By Steve Marinucci
Published October 22, 1998, San Jose (CA) Mercury News
MAYBE the most fascinating part of Darlene Love's autobiography, ''My Name Is Love: The Darlene Love Story'' (Morrow, $24) is the discography in the back, which the authors readily admit is incomplete. As the book says, ''To list every song she has sung lead on would require an entire volume of its own.''
But what songs Love, recently nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,has sung on! Of course, there are the Phil Spector classics: ''He's a Rebel,'' ''What 'Til My Bobby Gets Home'' and ''Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry,'' to name just a very few.
But how about a few others she was a part of: ''Rockin' Robin'' by Bobby Day, ''Chain Gang'' by Sam Cooke, ''The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)'' by Betty Everett, ''Goodbye Cruel World'' by James Darren, ''Monster Mash'' by Bobby ''Boris'' Pickett, ''Johnny Angel'' by Shelley Fabares and ''If I Can Dream'' by Elvis Presley.
It would seem that the motto of record producers when they needed a singer was -- to tweak the name of a onetime TV show -- Get Darlene Love.
Love, born Darlene Wright, came from a religious background with a father who was a preacher and a home where rock 'n' roll was frowned upon.
''It was my parents that didn't allow rock 'n' roll in the house,'' she says. ''We listened to other singers, but never real rock 'n' roll or rhythm 'n' blues.'' Artists, she says, such as ''Roy Hamilton, Perry Como, people like that.''
After becoming a singer with the Blossoms and working on sessions for artists including Darren, Bobby Darin and Cooke, she met up with Spector. Her first session with him was ''He's a Rebel'' in 1962. It was Spector who also made her change her name to Love, after gospel singer Dorothy Love.
In her book, Love describes her relationship with Spector as much like a courtship and marriage:
''At the beginning, Phil was very solicitous and complimentary, the equivalent of roses and candy every day. Then I signed the contract, and things started to get ugly.''
Spector's public image was highly eccentric. Was there a nicer side of him? ''That's the only kind of side Phil would allow you to see,'' Love says. But, she says, ''I'm glad I met him for the time I knew him, and I hope he's living a happy life.''
Her favorite record from those years is ''Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).''
And her favorite Spector record on which she didn't sing was Ike and Tina Turner's ''River Deep, Mountain High.'' ''I heard that record before he started producing it and thought he was going to give it to me,'' she says.
She also worked with Brian Wilson during sessions for ''In My Room.'' She said Wilson treated the Blossoms with more respect than Spector did and the group wasn't ''used as instruments.''
Working with Elvis Presley (besides ''If I Can Dream,'' she also sang on ''Rubberneckin' '') was ''unbelievable,'' she says. The King was very shy, and he loved gospel music, she recalls. During breaks in taping his 1968 comeback TV special, she says, they would sit around and sing gospel songs.
Love was also part of the vocal group seen weekly on ABC's ''Shindig'' in the '60s. She says her favorite moments from that show were singing with gospel star Clara Ward, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin before the latter's hit-filled days with Atlantic Records. Singing with Aretha, Love says, ''was like Utopia.''
So how does it feel to be a rock legend? ''I don't know yet,'' she says.
''People think more about us being legends than we do.''
Thursday, October 22, 1998
Saturday, August 29, 1998
Mousing the house: A look at some of the programs to help you design your dream home
By Steve Marinucci
Published Aug. 29, 1998, San Jose (CA.) Mercury News
IF YOU'RE planning to build a house or just add a room, a number of computer programs and bundles can help transfer your imagination into virtual reality. Here are a few that I tested:
BOB VILA'S HOME DESIGN (Compton's Home Library/Windows 95, $39.95):
Two CD-ROMs combining home plans (with some home designs featuring animated tours) and design tools. The second CD-ROM has Vila's video segments on all aspects of designing and planning a home. More than 1,000 home plans can be searched and blueprints are available to view on disc.
Designing a house is relatively easy through the use of the mouse. As you add elements, you can view the results in 2-D or 3-D. Included on the disc is a link to the Vila Home Design Web site http://www.bobvila.com/index.htm, which includes additional home projects, listings for resources, products for sale, interactive advice, plus a 3-D VRML virtual reality house online.
Overall, I found ''Bob Vila's Home Design'' a great aid if you're planning to design a house.
