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Scenes We'd Like To See: Alternate Movies, Television & Other Pop Culture Miscellanea

How about action set in a lunar or sub-oceanic space colony?
Outland starring Sean Connery takes place in a mining colony on Io, and for all the "High Noon in space" vibes, comes across as a pretty good rendition of what life in space colonies would be like: not so much libertarian utopia as company town on steroids.
 
New book coming out that might be of interest to forum and to readers of this thread in particular.


From the images on Amazon features Cheech & Chong vs. Jason, so frankly worth buying for that alone.
 
Extremely small WI just based on what I've been reading lately. Western author Ernest Haycox received some serious critical praise for his novel The Earthbreakers, and was seen as having finally matured as a writer after a lifetime of churning out potboilers of steadily improving quality. Trouble was, the book was published posthumously after Haycox died at the age of 51.

That's young enough that he could have been writing for decades more if he'd been in better health. A good candidate for a Great American Novelist who never was. Hemingway was apparently a big fan of his.
 
I read recently that in the early 1950s roller derby was just as popular on television as professional wrestling, and it's easy to see some similarities being ostensibly sporting presentation yet with a great emphasis on characters and showmanship. Roller derby could command just as great an attendance at Madison Square Garden during this era as the WWWF could.

The televised content created a need for bigger characters as there were several examples of match fixing, done in an effort to get the "story" right, that became public and caused attendances to dwindle. There were also some financial and organisational struggles for lead promoter Leo Seltzer during the period. From what I understand match fixings, or "skating phony", had a history before this too. There had been an internal debate about preserving the sporting aspect or going full carnie with it from what (very) limited knowledge I have of the sport.

Now, suppose the match fixings do not become public knowledge, and that perhaps attendances remaining up can keep financial problems from becoming too overwhelming, and roller derby remains a fixture on US television throughout the 1960s/70s and beyond. How do they do this? Do they go full carnie and essentially adopt the same "kayfabe" model as wrestling? What is the impact of a heavily female dominated sporting presentation being a popular television genre? Can it co-exist with professional wrestling (and does it maybe improve the female performer element of that?); or, can there be only one? Finally, can roller derby reach the same cultural penetration as professional wrestling had during the mid-80s or late-90s?

Obligatory tag of @Bolt451
 
Eazy E doesn't contract AIDs, allowing for the N.W.A reunion in the late 1990s/early 2000s to be complete. You'd get one last album or two out of them, with features like Snoop Dogg and, possibly, Eminem; if we really stretch it, maybe 50 Cent too? If the butterflies allow Tupac to avoid his murder, throw him on there too given his ties to Dre and overall you'd get probably the definitive album as far as Hip Hop is concerned.

Also, and this would fulfill so many of my college dreams, Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert actually drop 16*29 in either late 2017 or sometime in 2018, with the popularity catapulting Playboi Carti into the mainstream sooner. With his management team still intact, Whole Lotta Red actually comes out in 2018 or 2019, depending on the release date of 16*29. Unlike the absolute shit show of OTL's WLR, this one (most likely a mash of V1 and V2 from which the leaks that made Carti so popular from 2018-2020 came from) is a critical success and establishes him as one of the greats from the 2016-2018 wave of Rap in a way that's not as contested as it is now.

Also, obviously, Juice Wrld living is another one, including more collabs.
 
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Also, another one I forgot: Toho in 1990 was in talks with Miramax for a theatrical release of Godzilla vs Biollante in Western Theaters. Ultimately they failed (Miramax was even sued by Toho) and the Heisei series ended up going mostly direct to VHS or DVD; indeed, the G vs B DVD wouldn't even be released until the 2010s IIRC. Have those talks be a success, and we may see the Heisei series get movie theater releases in the 1990s. What effects that would have on the series, on the following Millenium one, Tri-Star's 1998 effort, and the overall perception of Godzilla to Western audiences would be interesting to see.
 
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Quatermass: The Channel 4 Years

1982-1986: Vanessa Redgrave
1986-1988: Ian McDiarmid


“The Channel 4 period of Quatermass probably encapsulates the early years of Channel 4, an attempt to create a mature, slightly arty and incredibly Left Wing version of a classic British Show. The end results range from good to awkward but all tried to tell compelling and original stories.

Quatermass’s Rights were acquired by Channel 4 after Verity Lambert and Euston Films had attempted to create a serial in 1978 which collapsed due to budgetary issues and Industrial disputes wrecking the production. Kneale still burned from the failed 78’ serial attempted to put a stop to it but it was only after discussions and a large pay check did he begrudgingly allow Channel 4 to make the show.

