NEW FEATURE: Twitterer Of The Day - The Cultute of Pop, DVD, Movie, TV, Pop Culture Review

NEW FEATURE: Twitterer Of The Day

Posted: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:44:23 PST

Happy Friday, folks...and welcome to yet another new feature on the site...

As most of my regular readers have discovered upon coming here for the first time, I'm a huge fan of Twitter...it's like the high tech version of news wire machines I depended upon in my radio days back in the 1980's.

Machines that give you sports scores? The latest news headlines? Entertainment news?

Kewl.......

But news wire machines didn't give you the latest thoughts from Duran Duran, Burt Reynolds, President Reagan, Terry Bradshaw or Heather Thomas (just five pop culture icons that would have ruled Twitter during the me decade had it existed then).

Boy, how times have changed. While I'm still shaking my head at people commemorating activities ranging from bathroom visits to breakfast menus in their 140 character dispatches, Twitter is an amazingly useful device depending on who's hands its in. Reminders, links to interesting stories, blurbs, jokes, headlines, trivia, breaking news of all kinds, inspirational quotes, sports, links to shirtless congressmen (yuck; I pray you haven't started a trend Chris Lee), You Tube connections, etc....the road goes on forever, as Greg Allman would say.

So, being the fan I am, The Culture Of Pop presents:

 

Twitterer Of The Day!!! (insert massive echo)

 

Starting this Monday, I'll pick one of my numerous faves to spotlight with bio information, trivia, links and whatever else I can conjure up...and as a sneak preview (or actually as a means to make myself feel better since I wanted to debut this feature last Monday), here are five of my favorite Twitter feeds that never waste my time:

 

Rosanne Cash-One of country music's most gifted artists and the eldest daughter of the legendary Johnny Cash, Rosanne rose to prominence in the late 1970's beginning with her first self titled album which was only released in Germany. A deal with her father's longtime label Columbia followed resulting in her well received sophomore effort, Right Or Wrong, which spawned three top 40 hits on Billboard's Country Singles chart.

But it was Rosanne's third album, 1981's Seven Year Ache that proved to be her breakthrough, earning rave reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone along with the title song becoming the first of 11 number one singles she would capture during the decade. Additionally, Seven Year Ache became one of those rare genre tunes to simultaneously crack the country, pop and adult contemporary charts.

Cash's discography includes classic albums (Rhythm and Romance, King's Record Shop, Interiors) and beloved radio hits (Blue Moon With Heartache, Hold On, the Grammy winning I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me, The Way We Make A Broken Heart, and a lovely, faithful cover of the old man's Tennessee Flat Top Box).

Her chart successes slowed as the 1990's dawned, leading her to New York and a new career as a writer including a short story anthology (Bodies of Water) the childcare's book Penelope Jane: A Fairy's Tale, and her autobiography Composed. Cash returned to recording in the early part of the 2000's; among her most recent releases are 2005's Black Cadillac and 2009's The List, the latter of which came from a list of 100 country song favorites her father Johnny gave her, of which she picked 12 to record.

In months ahead, the Memphis native plans to write new material, both for herself and a proposed project with rocker Billy Bragg and Old '97's member Rhett Miller. She's also plotting a follow up to Composed and a planned sequel to The List, which is up for a Grammy at the time of this writing....All this and tour dates coming soon....So, talk about a good time to follow the Twitter feed of the enormously talented Rosanne Cash...

David Wild-Being a fan of Rolling Stone magazine from my teenage years onward, David Wild has long been one of my favorite writers from the publication over the years. With a smooth balance of journalistic integrity and the everyman enthusiasm of a dyed in the wool fan, Wild's diverse career includes notable pop culture books (Friends Til The End; the Neil Diamond tribute He Is, I Say), behind the scenes contributions to many an award show (Oscars, CMA's, this weekend's Grammys) and even a short lived stint as a TV host to the undeservedly canceled Musicians series on Bravo (well, whaddya' expect from a network who won't stop until there's a Real Housewives show for every state).

David's feed is a delightful mixture of links to his Huffington Post blog (featuring many clever playlists), current activities, and pop culture related one liners that would have made him a go to guy in the days of Bob Hope specials.

So if you're a music nut like I am, follow the Twitter feed of David Wild...and tell him Jeffrey from The Culture of Pop sent you....and like Tony Randall said after winning an Emmy for the last season of the then-canceled Odd Couple, tell David, “I wish I had a job”.... (I could be the Paul Shaffer of personal assistants should you need one, David).

 

Shaun Robinson-Although its late time slot in my market prevents me from checking in as much as I'd like, this multi-talented reporter/weekend co-host of Access Hollywood has long been one of my favorite entertainment reporters whose love for what she does flies off the screen.

