Geo’s Media Blog (Karaoke Wannabes) New 3/01/21

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While growing up in a suburb of Winnipeg called Transcona, I was in a Rock & Roll band called the Jury and even though we still had a record on the chart, I left the band for radio when my daughter Candis was born.

Unfortunately, the only way you become successful in radio is by moving. So when Candis was only six months old we left two sets of grandparents behind and headed for Saskatoon to become a program director.
From Saskatoon, it was off to Sudbury, Ottawa, Toronto, and then down to Indianapolis where Candis started school.
We were all pretty happy living in Indy, but ever since I was a kid, I dreamt about living in California someday so as my fortieth birthday was approaching I said to myself, “If not now, when?”
A few weeks later I answered my own question when I dragged my family to San Diego and started my own business.
We enrolled Candis at Coronado High where she adapted rather quickly by becoming the freshman of the year and the lead in most of the school’s musicals.
After finishing high school in France, which is another story, her next stop was NYU in New York before transferring to UCLA.
While studying at UCLA she began recording an album of her own songs and singing them at places like the Roxy, (pictured on top) the Whiskey (in the middle), and the Troubadour below.
(You can click the link at the bottom of the page to hear a song that she recorded about her mom and me)
We of course would occasionally we’d go back to Winnipeg to visit relatives and it was during one of those visits that Candis and her cousins decided to go to a Karaoke bar to do a little singing.
Once there, they put their name on a list and patiently waited. When it was finally their turn to sing, Candis let her cousins shine.
As the night wore on, I began to notice that three people were up there so often, it was difficult for anybody else to get their turn. They were decent enough singers who also brought some fans with them, making them appear to be mini-celebrities.
Finally, tiring of their mic hogging, I said, “Candis, get up there and smoke ’em, honey.”
When it was her turn she sang Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and blew the room away. However, the parents sitting at the next table said, “Oh yeah, she’s good but I hear she’s from LA.”
I of course couldn’t help but turn to them and proudly say, “Yes, you’re right, she is from LA, but she was born right here in Transcona.”
GEO’S LIFE-LINERS

You may only be one person away from something wondrous happening.

None of the Beatles were anywhere near as good as the Beatles.

It used to be that a movie got an R rating if it had any Sex, Violence, Nudity, or Bad Language in it, but now they’ve added smoking.

Speaking of smoking, if even the movie industry considers it bad enough to give it an R rating, how come the government hasn’t noticed it being bad? Surely it can’t be those giant checks from the tobacco industry that’s blinding them?

Sometimes, it’s hard to distinguish between what’s just opinion and what’s a learned experience. An opinion is usually louder, though.

What if we didn’t love large breasts? What then? They’re tough to hide.

Just because somebody is computer smart doesn’t make them smart.

One of the many bad things that can happen is reaching your goal because you probably aimed too low.

The media no longer reports the news; they create it.

It’s ten times easier to convince yourself that you can’t do it than it is to realize that you can do it.

You’re gonna need a sense of humor if you ever have to manage people.

Having enough time to make anything happen is almost impossible, so your waiting around for something to happen is a total waste of time.

I think letting someone off because they’re a first offender is stupid. There’s a big difference between being caught doing a crime for the first time and actually doing a crime for the first time.

Jesus, are there any filmmakers in Hollywood left who don’t have liberal agendas? I’m getting bored.

Speaking of Jesus, I loved John Lennon, but when he claimed that the line, “Christ You Know It ain’t Easy,” was meant as a prayer, I thought, “C’mon John!”

COMMENTS

Doug Erickson: Loved that, George. Thanks for sharing. (Corona Special Edition
Geo: Thank you for the read, Doug. The New Righteous Brothers knocked me out.

Jerry Keifer: Bucky is a great replacement for Bobby Hatfield…Thanks, George for sharing… (Corona Special Edition)
Geo: I agree with you, Jerry, he can really get up there.

Bruce Walker: Great to hear the Righteous Brothers again. They still sound great. Thanks, George. (Corona Special Edition)

“Reminds Me Of Me” – Candis Johns

Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, and Life. For a sneak peek at some upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to Geo’s Media Blog @ GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting are appreciated.

 

3 thoughts on “Geo’s Media Blog (Karaoke Wannabes) New 3/01/21”

  1. Three movies destroyed the Hayes Code in Hollywood in the late 1960s: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?”, although Jack Warner and Mike Nichols worked with Jack Valente, going over the script line, by line, to keep it from getting an “X”. Then came “Bonnie and Clyde” with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. The final blow was “Midnight Cowboy” which won the Oscar for “Best Picture”, but was originally rated “X”, then re-rated “R” after a couple of edits. Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch”, also 1969, did not help either, but it was edited to get it to an “R”. I say that having seen he unedited film, something I regret to this day.

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