YAWN and VAUGHN

Indeed, of the recent deaths, probably the news about Robert Vaughn resonated with the most people. At least, those over 40. Vaughn is still iconic for "Man from UNCLE," especially for those who caught it when it first aired. 

By comparison, few really remember Leon Russell, and Leonard Cohen was a cult item. Cohen did have a very strong comeback album but who knew? It got good reviews but who read them? The story got more than the obit page because of the unique timing: old Dylanesque singer-songwriter figures he's gonna die, is ok with it, give a death skull grin and says "You Want it Darker" and dies. Perfect. Even so, most under 40 had to be told, "He's the Hallelujah guy. Ya know, the Jeff Fuckley song. The Rufus Wainwright song. It was actually written by this old Jewish poet, see?" Si. 

And Vaughn? He wrote his autobiography years ago. He was not too active, and IF I'M BEING HONEST, it was years since he starred in a role that brought him any great attention. But...

"Man from UNCLE" was like Beatlemania. There were toys, magazines, trading cards, and raging hysteria. No doubt to his chagrin at the time, much of this was aimed at David McCallum, his co-star. Girls had not seen ANYTHING like ILYA. There was that funky Scots-Russian accent, and the first real MopTop haircut on a BLOND guy. 

A few years later, Robert Culp would suffer a similar fate, when through the entire run of "I Spy," the focus was on his obscure co-star, Bill Cosby. Cosby walked off with Emmy awards every year, and all the praise. Cos was quick to include Culp in all of it, but it was still a humiliation of sorts.

For Vaughn, the U.K. turned out to be an unlikely ally at various points in his later career. For no real reason, there was "The Protectors," a mediocre semi-Avengers rip-off. 

Why did the Brits produce THAT thing? For the same peculiar reason they had some stupid spy show starring Gene Barry? And a boring spy show that co-starred Roger Moore and Tony Curtis? Whatever man with a suitcase created these terrible shows needed to go get some therapy from Dr. Who. 

As tepid as that later "Avengers" show with Lumley, here were dull scripts saved mostly by the stoic presence of Mr. Vaughn. There was apparently some weird chick in most episodes, and some other guy now and then, but they didn't help much, as the show only lasted a year or two. It was Vaughn being Napoleon Solo under another name.  

And later, it was back to England for something caled "Hustle," and then, even more strangely, a few months on "Coronation Street." Huh? Wha? He was also on BBC Radio doing dramas. Perhaps the Brits were fascinated by his particular dry, flat vocal style.

I downloaded an episode of "The Protectors" because it featured Sinead Cusack. I watched it, was impressed with Sinead, but not with the show. Vaughns female co-star was not in that episode, so I have no idea how good or bad she was. 

After watching the show I was treated to a deflation of my secret infatuation with Sinead. She Who Will Not Be Named spoke up. Rapidly reaching Wikipedia on her goddam cell phone, she said:"You like Sinead Cusack? I see here that it isn't even her real name. Her real first name is just JANE. And, quoting from the page: "In August 2010, Cusack signed the "Irish artists' pledge to boycott Israel" initiated by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign."

Oy. Nobody's perfect. Vaughn probably could've told her a thing or two, if she had such views 38 years earlier. 

The other deaths? Oh, nobody knows who Al Caiola was. Leon? So what, indeed. As for Leonard, sad but true: the man was only as popular as Randy Newman or Warren Zevon, really. 

How many copies DID he sell of his solo albums? He had a cult, that was it. His early albums are hard to take because of his numb nasal voice and lack of range. His middle years, like Dylan's were sort of lost. 70's 80's was the time of punk and disco and anything BUT a poetic singer-songwriter like him. That late 70's collision with Phil Spector did not change his fortunes at all; it was just a legendary failure for rock critics to mull over. 

His comeback was "The Future," with his voice dropping an octave, and his optimism going even lower. Whoever produced it (not Spector!) created suitable arrangements for his now cavernous voice. The last thing you wanted with this guy, was just his voice and a guitar. Too bad that after a good follow-up, he disappeared to become a monk, and then knocked off a few ordinary albums with his dopey dusky girlfriend. 

Then he made his grand comeback (as did Zevon) which turned out to be the last gasp. But even so, he's an acquired taste few have ever acquired. His fame rests with Judy Collins and Jeff Fuckley and others covering him. Same as Zevon being best known for Ronstadt covering him, and Newman best known for the Disney pop silliness, and everybody covering "I Think It's Going to Rain Today." Otherwise, Zevon and Newman both had only ONE hit single, a novelty track at that. And Cohen, no hit single at all with his own voice.

Funny, Vaughn was not persuaded to cash in with a singing album. McCallum wisely put out a few instrumental albums that sold because he was on the cover. And everybody went out to buy a version of the UNCLE theme (Al Caiola's great "Spies and Private Eyes" album had one of those, but there was also an official TV soundtrack album). 

Given the vagaries of the world in general, it seems that only Cohen, via covers of "Hallelujah," will be giving his heirs any decent royalty checks. Nobody cares about Vaughn's vintage TV show, nobody cares about Caiola's twangy guitar or Leon's raspy bleating yowls. 

But Cohen? Yeah, covers of his song will continue. In fact, mourning both Cohen and Hillary Clinton, Kate McKinnon on "Saturday Night Live" sat at the piano, dressed up as Hillary, and sang "Hallelujah." Oh, she didn't sing more than 3 minutes of it (there seem to be dozens of verses). She emphasized these lines: "I did my best, it wasn't much. I couldn't feel so I tried to touch. I told the truth, I didn't come to fool ya. And even though it all went wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah..." 

Usually what was on Robert Vaughn's tongue was some hot blonde's tongue, like Joyce Jameson. Hallelujah! "Give me an Amen!"