BRODERBUND 3D HOME DESIGN SUITE (Broderbund, $79.95):
This bundle consists of 3D Home Architect Deluxe, 3D Home Interiors and Imagine Your Landscape, all for Windows:
(box) 3D Home Architect Deluxe (Broderbund, $49.95 separately): Nuts-and-bolts design program with 3-D views of finishing projects. Fairly easy to use and without a lot of bells and whistles. Functional and more than adequate if you're looking for a basic design program to help preview whatyou've got in mind.
(box) 3D Home Interiors (Broderbund, $49.95 separately): Companion to above with drag-and-drop catalog of furniture and interior applications that can be imported into design plans and linked to shopping lists so you can plan your spending. Nice touch: You can vary lighting views to see how the room will look.
(box) Imagine Your Landscape (SHOW OFF! SOFTWARE): The subtitle says ''Update Your Landscape With Living Pictures,'' which about describes it. You can either use the pictures that come with the program, or with a scanner, import a picture of your home and see how your landscape will look. The program could stand to be a little more user-friendly because many of the functions are hidden in the pull-down menus, which we found a bit hard to access.
THIS OLD HOUSE -- KITCHENS AND HOME ARCHITECT ($49.95):
Bundle consisting of This Old House -- Kitchens and 3D Home Architect Deluxe:
(box) This Old House -- Kitchens (Windows 3.1/Windows 95-Broderbund): Encyclopedic planner for adding on kitchens, including a ton of practical video tips and a very handy feature called ''Material Sampler'' that lets you easily see how various color schemes will work together. If you're only planning a new kitchen, this will help you get the right idea, though the design software here didn't work as well as 3D Home Architect Deluxe, which fortunately is included.
(box) 3D Home Architect Deluxe (same program as in 3D Home Design Suite reviewed above):
If you're buying the packages that include 3D Home Architect Deluxe, the better choice is clearly the This Old House package. The combination of the This Old House and the 3D Home Architect Deluxe programs is more useful than those in the other package.
Published Aug. 29, 1998, San Jose (CA.) Mercury News
IF YOU'RE planning to build a house or just add a room, a number of computer programs and bundles can help transfer your imagination into virtual reality. Here are a few that I tested:
BOB VILA'S HOME DESIGN (Compton's Home Library/Windows 95, $39.95):
Two CD-ROMs combining home plans (with some home designs featuring animated tours) and design tools. The second CD-ROM has Vila's video segments on all aspects of designing and planning a home. More than 1,000 home plans can be searched and blueprints are available to view on disc.
Designing a house is relatively easy through the use of the mouse. As you add elements, you can view the results in 2-D or 3-D. Included on the disc is a link to the Vila Home Design Web site http://www.bobvila.com/index.htm, which includes additional home projects, listings for resources, products for sale, interactive advice, plus a 3-D VRML virtual reality house online.
Overall, I found ''Bob Vila's Home Design'' a great aid if you're planning to design a house.
BRODERBUND 3D HOME DESIGN SUITE (Broderbund, $79.95):
This bundle consists of 3D Home Architect Deluxe, 3D Home Interiors and Imagine Your Landscape, all for Windows:
(box) 3D Home Architect Deluxe (Broderbund, $49.95 separately): Nuts-and-bolts design program with 3-D views of finishing projects. Fairly easy to use and without a lot of bells and whistles. Functional and more than adequate if you're looking for a basic design program to help preview whatyou've got in mind.
(box) 3D Home Interiors (Broderbund, $49.95 separately): Companion to above with drag-and-drop catalog of furniture and interior applications that can be imported into design plans and linked to shopping lists so you can plan your spending. Nice touch: You can vary lighting views to see how the room will look.
(box) Imagine Your Landscape (SHOW OFF! SOFTWARE): The subtitle says ''Update Your Landscape With Living Pictures,'' which about describes it. You can either use the pictures that come with the program, or with a scanner, import a picture of your home and see how your landscape will look. The program could stand to be a little more user-friendly because many of the functions are hidden in the pull-down menus, which we found a bit hard to access.
THIS OLD HOUSE -- KITCHENS AND HOME ARCHITECT ($49.95):
Bundle consisting of This Old House -- Kitchens and 3D Home Architect Deluxe:
(box) This Old House -- Kitchens (Windows 3.1/Windows 95-Broderbund): Encyclopedic planner for adding on kitchens, including a ton of practical video tips and a very handy feature called ''Material Sampler'' that lets you easily see how various color schemes will work together. If you're only planning a new kitchen, this will help you get the right idea, though the design software here didn't work as well as 3D Home Architect Deluxe, which fortunately is included.
