I don't care, with Cher you can't go wrong

It's been a Cher kind of Labor Day weekend. As I've detailed before, it's not all that hard for me to get on a Cher kick, for there's just so damn much to choose from, it hardly matters what your mood is - there's invariably something there for it. I listened to Cher pretty much all morning yesterday, and vowed today that I would listen to something else. Alas, the underrated "Love & Pain" is playing in the background as I write this.

I stumbled across something in my iTunes library that I had completely forgotten I even had. It's the version of "I Got You Babe" that Cher & Sonny Bono performed on David Letterman back in 1987.



I love this because it perfectly sums up the complexity that is not only Sonny & Cher, but any two people after a divorce or a breakup who try to remain friendly. And I remember it being one of those "who would have ever thought THIS would happen?" moments. I still think Cher has missed the boat by not performing this live with a virtual Sonny. Cheesy? Of course, but the audience would have eaten it up.

I'm almost ashamed to say it, but I'm also exceptionally fond of this performance of "I Got You Babe".



If it were Madonna doing this, I would be embarrassed for her. But it's Cher. She can do pretty much whatever the hell she wants. I am much more forgiving of Cher's perceived missteps than I am of Madonna's - perhaps because I expect more from Madonna. I'm also just beyond-the-pale excited whenever there's new material from Cher that I really don't care how good or bad it is. She's one of those artists whose passing will be Michael Jacksonesque for me, even if she lives to be 160. I do wish she would record a new album though, but I just don't know if that will ever happen. She seems to be content releasing greatest hits albums. And perhaps she has earned that right. She has been, as she said, an evil frickin' diva for 40 frickin' years.

(Now, if someone would just get their act together and release The Cher Show on DVD, I'd be a happy man.)