In Summer 1982 (New) Quatermass with the title ‘From The Void’ (1983) would enter production with a script by Troy Kennedy Martin in which the daughter of Quatermass, Emma must solve the mystery of a capsule that mysterious land back on earth and a series of radiation connected deaths. Attempts to get John Carpenter to direct who offered his interest were shot down by timing issues, instead a pair of directors which consisted of; Harry Bromley-Davenport and Martin Campbell would be chosen instead.

Vanessa Redgrave would be considered after much discussion as attempt to add ‘gravitas’ to the proceedings and also to showcase that Quatermass was going to be mature and atmospheric. Rounding out the cast would be John Mills as Professor Hawnthorne, Sean Chapman as the Astronaut who emerges from the capsule, Sam Neill as Lance Westland the head of the newly privatised BRG and David Warner as Secretary for Space David Moore who many would concluded was inspired by Michael Heseltine. Additionally Andrew Keir would cameo as Bernard Quatermass himself. Editing would be finished for Winter 1983, though the intended showing of Spring 1983 was altered due to the election of that year, with the eventual showing being June 1983.

The original showing was fairly popular if incredibly controversial due to it’s subject matter. Released in the time after Falklands and 1983 election, it’s subject matter of Government Conspiracies attempting to keep quiet a mistake from decades ago seemed at odds with the general mood of 1983.

Additionally it’s mixing of real life politics (with appearances through cameos or archive footage from Pre-leadership Neil Kinnock, Peter Walker, David Howell and Bryan Gould appearing in a cameo as a TV Eye reporter) and it’s rather grisly death scenes (this was after extensive cuts) would lead to folks like Mary Whitehouse imploring for the show to be investigated for breaking broadcasting rules. Despite or probably because of the controversy the show managed to gain between 5-6 million viewers per episode, causing Channel 4 to commission a second serial.

The Second Serial ‘Edge of Darkness’ (1985) would after the fast paced political thriller of ‘From The Void’ was a much slower and creepy affair set in the rebuilding dock lands of Liverpool in which a strange alien canister filled with a liquid is found. Written and directed by John Carpenter who has been begging to do the second serial, the story was very much inspired by Quatermass and the Pit even down to the serial ending in a chaotic riot that engulfs Liverpool as the alien menace infects the water supply. With David Yip as Doctor Wong, Robert Lindsay (in his first Quatermass related role) as DC Alan Sharpe and David McCallum as Brigadier Matthews who is sent to control the alien substance. The serials slower pace and more brooding atmosphere would dampen the critical and commercial appeal of the serial compared to The Void though the acting and story were considered much better. The serial would gain about 5 million viewers which worried Channel 4 who begrudgingly decided to commission a new serial.

Vanessa Redgrave would bow out, though her off time spent supporting the PLO and Gerry Healy had made Channel 4 more than happy to oblige. Attempt to change casting were slowed by the sudden reappearance of Nigel Kneale demanding that not only his script be commissioned but also that he help produce the third serial. Channel 4 begrudgingly obliged and so after much searching the new Quatermass would be found in Ian McDiarmid, a compromise candidate to have a Quatermass who seemed older but still able to able to be fairly active compared to Kneale’s choice of John Mills (who declined).

‘Season of the Witch’ (1988) is a strange affair to say the least. Originally set in Ireland the location was changed to Wales after Channel 4 tried to help produce more cross Channel productions with there Welsh counterpart, the director would become Richard Marquand, chosen due to his experience directing ScFi and his Welsh background (Marquand hoped that he could use the concept of a story set in Rural Wales to help pitch his Welsh Western idea that he’d been pitching since the late 70s). Kneale begrudgingly accepted this compromises as production would occur in the Spring of 1987. Rounding out the cast would be Gareth Thomas as Cult Leader Bernard (causing much amusement for those who found out his first role was the Hammer Adaptation of Quatermass and The Pit), Robert Lindsay reappearing as DC Alan Sharpe and Lynette Davies as Astronomer Claire Wilding.

The production compared to the fairly more sedate pervious two serials would be more chaotic, as weather would effect shoots and Nigel Kneale would disagree on how Marquand shot certain scenes. The disagreement would continue until Marquand suffered a Embolism as reshoots were to begin in the Summer causing a halt to the production and Harry Bromley-Davenport being called up last minute to finish production. Reshoots were finished by August of that year but Kneale spent much of the Autumn arguing with James Marquand over the edits.

