Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Don't Envy Me (1963)
 
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) What is it about you that you believe your friends and acquaintances envy? I often hear that I'm smart. Only I know that isn't quite true. I'm quick, which is different.

2) Do you have a friend or acquaintance that you envy? Joanna. She's so sophisticated and has such style.

3) This song was not a hit, even though it was written and produced by the supersuccessful team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Tell us about a project you had great confidence in at the beginning, but didn't turn out as well as you'd hoped. Growing out my hair. I wanted it long enough to pull back, or maybe wear in a topknot. Only I couldn't bear it in that in-between stage, so I hacked it off.

4) George Hamilton is better known as an actor. He is proud of his performance in the 1960 movie Light in the Piazza. He played an Italian who romances an American girl on holiday in Florence. Did you ever find love while vacationing? No.

5) George had a small part in Godfather III. How many of the Godfather movies have you seen? Have you read the book? Yes. I wonder how many people have actually read it. One of the snobbier cliches is that "the book is always better than the movie." The Godfather, while carefully and brilliantly plotted, is really not that well written. It's oversexed and sensational. The movies -- except maybe Godfather III -- are more elegant and expressed a deeper meaning to Puzo's work than Puzo himself conveyed.


6) He's gotten a lot of publicity over the years for his personal life, including his 1966 romance with First Daughter Lynda Bird Johnson. At the time, she was living in the White House. Tell us about a memorable experience you had "meeting the parents." I was involved with a very nice, very smart man who had some rather serious commitment issues. One night, he confided to me about abuse at the hands of his dad. Everyone loved and admired his dad, and it made him reluctant to start his own family. If a fine, upstanding man like his father couldn't handle marriage/career/children without cracking under the stress, who could? I looked at it as, "Your dad was a psycho for doing that to you!" Well, shortly thereafter he introduced me to his dad. I had a very hard time warming up to this outwardly charming older gentleman, because I knew what had happened in the past. My boyfriend kept saying, "That was long ago!" But it wasn't long ago to me. I'd just heard about it.

7) George is also known for his year-round tan. Have you ever used a tanning bed? Or self tanner? I once bought a package of tans at a local salon. I wanted to be the color of Mailbu Barbie. With my genetic makeup, that's never going to happen.

8) In 1963, when this record was released, President

Kennedy made a historic trip to Ireland. Have you ever visited the land of your ancestors? Yes. I went to Berne, Germany, where I'm told my favorite grandpa once lived. Unfortunately, he was already dead by the time I made this trip, so I couldn't discuss it with him.

9) Random question -- The last of a batch of delicious chocolate chip cookies just fell on your kitchen floor. Would you eat it? Yes. I'm the worst housekeeper ever, but I do love a good cookie.