three instrumentals,  four blues numbers, and five Band of Gypsy tracks (even if the majority were recorded before the trio was officially a band). All are held together by Eddie Kramer’s production. Kramer was Jimi’s favored engineer and he has masterfully mixed these recording sketches recorded at five different studios and made them sound like one session.

So People, Hell and Angels is highly recommended so long as you approach this as a book of mostly sketches and have no problem with the wholly three new tracks being without Hendrix vocals. My only minor objection is with the sequencing. I recommend this line-up instead: Hey Gypsy Boy Villanova Junction Blues/Hear My Train A Comin’/ Bleeding Heart/Mojo Man/Let Me Move You/Izabella/Easy Blues/Crash Landing/Earth Blues/Somewhere/Inside Out

Check out my blog at http://juchaartandmusic.wordpress.com/ for a longer mix of this review and my reasoning behind the alternate track sequencing.

Jimi Hendrix FAQ

Jimi Hendrix left the world too soon at the age of twenty-seven, but, despite the brevity of his career, his body of work is as vital to 20th-century music as that of Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, and Miles Davis. Hundreds of hours of unreleased studio sessions and concert performances were his salvation.

A modest man but highly competitive musician, Hendrix set the stage for many of the most significant musical movements to emerge between 1970 and 1999, including heavy metal, fusion, glam rock, and rap. Voodoo bluesman, sonic producer, the lyricist that out-Dylaned Dylan: these are what snatch our attention 40 years after his death, as do his “aw, shucks” smile in photos and the raw sexuality of his concert performances. It’s hard to find the man under all the falsehoods told by friends, business associates, and even Jimi himself. Jimi Hendrix FAQ attempts to present the facts in a fast-moving, fan-friendly read.

Happy Birthday, Timothy Dalton

We have a special blog today in celebration of Timothy Dalton’s birthday.

Guest Blogger: Tom DeMichael, author of James Bond FAQ.

The 007 Film Formula…

Consider, if you will, the number one fast-food purveyor in the world. You know which one – golden arches, billions sold, meals that make kids happy – yeah, THAT one. What is it that makes them so successful?

Of course, there are a number of reasons and just a reminder – this isn’t a business blog. But consider one of the main reasons: They have a formula that works. They make sure that the sandwich you buy in any of the twenty-five Portland, Oregon locations is just like the one you buy in any of the six locations in Portland, Maine. As a consumer, you know what to expect; you know what you’re getting when you walk in.

The same can be true for the James Bond film franchise across the last fifty years. Certainly, there have been major changes (for the positive) in the latest films (Skyfall, while offering a welcome throwback to the solid action and character-based films from the beginning of the series, is the most recent retooling of the 007 flicks.) But, just like the aforementioned fast-food chain, much of the success across the last five decades can be credited to an established formula: a “Bond formula.”

Some scholars point to a set of rules originally established by author Ian Fleming in many of his 007 stories – similarities in villains, women, plots, predicaments – all which led the reader to a satisfying literary experience. Likewise, the movies discovered what worked and stuck to it.

Without overdoing it, (and while not always in the same order,) take a look at the following events found in most Bond films:

The gun-barrel sequence: Consider this to be the movie equivalent of the yellow semicircles that the above-mentioned fast-food purveyor has used to brand their company. Created at the last  minute by Maurice Binder, the gun barrel sequence has appeared in every Eon Productions-produced Bond film – although not always at the beginning. Casino Royale, in 2006, incorporated a brief gun barrel view as Bond fires his pistol at a bad guy in a public restroom. The following two flicks – Quantum of Solace and Skyfall – placed the familiar opening at the end.