A native from the home of Motown, Shaun got her start at a local Detroit television station, instigating a news career that took her to three of the top television markets in the country: Milwaukee, Austin and Miami. During the 1990's, she reported on some of the biggest news events of the decade including the Oklahoma City bombing, Hurricane George and the Clinton impeachment hearings, while also honing her chops in the fields of reporting and anchoring. Along the way, Shaun revived prestigious awards from both the Associated Press and Women In Radio and Television.

In recent years, Robinson has turned author, penning a book on self esteem for young girls called Exactly As I Am, and spends her down time contributing to a vast array of L.A. based causes including Share Your Heart/Share Your Home, and the JumpStart Coalition's Read for the Record campaign.

Amazingly with so much going on in her profession and non-red carpet duties, she still finds time to respond to her faithful more often than not, a rarity in Hollywood. So follow the classy, wonderful Shaun Robinson.

 

Tara Dublin-I know, Tara who? Well, you won't be saying that for long once you taste the blog musings of this incredibly talented Portland based writer.

Jersey bred, she spent her teenage years admiring the likes of MTV's Martha Quinn and 80's John Hughes movie icon Molly Ringwald, which eventually led to pursuing a degree in Drama from the University of Georgia. Her passion for music and broadcasting so charmed the program director of the infamous Channel Z (made famous in song by the Athens, GA based B-52's), Tara got her start at the legendary radio station.

Portland became the next stop in her career, as Dublin became KNRK's popular mid-day personality. With a quick wit and warm, affable personality, her slot became mandatory listening to true modern day music lovers, especially during her 90's Lunch @ Noon. Sadly, economic cutbacks forced her off the air in 2009, leaving a hole in the heart of her faithful.

But in the wake of her sorrow, Tara discovered she could still deliver the goods in literary form...and so began Tara Dublin Online, a blog chronicling an always eclectic batch of entries that take you through the horrors of unexpected unemployment to the joys of playing Mom to two of the coolest kids on the planet, along with beyond entertaining chronicles of run in's with comedian Patton Oswalt (whom didn't start off on a promising note) and Foo Fighter's rocker Dave Grohl.

Although still unemployed as of this writing, Tara's wonderful way with words and storytelling are gathering momentum at The Huffington Post, and her free lance pieces are featured occasionally in The Oregonian and The Portland Tribune.

In the end, she's the best columnist you're not reading...solve that by following Tara Dublin.

 

Roger Ebert-Ladies and gentleman, perhaps the only one of my five Tweeters in this special debut edition of my daily Twitter feature that needs no introduction.

Although the date escapes me, one Thursday night in 1978, I was flipping around the dial on my 16 inch black and white Motorola TV in my room looking for something interesting to watch, and came across these two guys seated in a movie theater balcony-ish setting talking about movies...and I should add, two very unlikely looking guys..there was no way they were gonna pass muster in the increasingly pretty boy/pretty girl news anchor mentality that was just beginning in the broadcast industry at that time.

Yet, it was that unfashionable presence that made Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel so damn cool to me. Being the movie/music/entertainment freak that I was (and still am), I often felt like such an outsider amongst my own age group. So, Sneak Previews was like an emotional salve week in, and week out as these two Chicago film critics discussed, debated, and often disagreed with one another over the latest movie offerings, sometimes to vehement lengths.

Let me tell ya, even the strengths of Andy Kaufman, Andre The Giant and Jerry The King Lawler would have paled in a steel cage match with these two back in the day.

So began a viewing habit that lasted for nearly 30 years as I followed Roger and Gene from PBS to Tribune and Disney syndication (At The Movies)...and then came the beyond sad passing of Gene, the seemingly endless series of guest hosts, the final selection of the wonderful Richard Roeper as Roger's new co-host, and the heartbreaking health issues that eventually took away most of Roger's neck, leaving him with a permanent smile and worst of all, that warm, husky enthusiastic voice with a hearty chuckle.

While most folks would have crumbled in the face of such woe, Roger persevered..for who says you have to have vocal cords to have a “voice”? The mind that served as home base for his speaking and his writing was still intact, if not stronger...and those of us who have read and watched Roger for over three decades can still hear that voice in his reviews and writings on his excellent web site.

After a brief bit of hesitation over its 140 character limit, Roger's become a power Twitterer who not only alerts you on his latest reviews and musings, he's a generous re-tweeter and sometimes goes as far as playing fellow pop culture connoisseur tweeting out bargain alerts on Amazon (keep an eye out for any Beatles deals for me, Roger).

I may read the works of other critics from time to time, but I still (and forever will) trust Roger Ebert. - A mandatory follow...

 

Whew! I'm glad this is gonna be a daily feature starting Monday..and before I split, I guess I'd better toot my own Tweeter horn; you can follow me too, by clicking the corresponding link below...

J.R. 

Jeffrey Rosado is a writer, pop culture historian, performer and all around nice guy...until he sees the “not responding” prompt at the top of of his computer screen, forcing him to suppress the Pete Townsend that lies within...

Follow Jeff on Twitter: marquee_man

 

HOME PAGE