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The amazingly mindblowing Tom Petersson. In the immortal words of Zero Mostel in The Producers, "wowee-wowwowwowwow!"
Where oh where do I even begin? I love Cheap Trick (I especially love Tom Petersson, who looks just as fabulous as he did in 1977. Good work Tom!), the Beatles, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Animals, the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, the Byrds, Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Gene Pitney, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, the Ramones, the Jam (standing in front of the gorgeous Bruce Foxton recently and having him winking and blowing kisses at me as he played and then catching his guitar pick was one of my most fabulous moments EVER!), XTC, the Replacements, the Flamin' Groovies, the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, Marc Bolan/T. Rex, Sweet, David Bowie, Mott the Hoople, Mick Ronson, the Move, the New York Dolls, Sparks, Blondie, the Bongos, the Raspberries, the Lovin' Spoonful (R.I.P. Zally), the Mamas & the Papas (R.I.P. Denny), Mike Nesmith, Harry Nilsson, Lindsey Buckingham, Warren Zevon, Gram Parsons, Rick Nelson, Nick Lowe, Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Flat Duo Jets, Wilco, Otis Redding, Al Green, Marvin Gaye . . . y'all get the picture, dontcha?
Okay everybody, take a deep breath: Rosemary's Baby, The Graduate, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Z-Man/John La Zar you are amazing!), Goodfellas, Casino, The King of Comedy, The Exorcist, The Shining, Georgy Girl, Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Masked and Anonymous (don't believe the hype, this is a great movie and Mr. Zimmerman is terrific in it!), Let it Be (when in the world is this going to be released on DVD?), the "7 Up" series (watch them all in consecutive order--incredible!), Mulholland Dr., Double Indemnity, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Moonstruck, The Producers, Dr. Strangelove, It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (this movie is so freaking stupid and overblown it's brilliant--and Dick Shawn's performance in it is pure genius!), Being There, Shampoo, Network, Chinatown, Young Frankenstein, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python and the Meaning of Life, Best in Show, This is Spinal Tap, Born to Boogie, American Beauty, Pulp Fiction, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Tom Dowd and the Language of Music, End of the Century, Mayor of the Sunset Strip, New York Doll . . . and on and on and on . . .
The Sopranos (yes, I think Tony died--too bad he had to die listening to Journey!), Six Feet Under, Californication, Mad Men, The Larry Sanders Show, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Absolutely Fabulous, The Sarah Silverman Program (except when she sings . . . Sarah, you're brilliant and adorable, but please, you're not Susanna Hoffs!), The Odd Couple, The Bob Newhart Show (the one set in Chicago; I wasn't that crazy about the one set in Vermont), The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Simpsons, Get Smart, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Monkees, Green Acres, SCTV, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, Ugly Betty, Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, Shear Genius (I hate to admit that I find a reality show compelling, but Sally Hershberger just rocks!), Top Chef (I know, it's a dreaded reality show, but I love to cook and it's fascinating to watch the food being created and the chefs figuratively stabbing one another in the back--honestly, I don't spend all of my time watching Bravo), Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (oh wait, that's another reality show on Bravo, go figure!), Project Runway (okay, maybe I do spend all of my time watching Bravo, but you've got to admit that Project Runway is irresistibly yummy!), and probably a ton more that I can't remember (I guess my brain is fried from watching too much television . . . ).
It would be impossible to list all of the books that I have ever cherished (reading was truly my first love), but here are some amazing ones: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Harriet the Spy (my favorite children's book that fed my imagination countless times while growing up in NYC--oh to live with Harriet on the Upper East Side!), The Bell Jar, The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night, Truth & Beauty, Autobiography of a Face, Our Town, The Year of Magical Thinking, The White Album (the Joan Didion book, not the Beatles album, although I love that too), Edie, In Cold Blood, Nickel and Dimed, Please Kill Me, I'm With the Band, About Alice, Wonderful Tonight, the Fantagraphics "Peanuts" complete boxed-sets (which are absolutely beautiful) . . . I could go on forever, but I won't.
George Harrison (my favorite Beatle and creator of my favorite album, All Things Must Pass), John Lennon, Gene Clark, Ray & Dave Davies, Tom Petersson, Bruce Foxton, Marianne Faithfull, Julie Christie, Pattie Boyd, Bob Newhart, George Carlin, Dick Cavett (his blog on the New York Times website is fantastic!), Charles M. Schulz, Shag, Bob Dylan, Pamela Des Barres (who I finally had the opportunity to meet; what a doll!).