July 11, 2005 |
Carly Simon's Candid Talk
TV Guide: Moonlight Serenade has a very intimate, mellow feel.
Carly Simon: Our intention was an album that you could make out to. [Laughs] TV Guide: You actually knew some legendary composers.
Simon: Yes. Arthur Schwartz ("Dancing in the Dark") was my parents' [Simon & Schuster publisher Richard Simon and his wife Andrea] best friend. Oscar Hammerstein was a close friend of theirs, too. I have a personal feeling about these songs. TV Guide: Can you feel as passionate about these songs as you do about your own?
Simon: There's more of a separation when I'm singing standards, though I do get emotionally involved with them. When I'm singing my own songs, it can get so intertwined, I have to stop sometimes because I cry. TV Guide: To promote Moonlight Serenade, you'll be performing on a number of TV shows. What about your fabled stage fright?
Simon: I think I've changed. I'm not going to empower that negativity anymore. TV Guide: Would you consider a small tour?
Simon: Yes, but I would never be on tour for a long time, because I love my home too much. This is a great pied-à-terre, but my home is in Martha's Vineyard. I'm so grounded there, it's like Tara to me. The kids [Ben and Sally, her children with her ex-husband James Taylor] each have their homes on the property. TV Guide: Your son Ben had a recurring role on American Dreams. [Both he and Sally are singers and songwriters.] Does he want to act?
Simon: Ben was so cute in it! [She beams] He's a singer, but I'm sure if the right acting part came forward, he wouldn't ignore it. TV Guide: You once told me that your ex-husband James Taylor was a terrific father.
Simon: He is a wonderful father. But I don't get to see him as a father. He's totally cut off from me, he doesn't want to be at all involved with me. There's a terrible chasm between us. TV Guide: Why?
Simon: You'd have to ask him. The last time I saw him was at our daughter Sally's wedding [in 2003]. TV Guide: Are you and your current husband Jim Hart [she's been married to the poet since 1987] together these days? You were separated in the past.
Simon: Jim and I haven't really broken up. [She flashes a lovely gold wedding band.] We have an interesting and not at all conventional marriage. We are still deeply involved. I feel that it's a continuum. The hot sex and the lust [at the beginning of a relationship] is so great but then, if you're lucky, [there] is a recognition of devotion. You know, there isn't a relationship I've had that I regret. TV Guide: You seem to be in a better place now than five years ago, when you made your last CD of new songs, The Bedroom Tapes.
Simon: I had a very bad experience [because her label didn't promote it]. I recorded it at my house in Martha's Vineyard at a very tender time in my life, and those songs were extremely personal. So I bought back the album and it will probably resurface. TV Guide: What made it a tender period of your life?
Simon: I was undergoing chemotherapy [for breast cancer] and I had a very bad depression around that time, too. TV Guide: Are you OK now?
Simon: Yes. TV Guide: Does writing music help you through the bad times?
Simon: It's the only thing that I can do to help myself. If you're a creator, that's how you express yourself and without it you become crazy. And sometimes I can't express myself. And I do become crazy. TV Guide: Are you currently writing songs?
Simon: I'm in a phase where I have books and books of lyrics. Some of it is very raw, personal and edgy. I still want to be Leonard Cohen. I can't think of a song that is as good as his "Hallelujah." TV Guide: You won an Oscar for "Let the River Run," which you wrote for 1988's Working Girl, and have written other film scores and songs through the years. Anything lately?
Simon: I [wrote songs for] all the recent Winnie the Pooh movies. I spent four years doing that. It was so great; there's no violence and such nice characters. TV Guide: Your good friend Jackie Kennedy Onassis wanted you to write your autobiography.
Simon: I wrote 80 pages and I realized I didn't want to write about people who didn't want me to talk about them. I couldn't write about James — and I could write a whole book about James. TV Guide: Which of your songs most says who you are?
Simon: "Like a River." I wrote it right after my mother died. It sums up my spiritual point of view — how I feel about death and how I feel about my mother, and daughters and mothers. "Boys in the Trees" is also an important song for me in an earlier period of my life. TV Guide: NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol gave $50,000 to charity to have you tell him who the guy is in "You're So Vain." Why reveal that now?
Simon: Because it no longer seemed that important to me to keep it completely to myself. And I told him if he ever tells anybody I'd say that I lied to him. TV Guide: We all know it's Warren Beatty — you even gave us the letters A, E and R.