The show was wildly panned, whilst the acting was praised, Kneale’s script of Celtic Aliens and sinister cults was considered all over the place compared to the tighter stories people were used to. Viewership would slump to about 3 million at the end of the run and Channel 4 used it as a good excuse to stop the renewal of any new series of Quatermass.

New Quatermass would be seen in hindsight as an attempt by Channel 4 to bring there own particular touch to Science Fiction and whilst the Second Serial in particular has been lauded for being able to capitalise on the potential of a 80s Quatermass, the other two are seen as very much products of there time, if enjoyable all the same.

But that wasn’t the end of Quatermass as a strange revival attempt in 1990s came to try and adapt the character for the last decade of the 20th Century.”
 
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So would seem as though the fourth Quatermass production winds up being closer to, and replacing, Edge of Darkness; with the subsequent efforts being more akin to John Carpenter's failed collaboration with Kneale (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) as well as his love letter to Quatermass and the Pit (Prince of Darkness).

I enjoyed this, despite thinking OTL's Quatermass has a lot to offer.

We gonna get our Third Reich set prequel in the 90s?
 
So would seem as though the fourth Quatermass production winds up being closer to, and replacing, Edge of Darkness; with the subsequent efforts being more akin to John Carpenter's failed collaboration with Kneale (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) as well as his love letter to Quatermass and the Pit (Prince of Darkness).

I enjoyed this, despite thinking OTL's Quatermass has a lot to offer.
I realised that an 80s Quatermass would probably be Edge of Darkness meets The Quatermass Experiment and it being a direct sequel due to it being a bit hard to justify a British Rocket Group in the age of Thatcherism.

As for the other two, given that John Carpenter would have jumped at any opportunity to work on a Quatermass project then this is what causes Season of the Witch not to be made, because Kneale is still annoyed about a sequel being made and decides against working with Carpenter. Given how for much of the 90s, Quatermass remakes failed because Kneale disliked David Pryor and Tim Burton this wouldn’t surprise me. Additionally I do think that John Carpenter doing his Quatermass and the Pit homage would likely threading in well with the Channel 4’s attempts (which would see as them trying to modernise the original stories etc.)

Also glad you enjoyed it, I should do my write up on Del Toro’s proposed Quatermass and the Pit remake at some point as well.
We gonna get our Third Reich set prequel in the 90s?
Yes, which leads to Tim McInnery playing Quatermass for much of the 90s because Channel 4 after the prequel decides they want a X-Files type show to cash in on.
 
Can't wait for the prequel. Which is a sign of how good your ideas are, because usually my response when I see the word applied to anything is "Oh no, a prequel!"

Tiny thing: Did you mean to cast David "Chinese Detective" Yip? I imdb'd Derek Yip and there is one, but he's a film/tv music producer.
 
Can't wait for the prequel. Which is a sign of how good your ideas are, because usually my response when I see the word applied to anything is "Oh no, a prequel!"
Thanks. Nigel Kneale proposed the idea of a prequel several times but nothing came of it (probably due to him being considered too old at this point). Here he would likely continue writing despite the failure of Season of the Witch.
Tiny thing: Did you mean to cast David "Chinese Detective" Yip? I imdb'd Derek Yip and there is one, but he's a film/tv music producer.
I did mean David Yip, thanks for noticing. Thought it would make sense given John Carpenter’s habit of casting actors of Chinese Descendent and David Yip being from Liverpool helped his casting somewhat.
 
Quatermass: The Channel 4 Years
Part Two


1993-1999: Tim McInnerny
2001: Karl Johnson


“Quatermass had been shut down in 1988, not long after, Doctor Who had shut it’s door too. It seemed that British Science Fiction was to regulated to the occasional TV Movie and Mini-Series as the 90s began.

Nigel Kneale meanwhile had continued writing and he would write a fairly popular adaptations of the Woman In Black, Stanley and the Women and Running Wild over the course of the early 90s. Having pondered about a prequel to Quatermass, he would submit the prequel script to numerous different companies in the hope of being able to close the Quatermass series on his own terms.

