W . A . S . P .’ s Blackie Lawless continued from page 23
BL : No . Never . I was supposed to have gone – the day before the senate hearing committee , I was scheduled to leave , and between my publicist and Capitol Records , they determined that it was not gonna be the best thing for me . And so two days after the hearings , I flew to New York and met with Frank Zappa , and he told me that basically , Capitol was right , that it was a dog and pony show , that nothing was gonna come of it , and that it basically was a joke .
IE : It was still weird to see those warning stickers suddenly get slapped on the big unwieldy CD boxes . BL : Those long twelve-inchers ? Yeah – we were the first . It was for our second record that came out in ' 85 , because when all that was going on in ' 84 , they were trying to get the stickers going . But our first album was already out , and all the brouhaha happened between the time we made our first record and the second one .
IE : I ' ve been saying this a lot lately . But humanity has had two , nearly three years to hit Reset and become a better species . But we ' ve learned nothing . BL : Well , I guess they said that during the Black Plague , too . Or whatever other little snippet of time you want to choose , where people had those opportunities . And did we ever learn anything ? Probably not . So why do people do what they do ? Because they can . It ' s always been that way . But I ' m in a good place . And I ' m trying to slow this down as much as I can . I mean , you ' re only gonna get one 40h Anniversary . So I ' m just trying to literally savor every bite .
IE : But – going back to that random Ghoulies 2 track – your songs have really stood the test of time . And crowds still love you . BL : Uh-huh . And it constantly amazes me , to be honest with you , when I watch the response . But I don ' t dwell on it . I think to keep your feet on the ground ; you can ' t . I was the guy who – well , I ' m not the best at anything . But I was able to tap into some human emotions and convey them to other people . And exactly how that ' s done , I can ' t explain . But when I say I ' m not the best at anything or everything , what I ' m saying is , I ' m average at everything . But that being average , I think , is what allows me to see things the way that other people do . So if there ' s one difference between me and the general public , it ' s that I somehow found a way of putting it into lyrics . I had a kid come up to me one time and say , " You ' re writing exactly what I feel , but I don ' t know how to put it in words ." And writers who are able to convey emotion and develop a real core audience ? I think that ' s probably the one gift that they all have in common .
Appearing December 2nd and 3rd at Arcada Theatre , St . Charles .
24 illinoisentertainer . com december 2022
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Puss has burned through eight of his nine lives , and getting those lives back will send him on his grandest quest yet . Salma Hayek Pinault , Harvey Guillen , Florence Pugh , John Mulaney , and Wagner Moura co-star .
Babylon
Directed by Damien Chazelle December 23 - In Theaters • Rated R
Set in 1920s Los Angeles , this epic tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood . Led by Brad Pitt , Margot Robbie , and Diego Calva , the cast includes Jovan Adepo , Li Jun Li , and Jean Smart .
I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Directed by Kasi Lemmons December 23 - In Theaters • Rated NYR
A powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston ( Naomi Ackie ), the film is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice . Also starring Stanley Tucci , Ashton Sanders , Tamara Tunie , Nafessa Williams , and Clarke Peters .
Women Talking
Directed by Sarah Polley December 25 - In Theaters • Rated PG-13
Based on the novel by Miriam Toews , the film follows a group of women in an isolated religious colony as they struggle to reconcile
Scrooge : A Christmas Carol
their faith with a series of sexual assaults committed by the colony ' s men . The ensemble includes Rooney Mara , Claire Foy , Jessie Buckley , Judith Ivey , Ben Whishaw , and Frances McDormand .
White Noise
Directed by Noah Baumbach December 30 - Netflix • Rated R
At once hilarious and horrifying , lyrical and absurd , ordinary and apocalyptic , the film dramatizes a contemporary American family ’ s attempts to deal with the mundane conflicts of everyday life while grappling with the universal mysteries of love , death , and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world . Adam Driver , Greta Gerwig , Don Cheadle , Jodie Turner Smith , Lard Eidinger , and André 3000 star .