(box) 3D Home Architect Deluxe (same program as in 3D Home Design Suite reviewed above):
If you're buying the packages that include 3D Home Architect Deluxe, the better choice is clearly the This Old House package. The combination of the This Old House and the 3D Home Architect Deluxe programs is more useful than those in the other package.
Thursday, February 12, 1998
In her own speak: Yoko Ono interprets Lennon's drawings on display in San Jose
By Steve Marinucci
Published Feb. 12, 1998, San Jose (CA) Mercury News
YOKO ONO, the artist and performer who remains best known as John Lennon's widow, spoke by telephone about Lennon's life and art, and other matters, on the eve of a brief visit (today through Sunday) to Westgate Shopping Center by graphics from his Bag One Portfolio, a traveling show from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
She spoke from her apartment at the Dakota in New York and will not be in San Jose with the collehad a sense of humor. He wanted to kind of make it a fun thing to learn Japanese. I think it's really working. They can read that book (''Ai: Japan Thru John Lennon's Eyes'') . . . they can learn Japanese words just by having fun and looking at his drawings and all that. So, he was always thinking about those things, you know . . . how to make things fun and easy for people.
Q
I'm told that the exhibit is different than when it was here a couple of years ago.
A
I think this one is very different.
Q
How does the exhibit evolve over time? How does it change?
A
Well, this year there's a special thing about John's handwriting. I think that's very, very special. I come from a culture where calligraphy is art. But also, in the Western culture, too, handwriting analysis and all that is a very scientific thing. It's not hocus-pocus. And so, in that sense, a lot of people can analyze from his writing what kind of mood he wa Well, that's very important, you see. And especially, the erotic ones that John did. Some galleries prefer to show it in the back room. Some galleries would like to put it in the show window.
Q
Well, in this particular case, it's in a shopping center, and I suspect it'll probably be out in the open where everybody can see it.
A
Uh huh, uh huh. You mean the erotic ones? . . . I see.
Q
About the colorizing of the drawings . . . Some people would say this is, well, this is like Ted Turner coloring movies.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Q
I'm gonna let you --
A
No, no, no, you're right to say that. I was, you know . . . first thing that happened was when this program was set up, I did ask professionals to come in . . . because, you know, I don't know how to set up these things, I don't know how to get in touch with galleries and all that stuff. So then they came with John's drawingThat's interesting.'' Then I realized it's like records. They say, ''Well, the record shop is not gonna put it in the window because they don't like the cover'' or something. It's as simple as that. . . . So I said, ''OK, at least let me color it because John wouldn't have minded if I did it.'' . . . It's like the color was exploding, and I . . . wanted it in a way it would enhance John's drawings, if anything, but, like, quietly. . . . Now some people would still not think it's a good idea, but as Ted Turner would say, ''The black and white is still there in the story.'' . . . It's interesting, that yes, many people do like the colored ones, you know?
Q
You going to keep showing these things as long as people want to see them?
A
I don't want to scratch the bottom of the barrel-type of thing. I just want to do it until it's OK. I have to feel it out. And one day, when it's not OK, I'll say, ''Listen, this is the end of this program. . . .
Some (of the younger) generation really don't know about John. And they walk in and they like this and then they think, ''OK, well, why don't I listen to his record as well?''
Q
I know that there's a ''Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon'' CD coming out here. . . .
A
(laughs) Yes!
Q
Feb. 24. It's already out in Europe. In fact, I have an import copy. [The American release will be on Capitol.] And all the people I know that have heard it say the sound is wonderful. How much input did you have on that? . . . You chose all the tracks and everything, right?
A
No, no. They chose some tracks, the record company, and . . . it was a dialogue, let's put it that way.
Q
OK. That begs the question that a lot of people would kill me if I didn't ask you.
A
Yeah, what?
Q
There's been a rumor of a box from ''The Lost Lennon Tapes'' radio series.
A
Yes! It's not just gonna be ''Lost Lennon Tapes.'' I mean, when you say ''Lost Lennon Tapes,'' you're talking about the Westwood One program. But it's not just (the) Westwood One program. It's a kind of collection of stuff that is lying around there that's kind of here and there that's important to share with you. The goal is maybe this autumn . . . I hope it's this autumn, butmaybe it would be next spring. Who knows?