Amusingly,Verity Lambert liked the script and saw it as a possible way to expand her production companies reach. Pitching the idea to Channel 4 got a nervous approval with Michael Grade famously being happy that it didn’t have aliens and was closer to a Period Piece drama than anything else. A co-production between Cinema Verity, Canal + Group and there German subsidiary Premiere, the production would begin in early 1993 with the aim to have the three part mini-series be ready for broadcast by Christmas 1993. Tim McInnerny would be chosen after attempts to get Hugh Laurie were cancelled due to scheduling conflicts and Kneale complaining about Laurie’s test screening.

‘The Quatermass Event’ (1993), Set in 1936 during the Berlin Olympics it followed Quatermass trying to get a German Jewish Scientist Dr Schmitz out of Berlin as German, British and Soviet Secret Services try to take Dr Gustav and his ideas for themselves. Tim McInnerny would be joined by Bruno Ganz as Dr Schmitz, Mario Adorf as Colonel Dieter, Ian McKellan as Agent Philby and Geoffrey Palmer cameoing as Admiral Hugh Sinclair of MI6. The mini-series would be directed by Mick Jackson, fresh off the success of The Bodyguard.

Despite grumblings from many that Quatermass wasn’t going against aliens in this mini-series, there was much praise for the series’s sense of tension and wit as well as it’s portrayal of Nazi Germany and the machinations of the SS etc. Additionally Tim McInnerny was praised for his ability to add depth to the Quatermass Character that hadn’t been particularly seen before.

The show managed to garner around 6 million viewers in the U.K. whilst in Europe the total view-ship would be about 8 million between Germany and France.

The shows relative success wouldn’t be abused for about a year, but seeing success of shows like X-Files and Goodnight Sweetheart made some in Channel 4 believe they could continue the McInnerny Quatermass as a way to capitalise on the possible success of both. Stephen Gallagher writer of shows like Chimera would be commissioned to write a pilot for what would become the ‘Quatermass Reports’ (1995-1997).

The Quatermass Reports followed Tim McInnerny’s Quatermass alongside his Research Assistant Elena Shaw (Fiona Shaw) as they investigate both the mundane (Soviet Spies infiltrating the BRG) to the Fantastical (Alien Radio Waves leading to mass murders in a small town in Lancashire) in Post War Britain. The first series developed by Stephen Gallagher was popular with Science Fiction fans and General Audiences but Critics were lukewarm on the series, finding the stories repetitive, the lack of an overarching story for the show and often fairly bleak.

The second series whilst still show run by Gallagher, was largely written by Ben Aaronovitch and John Collee in attempt to create an overarching story. The addition of Richard E.Grant’s Agent Moore (originally Tony Slattery was considered for the role but his nervous breakdown caused him to be replaced by Richard E. Grant) and a sinister secret agency that’s trying to harness the alien powers that pop up. The show would become more popular with critics but the audience figures had declined and so Michael Grade in one of his last moves as CEO of Channel 4 would ask for the Quatermass Reports to be cancelled.

A fandom campaign would emerge on the early internet and the new CEO of Channel 4, Michael Jackson who had originally shot down Kneale’s Quatermass Event being commissioned by the BBC decided to commission a Quatermass Film which would utilise the new FilmFour Limited production company and also tie up the shows loose ends.

The confusingly named ‘Quatermass’ (1999) would begin production in 1998 with McInnerny, Shaw and Grant returning alongside Donald Sumpter playing Clement Attlee and Hugh Laurie playing DI Lomax. Set in 1950, it deals with Quatermass launching his first unmanned rocket but the rocket is brought down by a mysterious fog that threatens to engulf all of Britain and it’s use may be related to Agent Moore and his secret organisation. The film would be directed by John Carpenter after attempts to get Danny Boyle fell through due to scheduling difficulties.

The film was relatively well liked by critics and it did moderately well at the box office when released overseas, though it’s lukewarm reception in the USA would cause David Proyer’s own Quatermass project to be cancelled.

And so that seemed to be it for Quatermass, as Tim McInnerney went onto other projects like playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series on him starting that year.

But Channel 4 after the 2000s and renewed discussions about a cross Atlantic rebooting Doctor Who caused Cinema Verity to pitch a pilot episode written by Ben Aaronovitch in which an older Quatermass dealt with a chaotic 70s.

‘White Heat’ (2001) had Quatermass played by Karl Johnson in which he had to investigate a series of deaths at a Nuclear Power Plant and possible connections to a Celtic Stone Circle nearby. Conceived as being more in line with classic Nigel Kneale stories, the slow pace and lack of action (with Karl Johnson talking the alien threat from blowing up a nuclear power plant) didn’t particularly excite audiences, though Nigel Kneale did approve of the script and said that White Heat was the only story that got ‘Quatermass’.

