Sissy and Jodi

Going through my drive the other day I happened to hit upon a few tracks that are oddities of sorts. They are tracks from actresses turned singers, or, perhaps the other way around. Now, that’s not so unusual per se as there are copious examples of this phenomenon with one or two quick hops onto the charts – Richard Harris anyone? Dare I mention the great William Shatner? Unfortunately, there are many more tracks out there by those who try to venture into the recording studio that I’m sure have caused more than one to try to buy all available copies and melt them into blissful blobs of bubbling blackened goop.

John, You Went Too Far This Time
I am a big Sissy Spacek fan. Who could forget the image of her in “Carrie” with sticky, pig’s blood streaming down her face, eyes wide open in a trance, arms apart with the spotlight highlighting each body nuance? Or, can you forget her aloof coolness at the end of “In The Bedroom” when she says that she’ll make her husband some breakfast after knowing what he’s just done? Then there’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, “The Straight Story” and many other great appearances and characters.

Before her acting career vaulted off, Sissy was one of those cutie sixties teenaged flower girls trying to get a break. Lennon had remarked during an interview that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus, and everyone knows the backlash that ensued. Sissy recorded this lilting, folksy treatise against Lennon’s statement under the name of ‘Rainbo’ in 1968. Anyone else have a copy of this?

I recall you turned me on with “Pepper”.
The tour we took with “Lucy” was a trip I won’t forget!
And John I loved you when we both wore flowers,
But putting down your guru brought confusion and regret.

John I love you
But you went too far
This time

La Vie Ces’t Chouette
Jody has even more of an acting resume what with “Taxi Driver”, “The Accused”, “The Silence Of The Lambs” (… it puts the lotion on …), even “Foxes” (with Cheri Curri) and an episode of “The Partridge Family” and “The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father”!

From a movie made in 1977 titled “Moi, Fleur Bleue” and released only in France, Jodie, at her teenaged height of virginal innocence, declares that she is looking to get her cherry popped (actual dialog). Like I said, released only in France. I don’t know French, except for the obligatory swear words, so I don’t know a damn thing she’s saying. Except when spoken English appears. Typical French disco in which she giggles and breaths into the microphone. Again, anyone have a copy of this?

That girl next door she’s got a guy.
But I’m alone just skateboard and surf.
And I’m dreaming, of loving,
One whole night through.
But with who?

One whole night through
But I’m with who?

Yea, I’m sure Sissy and Jodi want to forget these.

Or, perhaps, they listen to them from time to time in smiling embarrassment - much as the rest of us all do when we see photos of ourselves when we thought we were cool, or see videos of ourselves singing or acting.

And, maybe that’s the way I’ll leave it. Remembered as an artifact from the past that we’re not overly excited to see or hear, but a part of us nonetheless and a statement of where we were at the time.

Sissy Spacek: John, You Went Too Far This Time [1968]

Jodi Foster: La Vie Ces’t Chouette [1977]

Addendum: I have been reading voraciously for these past months. So quickly do I read that no sooner do I read one then I begin another right away. I quickly forget just exactly what I've read! I'll keep track of them on this blog - if only for myself, but heck, see if you like any of them.

"Love In The Time Of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Best quote "Marriage is not about happiness, it's about stability".

"Ronnie the Autobiography" by Ronnie Wood. Debauchery, mayhem, art and music.

"An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness" by Kay Redfield Jamison. Unsettling, disturbing and acute insite as to what happens to those with this affliction. Very lush and well written.

"Deltora Quest" by Emily Rodda. All eight books. Kind of in the vein of fantasy/Harry Potter, that sort of thing. Suggested by my 13 year old son. Hey, I have to keep up with what he's reading, right?

"Born Standing Up : A Comic's Life" by Steve Martin. How he grew to be what he is today. Intelligently written and without all the drawn out details of childhood.

Many more, but as I read so quickly, I can't remember them all!