Q
How about Sean? I hear Sean's got a new album coming out [called ''Photosynthesis'']. Are you giving him any guidance?
A
(Laughs) I'm not giving any guidance, OK? I mean, you know, mothers are not supposed to give guidance, right? Anyway, so he's doing his own thing.
Q
There was a recent interview in a British magazine called Uncut where you said thought John would have loved the Internet. Have you seen any of the Beatles or John Lennon Web sites?
A
No.
Q
Are you interested in that at all?
A
Well, I'm not that interested. I'm a very busy person. And what happened one day was that they kept saying, ''You should look into Onoweb, you should look into Onoweb.'' [http://www.cam.org/~rjoly/yoko/onoweb.html is a fan Web site.] So one night, I did look into it. And when I finished, it was dawn. And I said, I'm not doing this, you know. (Laughing) I don't want to be one of those people who gets obsessed with it. And I'm a very obsessive type. . . . That's not to put it down, you know.
Q
There's supposed to be an upcoming movie about you and John.
A
Yeah, you know, that, too. I think it's interesting because, no, I don't have a contract with any company at this point, etc., but I might do it. And I did have a talk with some people because some people were interested. But, you know, just because I had a talk with some company or whatever, it seems like the world is up in arms about it. ''Aw, she's gonna tell her side of the story,'' and for the Beatle fans, this is the most terrible thing that's happening.
And I think, ''This is really interesting, you know. You mean they can only endure me if I don't say a word? Is this a kind of typical racism, chauvinism situation?'' And so, my rebellious spirit is really sort of perking up and sort of saying, ''Maybe I should do a film. Maybe I should do it, then.''
Q
For the record, are you and Paul getting along OK?
A
Well, we go off and on, shall we say. But, he called me to say ''Happy New Year'' or something like that two or three days ago. It's not so bad. And we -- all of us -- exchange Christmas gifts and things like that.
Q
Last question. Do you think that in the years since you and John first sang ''Give Peace a Chance'' that the world has done exactly that?
A
Well, we still have a long way to go, I think. Still some people are being killed and a lot of weapons are sold and all that, you know. And it's a very lucrative business. It's very sad that business comes first before human life and destruction. But I think that the world is changing, though. And gradually. It's too slow. . . . It's too slow. I think it will change eventually. It will become a world eventually, the world that we're dreaming of.
Q
OK.
A
And then John will come out and say, ''I told you so!''
Published Feb. 12, 1998, San Jose (CA) Mercury News
YOKO ONO, the artist and performer who remains best known as John Lennon's widow, spoke by telephone about Lennon's life and art, and other matters, on the eve of a brief visit (today through Sunday) to Westgate Shopping Center by graphics from his Bag One Portfolio, a traveling show from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
She spoke from her apartment at the Dakota in New York and will not be in San Jose with the collehad a sense of humor. He wanted to kind of make it a fun thing to learn Japanese. I think it's really working. They can read that book (''Ai: Japan Thru John Lennon's Eyes'') . . . they can learn Japanese words just by having fun and looking at his drawings and all that. So, he was always thinking about those things, you know . . . how to make things fun and easy for people.
Q
I'm told that the exhibit is different than when it was here a couple of years ago.
A
I think this one is very different.
Q
How does the exhibit evolve over time? How does it change?
A
Well, this year there's a special thing about John's handwriting. I think that's very, very special. I come from a culture where calligraphy is art. But also, in the Western culture, too, handwriting analysis and all that is a very scientific thing. It's not hocus-pocus. And so, in that sense, a lot of people can analyze from his writing what kind of mood he wa Well, that's very important, you see. And especially, the erotic ones that John did. Some galleries prefer to show it in the back room. Some galleries would like to put it in the show window.
Q
Well, in this particular case, it's in a shopping center, and I suspect it'll probably be out in the open where everybody can see it.
A
Uh huh, uh huh. You mean the erotic ones? . . . I see.