By the time White Heat aired, Doctor Who was in production with many individuals from the Quatermass show appear (with Richard E. Grant playing the Doctor himself). Quatermass would stay on hold for a long time yet, though kept alive through comics and novels. The next time Quatermass would appear, he would be on a different channel and have a very different presence entirely.
 
Shuffling Through the Fourth Dimension

Doctor Who: The Original TV Serials (1963-1975)

  • 1963-1966: William Hartnell
Best known stories – An Unearthly Child; The Daleks; The Aztecs; The Dalek Invasion of Earth; The Time Meddler; The Celestial Toymaker; The Tenth Planet
  • 1966-1969: Patrick Troughton
Best known stories – The Power of the Daleks; The Moonbase; The Evil of the Daleks; The Tomb of the Cybermen; The Ice Lords; The War Games
  • 1970-1973: Jon Pertwee*
Best known stories – Spearhead from Space; Doctor Who and the Silurians; The Dæmons; The Three Doctors; The Sea Devils; The Daleks in London
  • 1973-1975: Tom Baker
Best known stories – The Ark in Space; Return of the Cybermen; The Final Game

Cancelled by the BBC amid behind-the-scenes issues. Cited as BBC budget cuts.


Terry Nation’s Dalek Movies:
  • Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
  • Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)
  • Daleks in Manhattan (1978)
  • DALEK EMPIRE! (1980)
The Tom Baker-Douglas Adams Film productions:
  • Doctor Who meets Scratchman (1980)
  • Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen (1981)
  • Doctor Who in Italy! (1982)
  • The Doctor Retires (1983)
Doctor Who: The ITV Revival Serials (1983-1990)
  • 1983-1985: Colin Baker
Best known stories – Last of the Time Lords; The Gaslight Murders; The Robots of Death; Warriors of the Deep; Pyramids of Mars; Caves of Androzani
  • 1985-1987: Sylvester McCoy
Best known stories – Attack of the Cybermen; The Face of Evil; The Nightmare Fair; Mission to Magnus; Yellow Fever and How to Cure It; Earthshock
  • 1987-1990: Paul McGann
Best known stories – “The Cartmel Plan”; Time Inc; The Happiness Patrol; The Greatest Show in the Galaxy; The Doctor’s War; The Curse of Fenric; Thin Ice; Lungbarrow

Cancelled due to low ratings/BBC copyright disputes


Doctor Who: FOX/BBC Collaboration (1994-2006)
  • 1994-1997: Peter Capaldi
Best known stories – The Millennium Bomb; Don't Shoot, I'm A Doctor!; “The Peladon Arc”; Genesys of the Daleks; Jubilee Day!; Spare Parts; Invaders from Mars; Bloodtide; Finding Ulysses
  • 1997-2000: John Hurt
Best known stories – The Genocide Machine; Doctor, Iceberg Ahead!; Sword of Orion; Human Nature; The Apocalypse Element; Bohemian Harmony; Brother Irving and the Braxiatel Collection
  • 2000-2006: Richard E. Grant
Best known stories – Scream of the Shalka; Minuet in Hell; The Witchfinders of Salem; A Study in Starlight; Zagreus; The Five Doctors; Where Heroes Dare; The Railroad; Pax Romana

FOX neglect to renew the shared right, BBC buys them all back in 2007


Doctor Who: 2008 BBC Revival (2008-Present)
  • 2008-2012: Jodie Whittaker
Best known stories – The Eleventh Hour; End of the Earth; Aliens of London/World War Three; The Empty Child; Volcano Day!; The Green Knight; The Sandman
  • 2012-: Christopher Eccleston
Best Known stories – The Ides of Mars; Office Space/Human Resources; The Moonstone; “Trial of a Time Lord” Arc
  • 2012-2018: David Tennant
Best known Stories – Project: Twilight; Daleks of New York; Da Vinci and the Doctor; Project: Lazarus; “The Infinite Quest” Arc; Project: Destiny; The Stitch in Time; The Web of Power
  • 2018-2021: Jo Martin
Best known stories – The Seven Doctors; The Osiran Complex; Life on Mars in 22nd Century; Skin of the Daleks; Empire of the Spiders
  • 2021-Present: Matt Smith
Best known stories – ??????

