Loudon
Wainwright on CNN - (18/8/99)
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BILL TUSH : Laurin, sporty is
too spicy for television.
LAURIN SYDNEY : Bill, Sporty Spice
is what you're talking about, right?
TUSH : Exactomundo.
SYDNEY : Well, the BBC reports
that Mel C's video for her solo single, "Going Down,"
has been banned from daytime viewing on MTV and several other
video outlets.
TUSH : In the video, Sporty
sports a raunchy look, showing off her girl power in provocative
clothing.
And Laurin, who
can ever forget "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road"?
SYDNEY : Well, certainly not
the guy who ran it over.
TUSH : Yes, well, I'm talking
about the classic tune by Louden Wainwright III.
SYDNEY : You got it. I thought
that was kind of by Louden Wainwright II.
TUSH : Well, the third is
out with a new release, chronicling much more than roadkill.
Sherri Sylvester
reports on his latest work.
SHERRI SYLVESTER (reporter) : The famous and the infamous
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WAINWRIGHT : (Indicating the cover
of the CD) There's Jesse, O.J. Simpson, Tanya Harding, and there's
that bad boy Bill Gates. Ooh, bad Bill Gates.
SYLVESTER : Familiar targets for
the humor of Loudon Wainwright III. While his album "Social
Studies" primarily takes a look back at the '90s, his new
single looks ahead.
- WAINWRIGHT (singing) :
- Hey, what
do you say, here it comes now, Y2K.
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WAINWRIGHT : I do have a sense
of social responsibility to bring awareness to the millennium
bug, but I'm counting on paranoia to boost sales and I'm going
to make it big. |
- So you better
get ready, be very afraid,
- because your
money's no good and you'll never get paid.
- And the car
won't start, and the phone won't work,
- and the juice
won't squeeze, and the coffee won't perk.
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SYLVESTER : Naturally, he has
big New Year's Eve plans.
WAINWRIGHT: Well, I'll be counting
the royalty checks, and along with my shotgun shells, getting
in my provisions, hiding out basically, with my money and weapons. |
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WAINWRIGHT : Kumbaya -- no, I'm
not doing that. Who do you think I am, Joan Baez? We're
going to sing a song about death and decay. How about that?
All right, kids. (starts 'What Gives?') |
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SYLVESTER : A favorite in concert
and on National Public Radio, he is not always popular with those
he parodies. Evidently, Jesse Helms was not amused and
sent Wainwright a letter.
WAINWRIGHT : (quotes the letter)
"Well, thank you, Mr. Wainwright. If it weren't for
people like you, left wing, communist, radical, weirdo types,
Senator Helms would not have won."
And I thought,
man, these guys won and they sent me this. |
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- Kato Kaelin
is a hero.
- Fong and
Fuhrman both are bums.
Every juror gets a book deal.
- Everybody
wants some crumbs.
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WAINWRIGHT : I like to amuse people,
and I don't mind irritating them or upsetting them, either, I
mean, within reason. I don't want them to start throwing
sharp objects at me, but bottles, fruit, that's all OK.
SYLVESTER : He studied to
be an actor, appeared in "M.A.S.H.," made a movie with
Sandra Bullock, was Letterman's original sidekick, and went to
grade school with Liza Minnelli. |
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WAINWRIGHT : It's kind of -- a
little like Sandy Bullock. You know, I call up and say, "Liza,
or Sandy," and they go 'click' (imitates the sound of a
phone being hung up).
SYLVESTER : Sherri Sylvester, CNN,
Los Angeles. |
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NOTE - I think the
outdoor pictures were taken at the Los Angelos Plaza (the free
midday concert, in Mid - July) - Martin |
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