The Glorious Corner

ISLAND BOY — My experiences  with Chris Blackwell, founder of all-things Island, was pretty scattered, but I music admit when we did talk and share time, he was just an exceptionally brilliant music person. U2, Roxy Music, Free. John Martyn, Steve Winwood, Traffic., Spencer Davis, Bob Marley, Grace Jones, Spooky Tooth, King Crimson, Moot the Hoople, Fairport Convention, Marianne Faithful, Robert Palmer, Nick Drake, Eno and John Cale, and so many more, were all his artists that he discovered,

An uncanny ear for music, Blackwell propelled his Island Records into a powerhouse of a label; eventually selling it for $300  million to Polygram in 1989.

He also had several subsidiary labels, ZE (Kid Creole & The Coconuts) and Mango (The Invisible Man’s Band),which also resulted in success. His book An Islander is a must-read. Read a recent interview with him in The Guardian: Island Records founder Chris Blackwell: ‘I’m interested in what’s different’ | Music | The Guardian

HAMM ON — (Via TV Line) Jon Hamm is back in his prestige TV wheelhouse: The Mad Men veteran will star in the upcoming fifth season of Fargo, FX announced on Monday.

Character details are sketchy at this point, but Hamm will play a character named Roy. Season 5 — which was officially announced back in February — will be set in the year 2019, with the official logline asking, “When is a kidnapping not a kidnapping, and what if your wife isn’t yours?”

Also joining the Season 5 cast: Ted Lasso‘s Juno Temple as a character named Dot, and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Atypical) as a character named Lorraine.

Hamm, of course, is best known for playing philandering ad man Don Draper in the AMC drama Mad Men, a role that earned him eight Emmy nominations for lead actor in a drama series, with a win in 2015. Since then, Hamm’s TV roles have leaned towards comedy, with a recurring role as cult leader Richard Wayne Gary Wayne on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and a voice role on the Fox cartoon Bless the Harts. He currently stars alongside Tom Cruise in the big-screen sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

Noah Hawley returns as writer and showrunner of Fargo‘s fifth season. The FX crime anthology, based on the 1996 Coen brothers film, has piled up 55 Emmy nominations across its first four seasons, with a win for Outstanding Miniseries in 2014. Season 4, starring Chris Rock as a 1950’s Kansas City crime boss, aired in the fall of 2020.

SHORT TAKES — The Trail Of George W. Bush by Terry Jastrow, is a new release from Square One Publishers about a trial for Bush after the War he started; with differing conclusions from his staff. We’re there WMDs or not? I’m not a war-guy – never have been, but the book which begins in the aftermath of 9/11 is positively riveting. I well remember 9/11 and that first night walking in my neighborhood amongst the embers of that day’s events. Everything was white and something I’ll never forget. Here’s the Amazon-link and I give it my highest praise … Where are you Kjersti Long? … Ted Lasso over? Creator Brett Goldstein says the third season now in production in the U.K. will be it. He goes on to say that it was always conceived as a three-season show. You know, with so many shows going on far too long, you’ve got to give these guys props. Hey, I loved the show and will miss it …

Again, I think Jeffrey Donovan was terrific as Frank Cosgrove. How about Chris Noth being back as Mike Logan. L& O-guru Dick Wolff could and should do it.

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Jim Farber; Mark Scheerer; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Charlie Crespo; Eppy; Randy Hoffman; Anthony Pomes; Rudy Schur; Steve Walter; Allan Steckler; Peter Abraham; Cory Robbins; Steve Plotnicki; Jesse Maidbrey; John Billings; Rich Dart; Manny Bella; Coati Mundi;Roy Trakin; and CHIP!