Today In Oldies 11/14/11

Golden Hits Radio's Everything Oldies.....back from the weekend with all the Oldies news, all the time!

• A classic album is being reissued next year with "amazing" bonus material
• Pete Townshend claims it's been almost 40 years since The Who did a great album!
• One of the most iconic recording studios in music history turns 80
• The most famous resident of Berkshire, Massachusetts will star in the local theater production of A Christmas Carol
• Two members of a heavily influential 60's group are inducted into their home state's music Hall of Fame

Reunited......and it sounds so good!

Today in 1987, one of music's most successful multimedia duos got back together for the first time since a brief TV appearance in 1979.  They had only planned on a TV interview, but they were coaxed into doing what made them famous. 

The often tumultuous professional career and marriage of Sonny and Cher had, for all practical purposes, come to an end with the cancellation of The Sonny and Cher Show on CBS in 1977.  Aside from a brief 1979 reunion on The Mike Douglas Show, the two had not appeared in public in any forum for eight years.  In the meantime, both had turned primarily to acting, with Sonny doing bit parts in both TV shows and feature films and Cher becoming a bona fide movie star with lead roles in Silkwood, Mask,The Witches of Eastwick, and her Academy Award winning performance in Moonstruck.  She made a triumphant return to the studio and concert stage in 1987, and she chose late night TV to make her first appearance with Sonny in 8 years. 

Cher's history with talk show host David Letterman had been standoffish at best.  With her first appearance in 1986, a pre-interview remark she made to producers about why she'd never previously appeared on the show came back to haunt her on Dave's couch.  When Letterman asked why she'd never been on before, she used a derogatory term (which couldn't be used on American television) to describe him.  While the on-air incident made headlines, she was comfortable enough with the appearance to return a year later and bring Sonny with her for a televised reunion. 

Cher was there to promote her platinum self-titled album, her first in five years.  Sensing a promotional opportunity, Letterman's producers talked her into reuniting with Sonny for her November 14, 1987 appearance.  According to the on air banter between Cher and Letterman, there were no original plans for her do to a song with Sonny, but once it was discussed on the couch, the studio audience (and, no doubt, millions of TV viewers tuned in that night) got what they wanted.  Sonny and Cher did an impromptu version of their biggest hit, bringing an appropriate end to what would turn out to be their final public appearance together. 

Here is the interview, followed by a top notch performance of "I Got You Babe", from Late Night with David Letterman, November 24, 1987.........

 

 

Golden Hits Radio's Burning Question of the Day

Elvis Presley's 1968 film Speedway wasn't originally intended for Elvis and his co-star, Nancy Sinatra.  It was originally a vehicle for which legendary male/female musical and comedy duo?

Come back to Everything Oldies tomorrow to find the answer, and leave a Comment below with your best guess! 

Yesterday's Burning Question (and Answer) of the Day

   Which Rolling Stones hit did the band originally refuse to record because they thought it sounded too "girly"?

Answer: "As Tears Go By", which, ironically, was a hit for a girl (Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger's girlfriend at the time) before The Stones had a Top 10 hit with it themselves in 1965.