Neil Diamond’s new 12 SONGS came out today — and it’s terrific, his best album since THE JAZZ SINGER. We always knew he still had at least one more great album left in him. We never lost faith. Not when he did the HEADING TO THE FUTURE video. Not when he sang about ET. Not even when he went country. Way to go, Neil.
Music
Book’em Dano
I went to the dentist today, and while he was drilling and scraping my teeth, I was plugged into my iPod, listening to TV themes (an admission that proves, in case anybody wondered, that I am a geek). I’ve decided that "Hawaii 5-0" is the best instrumental TV theme in TV history… better than "Peter Gunn," "Miami Vice," "Star Trek," or even "Mission Impossible."
I’m a TV Geek
Last night, I was in TV Geek heaven…
I went to the Television Academy’s salute to TV themes at the Hollywood Bowl. It was wonderful, with the Hollywood Bowl orchestra playing salutes to Earle Hagen, Jerry Goldsmith, Vic Mizzy and Stu Phillips, among other things.
The show included some of my favorites themes — “Mod Squad,” “Virginian,” “Green Acres,” “Addams Family,” “Wild Wild West,” “Hawaii 5-0,” “Peter Gunn,” “Gunsmoke,” “Room 222,” “Man from UNCLE,” and “Barnaby Jones — accompanied by the main title sequences on the big screens. The Rembrandts showed up play “We’ll Be There For You,” the Smothers Brothers did a schtick over clips from their variety show, and there was a nice set piece on great television choreographers. They also featured suites from “Deadwood,” “Jag,” and, as the big fireworks finale, “Battlestar Galactica.”
My nine-year-old daughter turned to me afterwards and said: “I think I’m beginning to like classical music.”
I thought about telling her nah, it’s just TV themes… then again, better she thinks of me as a man with refined tastes than as a big tv geek.