Q
About the colorizing of the drawings . . . Some people would say this is, well, this is like Ted Turner coloring movies.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Q
I'm gonna let you --
A
No, no, no, you're right to say that. I was, you know . . . first thing that happened was when this program was set up, I did ask professionals to come in . . . because, you know, I don't know how to set up these things, I don't know how to get in touch with galleries and all that stuff. So then they came with John's drawingThat's interesting.'' Then I realized it's like records. They say, ''Well, the record shop is not gonna put it in the window because they don't like the cover'' or something. It's as simple as that. . . . So I said, ''OK, at least let me color it because John wouldn't have minded if I did it.'' . . . It's like the color was exploding, and I . . . wanted it in a way it would enhance John's drawings, if anything, but, like, quietly. . . . Now some people would still not think it's a good idea, but as Ted Turner would say, ''The black and white is still there in the story.'' . . . It's interesting, that yes, many people do like the colored ones, you know?
Q
You going to keep showing these things as long as people want to see them?
A
I don't want to scratch the bottom of the barrel-type of thing. I just want to do it until it's OK. I have to feel it out. And one day, when it's not OK, I'll say, ''Listen, this is the end of this program. . . .
Some (of the younger) generation really don't know about John. And they walk in and they like this and then they think, ''OK, well, why don't I listen to his record as well?''
Q
I know that there's a ''Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon'' CD coming out here. . . .
A
(laughs) Yes!
Q
Feb. 24. It's already out in Europe. In fact, I have an import copy. [The American release will be on Capitol.] And all the people I know that have heard it say the sound is wonderful. How much input did you have on that? . . . You chose all the tracks and everything, right?
A
No, no. They chose some tracks, the record company, and . . . it was a dialogue, let's put it that way.
Q
OK. That begs the question that a lot of people would kill me if I didn't ask you.
A
Yeah, what?
Q
There's been a rumor of a box from ''The Lost Lennon Tapes'' radio series.
A
Yes! It's not just gonna be ''Lost Lennon Tapes.'' I mean, when you say ''Lost Lennon Tapes,'' you're talking about the Westwood One program. But it's not just (the) Westwood One program. It's a kind of collection of stuff that is lying around there that's kind of here and there that's important to share with you. The goal is maybe this autumn . . . I hope it's this autumn, butmaybe it would be next spring. Who knows?
Q
How about Sean? I hear Sean's got a new album coming out [called ''Photosynthesis'']. Are you giving him any guidance?
A
(Laughs) I'm not giving any guidance, OK? I mean, you know, mothers are not supposed to give guidance, right? Anyway, so he's doing his own thing.
Q
There was a recent interview in a British magazine called Uncut where you said thought John would have loved the Internet. Have you seen any of the Beatles or John Lennon Web sites?
A
No.
Q
Are you interested in that at all?
A
Well, I'm not that interested. I'm a very busy person. And what happened one day was that they kept saying, ''You should look into Onoweb, you should look into Onoweb.'' [http://www.cam.org/~rjoly/yoko/onoweb.html is a fan Web site.] So one night, I did look into it. And when I finished, it was dawn. And I said, I'm not doing this, you know. (Laughing) I don't want to be one of those people who gets obsessed with it. And I'm a very obsessive type. . . . That's not to put it down, you know.
Q
There's supposed to be an upcoming movie about you and John.
A
Yeah, you know, that, too. I think it's interesting because, no, I don't have a contract with any company at this point, etc., but I might do it. And I did have a talk with some people because some people were interested. But, you know, just because I had a talk with some company or whatever, it seems like the world is up in arms about it. ''Aw, she's gonna tell her side of the story,'' and for the Beatle fans, this is the most terrible thing that's happening.
And I think, ''This is really interesting, you know. You mean they can only endure me if I don't say a word? Is this a kind of typical racism, chauvinism situation?'' And so, my rebellious spirit is really sort of perking up and sort of saying, ''Maybe I should do a film. Maybe I should do it, then.''
Q
For the record, are you and Paul getting along OK?
A
Well, we go off and on, shall we say. But, he called me to say ''Happy New Year'' or something like that two or three days ago. It's not so bad. And we -- all of us -- exchange Christmas gifts and things like that.
Q
Last question. Do you think that in the years since you and John first sang ''Give Peace a Chance'' that the world has done exactly that?
A
Well, we still have a long way to go, I think. Still some people are being killed and a lot of weapons are sold and all that, you know. And it's a very lucrative business. It's very sad that business comes first before human life and destruction. But I think that the world is changing, though. And gradually. It's too slow. . . . It's too slow. I think it will change eventually. It will become a world eventually, the world that we're dreaming of.
Q
OK.
A
And then John will come out and say, ''I told you so!''
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