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The Partridge Family - I was ten when this series started. I was hooked from the beginning. this was one of the first television shows to incorporate musical performance into narrative story telling. It's Glee's great grandfather. I still listen to the music. Perfectly crafted pop song by veterans of the music industry, including Gerry Goffin, Carole King's one time writing partner and husband. This clip is one of my favorite Partridge songs, it's their homage to funk. Look close and you will see Richard Pryor and Lou Gossett Jr.
*Kris, don't buy the complete series. It is more expensive than each season individually. I'd be happy with just the first season but if you need to get more, any of the consecutive seasons would be great. Here's a link to the first season on Amazon
Barbra Barbie - Amazingly I never bought this when it was released. It was a limited release done by Mattel a few years ago as part of their series of icon celebrity dolls. Barbra of course had final approval. Truly a guilty pleasure!
*Kris, here is a link to the doll on Amazon. This seems like the best price. I'm not sure why the prices vary so much. If you scroll down the page a bit, you'll see an offer to buy the doll plus my next item at a small discount.
My Passion for Design - I'm kind of amazed I no one has ever bought me this. I thought it would be a slam dunk but people probably assume I run out and buy this stuff myself. Well here's your chance. Barbra took some time of from show biz a few years ago to build an estate in California, except, she modeled it after architecture in the north east. She documented the entire process, even taking many of the pictures. It's all here in a beautiful coffee table book.
*Kris, here's a link to the book on Amazon
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - Seth and I went to BAM last month to see this on the big screen. They were having a Vincent Minnelli film festval (Judy's husband, Liza's father and director of films such as Gigi, An American in Paris and Meet Me in St, Louis). I sat on the edge of my seat and spouted Clear Day trivia the whole time. What a great night!
Clear Day is a reincarnation story with Barbra playing to different women in two different time periods. The costumes in the contemporary scenes were designed by Arnold Scaasi. The period costumes were designed by one of favorite photographers, designer and all around renaissance man, Cecil Beaton. The musical is on it's way back to Broadway with a Gay man playing the Barbra Streisand character and his past life will be a 40's female jazz singer. Harry Connick Jr. plays his/her love interest. Should be interesting.
*Kris, so here's the deal. Apparently this is really hard to get on DVD. Amazon lists it for $45. Don't pay that much for it. I can stream it on Netflix. If you find it for a decent price then grab it, if not don't bother.
All Night Long - Probably Barbra's worst box office flop, she came into the production to replace Lisa Eichhorn. It was conterversial because Barbra's long time agent Sue Mengers was married to the film's director Jean-Claude Tramont. Their are different versions of why Lisa was fired and Barbra was brought in but the most accepted was that Sue was playing both sides of the fence looking for a big pay day for herself and her husband. Many accounts claim that Barbra fired Sue over the films susequent failure.
My personal theory is that Barbra did it to help finance Yentl. She was having trouble getting financial backing for Yentl and probably knew she was going to have to put up some of her own money. Reportedly she made 4 million dollars for a week's worth of work on All Night Long. Ultimately Barbra put up 3 million dollars of her own money for Yentl.
I've only seen the movie once and it was said to be destroyed in the editing room. It did get some very positive reviews from some reliable sources such as Pauline Kael of the New Yorker. This is the Streisand movie for non-streisand fans. Her performance is probably the most understated of her career.
*Kris, here is a link to the DVD on Amazon Unbelievably it is listed for $6.
Funny Lady Soundtrack - I don't know why I don't own this. It could have something to do with it being the only Streisand recording that isn't on Columbia records. (I think that's why How Lucky Can You Get never ends up on any of her compilation albums.) Anyway, I'm long over due for it. (The costumes in Funny Lady were designed by Bob Mackie. It's the only time the legendary designer ever clothed Barbra. He's most famous for creating Cher's signature style in the 70's.)
*Kris, here's a link to the CD on Amazon
Well as you can see, it's a very Barbra year but I'm getting close to completing my collection. This is what presents should be isn't it? Stuff you want but never buy yourself.
Merry Christmas!
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