The pre-credits scene: A mini-film of sorts, as Bond encounters some sort of conflict, wrestles with it, and comes to a resolution – usually in the form of some sort of fantastic escape to safety. (Except for Dr. No. Being the first in the series, there was no pre-credits scene.) There have been variations, especially since the retooling of the Daniel Craig films, but Bond’s mission to destroy a Latin American radar system and his escape in a miniature jet during the opening minutes of Octopussy are perfect examples, complete with wry witticism. When the jet ran low on fuel, 007 merely landed it at a gas station, calmly instructing the attendant to “Fill it up, please.” Cue the theme song…

Opening credits: Whether delivered by Maurice Binder, Robert Brownjohn, Daniel Kleinman, or MK12, the opening credits over the theme song clearly convinced the viewer that “this MUST be a James Bond film.” While a previous blog entry covered the story of the 007 credits, suffice to say that the “formula” called for writhing female forms, bold colors and pools of lights, and signature icons from the franchise.

Bond receives his mission: Originally set in the office of Universal Exports – the cover for MI6 – 007 dallied with Miss Moneypenny, was rudely interrupted by M and ushered into the private and plush quarters of Bond’s boss. When that got old, the location of M’s briefing went mobile – a British sub in You Only Live Twice, even at Bond’s apartment in Live and Let Die.

Bond’s visit to the Quartermaster: With orders in hand, Bond visited Q – usually deep in his lab – to receive an assortment of gadgets and goodies to keep him out of peril. Occasionally, Q got out and joined Bond in the field – like in Octopussy and Licence to Kill. Of course, Major Boothroyd was totally intolerant of Bond’s lack of respect for the hours of hard work behind every item, invariably chiding, “Now – Pay attention, 007!”

Bond heads out on his mission: Keeping his Frequent Flyer miles current, Bond more often than not found himself at an airport – either leaving for or arriving at his destination. Whether at Miami International, LAX, Heathrow, McCarran International, Palisadoes International, JFK, or another airfield, 007 knew that commercial jets were “the only way to fly.”

Bond connects with an ally (often the “sacrificial lamb”): Male or female, this character often provides Bond with a valuable bit of information, access to the villain (as they are sometimes in cahoots with him,) or other service – then usually gets bumped off by the bad guy. Picture Quarrel, Kerim Bey, the Mastersons – Jill AND Tilly, Aki, Plenty O’Toole (drowned by Wint and Kidd, who mistook her for Tiffany Case in a scene not seen in Diamonds Are Forever,) Rosie Carver, Andrea Anders, Corinne Dufour, Vijay, Sir Godfrey, Saunders, Sharkey, Paris Carver, Solange, Agent Fields, among others. Gone, but not forgotten.

Bond meets up with an associate/bodyguard of the villain: Sometimes a female, but often a large, brawny man possessing superhuman strength – Professor Dent in Dr. No was hardly an imposing brutish specimen, but the tarantula he placed in Bond’s bedsheets was no lightweight. Soon, figures like Oddjob, Hans, Tee-Hee, Jaws, Zao, even Xenia Onatopp and others, flexed their formidable physical skills to give 007 a real run for his quid. In some cases, this person was combined with the role of “sacrificial lamb” – May Day, for example.

The “Bond Girl” is introduced: Sometimes more than one (minor “Bond Girls” were often combined with the “sacrificial lamb,” such as Aki, Plenty O’Toole, Andrea Anders, Paris Carver, and others,) they were always easy on the eyes. The Bond Girl actresses were often international beauties (Ursula Andress – Swiss, Daniela Bianchi – Italian, Claudine Auger, Carole Bouquet, Sophie Marceau, Eva Green, and Bérénice Marlohe – French, Mie Hama – Japanese, Britt Ekland and Maud Adams – Swedish, Famke Janssen – Dutch.) Early on in the series, the Bond Girl was usually portrayed as helpless and unable to cope with conflict without 007′s assistance (although Honey Ryder and Pussy Galore stood out as women capable of handling themselves well within the world of 1960′s men.) Fortunately, time recognized woman’s ability to stand up on her own two (albeit shapely) legs, as strong and independent characters like Dr. Holly Goodhead (despite the double-entendre name,) Octopussy, Pam Bouvier, Jinx Johnson, and Camille Montes, among others.

