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Steer your Martini, be brave, and dash into the magical world of Bruce Morrow!!

That’s right! Wear your tuxedo, steer your Martini and enter the magical world of Bruce Morrow who is making headlines in Paris, London and New York. What is the deal here? Well, Morrow, a TV and radio legend in the United States wrote a new book on Doo Wop. What is that? Doo Wop! O Yes, Doo Wop, the music and singing style that took the world by storm, some 40 years ago. And Morrow is an authority in the field. And here is the full account. Tara  A. Cuskley, publicity guru at Sterling Publishing in New York City, sent Maximillien de Lafayette, a review copy of Morrow’s and R. Maloof's new book. Lafayette was in London. But Carol Lexter, another propaganda wizard waited impatiently for the arrival of her mentor and boss. Boom, Lafayette arrived to his destination, and Lexter flashed Morrow’s book in his face and said READ IT. Good Stuff! And Lafayette did. He could not put the book down. He loved it. Consequently, an avalanche of reviews written by the legendary Max invaded the world media. Doo Wop fans in London and Paris, and New York equally devoured the reviews. I could not believe that Doo Wop is still alive and kicking. Well, apparently, it is. We got so much inquiries about Morrow’s book. And I began my quest. I do not have a copy yet. Probably I will put my hand on one, very soon. I phoned Lafayette for a comment, and he told me Buy the book. Don’t be cheap, don’t wait for a freebie.  Boy! That was not a comment but, it did steer my curiosity. I will buy one. Carol Lexter faxed me a few pages from  Doo Wop: The Music, The Times, The Era, the book I am talking about. The first thing I noticed was of course the cover. Is it the rear or the sideboard of an Impala, a Chevy or a Thunderbird? I have no clues. But it is mighty attractive, and it seems to represent the era of Doo Wop. The book, from the handful bunch of pages I looked at, is unusual. Fashion, cars, politics and Brando, all are in! And add a few pics of James Dean and Jacqueline Kennedy. I thought I was reading Paris Match and Life magazine. It is full of photos, posters and records labels of all sorts. Very catchy and entertaining book. One particular photo caught my eyes: Cousin Brucie (The author) parading on stage wearing a leopard skin tuxedo! This man has character. According to Lafayette, Bruce Morrow, alias Cousin Brucie is a phenomenon, a legend and a man with a heart bigger than the Empire State Building.

Hollywood veteran Robert Redford has said he is "disappointed" about criticism of his Sundance film festival in a new book about independent movies.

In his book Down and Dirty Pictures, author Peter Biskind accuses Redford of having broken appointments and failed to follow through on commitments. He said Redford had been notorious for keeping people waiting, and concluded that the festival was a failure. Redford said the US festival's success over 20 years spoke for itself. Actor Redford founded the independent film festival 20 years ago, and last year it attracted 38,000 film makers and investors to Park City, Utah. This year's Sundance opened on 15 January and will show 255 films including Redford's new movie The Clearing. Biskind wrote: "Judged by one of its original, loftier goals, an institute to help outsiders, Sundance has failed." Asked about the book on Monday, Redford said: "You're only human. You have to be disappointed, but you also know that there's an impotence to your position. "There's nothing you can do about it. So you just live with it and move on." He added: "I'm pretty well okay with the fact that I think Sundance is not going to be stopped by that kind of stuff."

I'm not that cute, Shania says 

"I don't think I'm ugly, I just think I'm overrated on the cutie-factor," the pint-sized singer from Timmins recently told Britain's The Mail on Sunday's Night and Day magazine. The 39-year-old star, known for her wild woman on-stage persona, is currently touring Europe in support of her new album, Up!, produced by husband, Mutt Lange. "I'm not going to look like Cindy Crawford, or a top model. Those people are perfect, that's why they have that job," she told the magazine. "But I am a musician. How can I be voted the sexiest woman, or whatever? That happens to Raquel Welch." Despite the self-deprecating remarks, Ms. Twain has posed for sexy photos in men's magazines like FHM, GQ, and Maxim, where she was No. 2 on its 2003 list of the hottest 100 women. She was topped only by pop sensation Christina Aguilera, and beat the likes of Jennifer Lopez (number five), Terminator 3's Kristanna Loken (number three), and Shakira (number eight). Ms. Twain's 1997 debut album, Come on Over, sold 34 million copies, making it the best-selling record made by a woman. But are Ms. Twain's modest comments truly self-deprecating, or just a clever marketing move?"She has strategically designed her image to be exactly that -- a supermodel," said Tina Pieraccini, professor of communication studies at the State University of New York at Oswego."But if she were to say that, the media would call it arrogance. Ms. Pieraccini noted that in order for Ms. Twain not to come across as arrogant to the media and to her fans, she has to appear self-effacing. "I think it's a clever public relations ploy," said Ms. Pieraccini.Ms. Twain's new release -- her first in five years -- comes after a reclusive move to a chateau in Switzerland where she gave birth to her first child, Eja. 

MADONNA REINVENTS HERSELF

 Having a go at forty something Madonna for not being as relevant to teens as, say, Britney Spears is pretty silly. Madonna's two previous albums, Ray of Light and Music, were adventurous, grown-up albums that continued her career-long ability to shift ground just when stasis threatened. You don't try to sell that to the kids buying Holly Valance. Similarly, mocking her for writing about her own life rather than sticking to lyrics about picking up boys in bars and busting poses on the dance floor is fatuous. She isn't 20 any more; she has two kids and a bloke, and enough life experience to have acquired a few insights. But where it is legitimate to criticize is in the emptiness of those insights and the failure of their delivery. In the title track, after she lists her voluminous staff and asks, "Do you think I'm satisfied?", Madonna declares: "I'm just living out the American dream/And I just realized that nothing is what it seems." That's about as deep as it gets. Nobody Knows Me has embarrassing lyrics such as, "I'm not that kind of guy/ Sometimes I feel shy/ I think I can fly/Closer to the sky." And Mother and Father (which had the potential to be moving, given it's about growing up without a mother) gives us this bogus rhyme: "There was a time that I prayed to Jesus Christ/There was a time I had a mother/It was nice." Musically, this is a mixed bag. While the album's producer, Mirwais Ahmadzai, is essentially a one-trick pony (stuttering beats under synth bass and cut-up sounds with surprising bursts of acoustics breaking things up), it's a good trick and he pulls it off a number of times, including on the groove-rich Hollywood. He also gives an unexpected warmth to the love songs Nothing Fails and X-Static Process. But too often the sounds are let down by Madonna's melodies (which are dull and predictable) her singing (which sometimes seems too remote given the personal nature of the lyrics) and her occasional rapping (which is stiff and unconvincing, like someone who has read about the craft but never heard it performed). American Life is neither the worst thing Madonna has done nor a complete failure. But it has too many problems to be counted a success.