Simon: It's so funny that people are still guessing. [Laughs] |
Summerland Stud Plots Murder
A millionaire is found murdered at his lavish East Hampton, N.Y., estate. Was he killed by his adulterous wife? Offed by her lover? Or was he the victim of a twisted scheme perpetrated by both? (And don't even get us started on the tragic twist to come.) It sounds like a frothy TV-movie, and it is, but it's true. Based on the October 2001 slaying of investment banker Ted Ammon, Lifetime's Murder in the Hamptons (debuting tonight at 9 pm/ET) recaps the events leading to the power player's shocking death, then raises — if not answers — all the questions about who truly done it. Playing the "other man" in this torrid tale — contractor Danny Pelosi, who for a time was bedding Ammon's wife, real estate agent Generosa Rand, on the sly — is Shawn Christian, fresh from his run as good-guy Johnny on WB's Summerland. "It was such an in-depth and sensational story," the actor tells TVGuide.com. "A multimillionaire [played by David Sutcliffe] bludgeoned to death in his beautiful home? And then three months later, his widow marries the guy she was having an affair with? And then she dies within the year? And this guy who came from nothing stands to gain it all? I was like, this can't possibly be true." Indeed, Danny, it appears, "has sort of won the lottery," as Christian puts it, when he lucks into his romance with eventual heiress Generosa, who's played by Without a Trace's Poppy Montgomery. The evidence in Ammon's murder gradually points to the enterprising electrician. Although Danny was ultimately arrested for the killing, "I can't say with 100 percent certainty that he did do it," Christian notes. "That was the most challenging part of this, doing a movie where we all know the outcome, but still need to create that suspense. "I couldn't make Danny a straight villain. I had to walk that fine line where you're not sure if he's guilty or innocent, or what his hidden agenda may be," his portrayer explains. "Maybe he was just used as a pawn? I really don't know." What Christian does know is that, while it was "fascinating" to tackle a dark and "completely different" character such as Danny, he no longer has the sunny shores of Summerland to return to. "I found out [there will be no third season] when I was in Canada filming this," he reveals. "And that was a bummer. Johnny was a wonderful character to play, and I'm going to miss him." Barely able to contain his disappointment, Christian waves us off, saying, "Don't even get me started!" |
INXS Catches a Rising Star
TVGuide.com: Finding a new lead singer can take scads of auditions and callbacks. So how did you convince yourselves that you'd be happy with someone you discovered on this particular talent sweep?
Kirk Pengilly: It was a really difficult and long process, but we saw a hell of a lot of great talent during the auditions. [My bandmate] Tim [Farriss] and I personally went to many of the auditions around the world, [so we knew] the standard was really high. At the end of the day, I think you just know when someone's got what it takes. Tim and I referred to that certain something as it. If they had it, they went on to the next stage of the auditions. TVGuide.com: Since INXS has always been closely associated with Michael and his decidedly masculine sexuality, what prompted you to invite women as well as men to audition?
Pengilly: We decided before embarking on this adventure that we were going to be open to any race, color, creed, religion, sex or sexual preference. A woman would add a whole new dynamic to the band. And besides, they can be sexy, too, you know! TVGuide.com: So I hear. Tell me, what's your judging style — are you a Simon Cowell type?
Pengilly: As judges, I don't think any of us are Simons. These singers aren't amateurs, and the bar has been set pretty high for one of them to become our new lead singer. So if there is a need for criticism, it will always be constructive and [given] with respect. TVGuide.com: So you never try to push contestants' buttons just to see how they'll react?
Pengilly: It's still early [on in the contest, so] I think the time for button-pushing will be later on if needed, when we get down to the final four or five. TVGuide.com: Something to look forward to! Do you have an idea of the direction you want the band's sound to go in, or will you let that be decided by the new group dynamic?
Pengilly: INXS has always had a pretty diverse sound, and we have always embraced technology in our music. We love making music that makes you want to dance and move, and the fusion of rock and funk that we have became known for is in our blood. So we are really looking forward to what the new singer brings to the table and allowing the creative process to unfold as we record our new album. TVGuide.com: Since you'll essentially be living with the winner forevermore on tour, did you review the footage of contestants cohabitating to find out what they were like behind closed doors?
Pengilly: Of course! That's why we put them together in the mansion. INXS is a family, so we really wanted to find a way to test out the singers' strengths and weaknesses and see exactly what sort of people they are. TVGuide.com: How do you respond when critics suggest that it's ghoulish to replace your fallen frontman through a reality show?
Pengilly: Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, and I learned a long time ago that you can't please everyone. [The way I see it,] this show gives us an amazing opportunity to spend three months getting to know our eventual new lead singer... see how he or she performs under pressure, relates to other musicians and copes with the many tasks and clinics that we've put together from our own experiences. We also get to see what a worldwide audience thinks of the singers. So [no matter what,] I love it! |
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