2016: A Year In Music

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2016 has been a year marked by loss: David Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen, to name but three giants who have left the stage. Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, spoke directly to our troubled times. Continue reading

So Long, Leonard Cohen…

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I first heard his music while watching Robert Altman’s anti-Western, McCabe and Mrs Miller, in Camden during the late eighties. That cinema is now long-gone, but the film – made not long before I was born – left a lasting impression. Continue reading

Marilyn Monroe: A Day in the Life

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VeVea Day in Life

April VeVea is a 26 year-old ‘Marilynista.’ “My knowledge of her started in 1993, when I was three, and saw a life size cut-out in an antique store,” she recalls. “Marilyn had her dress blowing over her head in the iconic Seven Year Itch dress. As her smile radiated through me all I could think about were two things: her beauty and that she would look better with longer hair.” April also maintains a highly regarded blog, examining popular myths about Marilyn’s life and death. Inspired by authors like Donald Spoto and Michelle Morgan, April has uncovered primary sources, including newspaper archives and original documents from auction catalogues. Continue reading

Born On This Day: John Gilbert 1897-1936

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John Cecil Pringle was born on July 10, 1897, in Logan, Utah. His parents were both stock company actors, and after their divorce his mother married Walter Gilbert. After many years on the road, the family settled in California. Jack, as he was nicknamed, began working at Thomas Ince’s studio in 1915, graduating from bit parts to more substantial roles over the next five years. He married Olivia Burwell in 1918, but they separated a year later. Continue reading