Cher
Cher was my last Behind The Music. I was already in hot water – the Executive Producer had called me in to tell me that my previous show, Heart, was not sensational enough for his taste – but Cher brought a whole new level of friction.
The fight was about approach. The had already done a Behind The Music on Sonny Bono, which of course included the entire back story with Cher. So I wanted to begin the show with their breakup, and thanks to the 3-hour interview I had done with Cher, I had great juicy details that gave the show’s a memorable open.
But when I delivered the show, all hell broke loose, and I was told that the show needed more Sonny. Much more Sonny. I resisted, and so they took the show away from me. They stuck Sonny’s funeral on the top of the show, which took all the life out of it. My show is still in there after the first act, and I think it still holds up despite the break in rhythm.
Click here to watch my favorite act. Click here to watch the whole show.
Behind The Music: Cher • My Favorite Act • Written and Produced by Jason Goodman
Every once in a while when you do these shows, you get the chance to challenge your own long-held ideas. I got one of those chances when I interviewed Rob Camaletti, a.k.a. Cher’s Bagel Boy. I remembered the whole non-scandal, and had sort of believed the hothead image that was attached to Rob while he was attached to Cher. The guy I met was anything but a hothead – he was a deep and soulful person, and he gave me a completely different view of what had happened. Now I think of Rob, and Cher, who’s still single, as the first victims of the Paparazzi War.
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[watch the whole show].
Behind The Music: Cher • Written and Produced by Jason Goodman
The most fascinating character in Cher’s Behind The Music is Joe DeCarlo, who was running a small mob-connected music company in 1963 Los Angeles when Sonny and Cher walked through his door unannounced. Joe didn’t understand the hippie music that was starting to take over the music business, but he immediately understood Sonny & Cher. He has been Cher’s closest confidant and consiglieri ever since. Joe’s business card reads “retired and penniless”, which is not particularly believable, and he’s the closest I’ve ever come to hanging with one of the real Las Vegas rat pack. What an interesting guy.
