TV: Bands Reunited

I would call this VH-1 show a guilty pleasure, except I don’t believe in the term. It can be strangely moving to see what’s become of musicians you liked (or at least heard of) 20 years ago and watch them play together again for the first time in ages. The closing concert always kills me: footage of the band then and now shown in split-screen, the people in the audience just as old as those on stage and just as happy to be there.

Last night’s episode focused on ABC, whose album LEXICON OF LOVE (‘Poison Arrow,’ ‘The Look of Love’) is one of the ‘80s finest pop records. But here’s an interesting lesson. Last season, everyone in Frankie Goes To Hollywood wanted to reunite except lead singer/pretentious git Holly Johnson. Result: no concert. Two of the four original members of ABC decided not to perform. But lead singer Martin Fry said yes, so the show went on. Thus proving that in the end, the guy up front is the only one who matters.

At least Martin Fry still has the pipes. He sounded great.

Cable Catch-Up: Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

Yes, it’s charming. But couldn’t there be one plot twist in this movie that you couldn’t predict based on a single viewing of the trailer? And why does the lead character have to get every single thing she wants? At least The Bad News Bears lost the final game. Now that’s a lesson for the kids out there.

Miscellaneous: Links

A musical version of The Ten Commandments, written by the composer of Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ and starring Val Kilmer as Moses. Who says Los Angeles is a cultural wasteland?

And courtesy of Sarah Weinman, a cautionary tale about the perils of modern publishing. Well, I thought it was a cautionary tale. Much of the reaction toward Stacy Sullivan, the subject of the article, has been negative. She may have been a tad naive, I’ll admit. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask for an arm of a major multinational corporation to evince some interest in one of its products.