Other Incarnations

BBC Radio’s Doctor Who Serials
  • 1977-1981: Richard Hurndall
The War Doctor
  • Peter Davison (1988’s The Doctor’s War)
The Valeyard
  • Michael Jayston (1985’s The Face of Evil; 1988’s The Doctor’s War; 1989’s Curse of Fenric; 1990’s Lungbarrow)
  • David Bradley (2011’s The Sandman; 2012’s The Ides of Mars)
  • Toby Jones (2012’s Office Space/Human Resources; “Trial of a Time Lord” Arc; “The Infinite Quest” Arc; 2017’s The Stitch in Time

(POD is that Jon Pertwee dies permaturely, rather than Roger Delgado who become the One and Only Master in the Whoniverse)
 

A Grand Theft Auto movie? Shortly after Grand Theft Auto III? Directed by Tony Scott? And starring Eminem?

Really, I think Sam Houser was right to immediately pass, since any attempt likely would have been terrible; but talk about an appeal directly to twelve-year-old me.

As terrible as that might have been, the no doubt quick cash-in straight-to-video sequel based on Vice City and starring Bruce Campbell might have been enjoyable for camp value if nothing else.
 
Have some ideas for very weird places for NFL franchises, going by the silly "If Green Bay can have an NFL team, then clearly....." which is implausible (the Packers are, by their own admission, a grandfathered-in outlier), but still fun for a soft AH.

One is to have a team in Spokane, Washington called the Solars (a reference to the sun-related meaning of their hometown's name).
The other is to have an additional team in the NYC metro area called the Owls, a name I've used for a fictional NY-based team in a variety of sports.
 
Inspired by this one time performance at a charity concert.



*

The Stray Aces (main years active 1988 - 1991) were an American doo-wop/accapella supergroup. They featured appearances from multiple famous musicians over the years, but their core group was composed of Dion DiMucci, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Lou Reed, and Ruben Blades. The idea for the group came after these musicians and others provided backing vocals for Dion in his performance of 'A Teenager in Love' at the Concert for Homeless Children in Madison Square Garden, New York City in December 1987. The artists paid tribute to Dion's influence on their music, and following the concert and the conclusion of Springsteen and Joel's worldwide tours in 1988, recorded an album, 'Lonely Hearts Sing The Longest' of his songs and other doo-wop classics in October 1988. In 1989, the core group of Stray Aces toured the United States and Canada. In September 1990, the Stray Aces wrote and recorded new material in their album, 'A Leap of Faith'. After a short tour the following year, the Stray Aces disbanded in July 1991 as the members wanted to dedicate more time to other projects. The group reunited for appearances since then, although without Lou Reed following his death in 2013. The group was part of a wider trend of 1980s supergroups that included The Traveling Wilburys and The Highwaymen.

Lonely Hearts Sing the Longest (released February 1989)
(lead vocals in brackets)

1. A Teenager In Love (Dion)
2. Dream Lover (Bruce Springsteen)
3. The Wanderer (Lou Reed)
4. Lovers Who Wander (Billy Joel)
5. Tonight, Tonight (Dion)
6. Somebody Nobody Wants (Ruben Blades)
*
7. I Wonder Why (Billy Joel)
8. Runaround Sue (Bruce Springsteen)
9. Runaway Girl (James Taylor)
10. Life is but a Dream (Paul Simon)
11. Come and Go with Me (Van Morrison)
12. In the Still of the Night (Ruben Blades)

Lou Reed inducting Dion at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, 1989: "And then there was Dion — that great opening to "I Wonder Why" engraved in my skull forever. Dion, whose voice was unlike any other I had heard before. Dion could do all the turns stretch those syllables so effortlessly, soar so high he could reach the sky and dance there among the stars forever. What a voice — that had absorbed and transmogrified all these influences into his own soul, as the wine turns into blood, a voice that stood on its own remarkably and unmistakably from New York — Bronx Soul. It was the kind of voice you never forget. Over the years that voice has stayed with me, as it has, I'm sure, stayed with you. And whenever I hear it I'm flooded with memories of what once was and what could be."

Bruce Springsteen: “I love Dion and I have, gosh, since I heard ‘Teenager in Love’ on my mom’s radio as a small boy. That was the first thing I heard, and you know we became friendly over the years and he’s just one of those guys whose artistic curiosity has never left him, which is very unusual for musicians. It usually fades, or they lose it somehow, but Dion has remained musically curious throughout his entire life and made all kinds of different kinds of records and has continued using what is probably one of the great white pop voices of all times in creative ways. That’s very inspiring.”

download.jpg
The Stray Aces, on tour in 1989.
 
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