Bond engages the villain in a game or sport: This allows 007 and his foe to come face-to-face and size each other up, where they both realize their opponent is no pushover. Golfing with Goldfinger, poker and skeet with Largo, Tarot cards with Kananga, baccarat with Kristatos, backgammon with Kamal Khan, horse racing with Max Zorin, blackjack at Sanchez’ casino, fencing with Gustav Graves, Texas Hold’ Em with LeChiffre, etc. Win or lose, the game was afoot.

The villain’s lair: Where money is no object – Doctor No had his bauxite processing plant – a cover for his expansive nuclear-powered control center that fiddled with rocket launches at Cape Canaveral. Goldfinger outlined his plan to knock off Fort Knox in a cavernous conference room – complete with pool table/control panel, a mechanical bucking bronco, and a huge detailed model of the gold depository and surrounding landscape (a model that, in reality, is now on display at the Patton Museum as part of the REAL Fort Knox in Kentucky.) Blofeld had his marvelous and vast volcanic headquarters in You Only Live Twice, loaded with rocket pad, a monorail, and more soldiers and ninjas than one could ever imagine. There’s more and more, all the way to Gustav Graves’ Ice Palace in Die Another Day. No matter, these hangouts were the place to hang out.

Bond’s death-defying labor: Once again, the very first film established the need for Bond to go through hell in order to get to heaven. Dr. No found 007 crawling through the searing heat of the villain’s ceiling duct work in search of escape, only to be nearly drowned in a rush of water in the same conduits. Whether it was a swim with man-eating sharks in Thunderball, a bobsled race with Blofeld in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a brief stroll along the backs of jaw-snapping alligators in Live and Let Die, or a last-minute jolt from a portable defibrillator in Casino Royale – among many others – Bond was always challenged to look death square in the eye. Inevitably, it was always death that blinked.

Final confrontation: (with spectacular demise of villain and his command center.) Face-to-face with the antagonist, 007 always had the last word as his opponent bit the dust. Rosa Klebb “had her kicks;” Goldfinger wound up “playing his golden harp;” Mr. Wint “left with his tails between his legs;” Kananga had “an inflated opinion of himself;” Gustav Graves thought it was “Time to face destiny,” while Bond reminded him it was “Time to face gravity.” Despite the glib remarks, 007 and good always prevailed, as Bond and the Bond girl escaped (where their attempt at a well-earned romantic tryst was always interrupted.)

Reassurance that James Bond Will Return: The first dozen Broccoli/Saltzman films all finished with a tease that the series would continue – although they weren’t always accurate. The end of The Spy Who Loved Me promised viewers that For Your Eyes Only would be next. But the success of Star Wars in movie theaters prompted the Bond producers to reconsider and make Moonraker – with its spaceflight theme – the follow-up film. For a while, the tease for Bond’s return was omitted from the end of the Bond films. Skyfall, in 2012, while not mentioning a specific title, did promise that “James Bond Will Return…” Just like the good old days.

Lewis Gilbert, director of three Bond films – You Only Live Twice in 1967, The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977, and Moonraker in 1979 – acknowledged the existence of such a formula, saying: “I think that part of the charm of the Bond picture [is] you know what you’re going to get… You can change it slightly, but it’s very well laid down, the Law of Bond, and people want you to abide by it.”

Heaven forbid one should break the “Law” and receive a ticket from the movie police.

James Bond FAQ is a book that takes on the iconic cinema franchise that’s lasted for so many years. Sometimes serious as SPECTRE, sometimes quirkier than Q, but always informative, this FAQ takes the reader behind-the-scenes, as well as in front of the silver screen. Everyone’s included: Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig; little-known facts about TV’s first shot at 007, the same Bond story that was made into two different films; whatever happened to those wonderful cars and gizmos that thrilled everyone; plus much more. It’s a book for the casual, as well as hardcore, James Bond fan.