Tabloid Baby's Person of The Year for 2008

Brett Hudson
Tabloid Baby's 2008 Person of The Year

“I want to show that when it comes to cancer,
there are alternatives, and recovery begins
when you take your destiny into your own hands.”

Thirty years ago, Brett Hudson was an "Apple Pie Hero," an All-American pop star with hit records, sold-out concert appearances, several television comedy series and starring roles in movies. As a third of The Hudson Brothers, he'd have no idea the kind of hero he'd become in 2008, as he shared the story of his battle with throat cancer and spread the news of treatments available to those who are able to look beyond the practices of the American medical and pharmaceutical establishments.


Brett Hudson is well-known in Hollywood. Everybody knows Brett Hudson. Since The Hudson Brothers hung up their guitars and matching sweaters in the early Eighties, he's forged a successful and influential career as a television and movie writer and producer. From the cult movie Hysterical to the sports comedy classic Cloud 9, from the landmark comedy series Offshore Television to his groundbreaking documentary work with Frozen Pictures, he's a skilled professional, visionary, mentor-- and one hell of a raconteur.

But it was his decision to seek alternative treatments after a cancer diagnosis in the summer of 2007 that led him on a course that's saving lives and giving hope to thousands of Americans who had been told that death was the only answer.

It began when he set about turning his ordeal into a documentary project. The Klinik tells an only-in-Hollywood story that is finally rubbing off on the rest of the country.

As it states on the project's website:

"...After weeks of grueling chemotherapy that shrunk his frame, took his hair, sapped his energy and wracked him with nausea that no medical marijuana could ease, all he could look forward to were brutal radiation treatments that would do irreparable damage to his body… possibly take his voice… or even kill him.

"And then he got a call from Cher.

"Yes, that Cher.

"Brett’s old friend from his days as a Seventies television star told him there was a better way. It wasn’t the American way. But it was a way that could kill his cancer-- and not kill him in the process. The treatment would be far more precise and less invasive than what is offered in the States. It would attack the tumor and not batter his body. Brett wouldn’t lose his taste buds, his larynx, or have to learn to swallow again...

"Days before he was set to be strapped to a table in Los Angeles for the first of seventy radiation blasts, Brett Hudson booked his trip. His destination: a small private hospital in a charming village at the foot of the Alps: The Klinik."


Key to his influence is a blog on that Klinik movie site, in which he shares his experiences, frustrations with insurance providers, medical treatments and progress-- and, beginning with a shocking installment on November 7th, his current radiation and chemotherapy regimens after additional cancer cells were detected.

All of this life-changing business happened to coincide-- and in fact, push along-- plans for an unexpected reunion of the Hudson Brothers. While brother Bill Hudson (Kate Hudson's dad) finished his first-ever solo album, Brett and brother Mark appeared at Beatles fans conventions in Las Vegas and Chicago. Mark told the legions of fans about Brett's fight, and within days he'd become a lightning rod for people across the country.

And even though Brett Hudson continues his recovery through a brutal regimen, he spends hours on the phone and online with strangers, leading them in directions they might never have expected or hoped for.

Talk about using your celebrity, influence and fame for doing good.

Check in with Brett Hudson's blog and watch for The Klinik.

Fan art:

Brett Hudson talks about Hudson Brothers highs

With the Hudson Brothers revival in full swing with the release of the Razzle Dazzle Show on DVD this week, Tabloid Baby pal Brett Hudson from Frozen Pictures is back in the spotlight. Since Toronto is where the Razzle Dazzle Show was filmed, journo Marc Weisblott of Toronto's Eye Weekly has the inside track with a great article on the Brothers' illustrious decade. Be sure to click here for the original piece with all the artwork and lots of vintage Hudson Brothers video. Meanwhile some highlights from The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle follow, including Bret's artful plugging of the premiere of The Seventh Python:

...The Hudson Brothers were welfare-raised Italian teens from Portland, Oregon who won a battle-of-the-bands contest in 1967, the prize being a single released under the name of its automotive sponsor — The New Yorkers. From there, the trio traded up through a series of record labels, each one willing to take a gamble on heartthrobs who could harmonize, and be America’s own Bee Gees.

“To be perfectly honest, it was usually the female assistants and secretaries that got us in the door,” Brett Hudson, now a 55-year-old film producer, tells Scrolling Eye. “And once we got in, put the three of us together, would own the room. We might have been overpowering, overbearing, or borderline obnoxious, but we knew we were entertaining. I think the confidence came through because we were real brothers who wore our hearts on our sleeves.”

There was enough momentum to move to Hollywood, even if it meant lodging together in the empty cells rented out as hostel space in the Santa Monica Jail. Their willingness to wallpaper the house of a record executive for a party, in exchange for being able to attend, led to a deal with the Playboy Records label...
Hudson, the album, didn’t produce any hits. But they didn’t need to work as hard for the party invitations, either — their next contract was with Elton John’s startup record company, Rocket, and Bernie Taupin was flying them to France to try working his magic on a follow-up, Totally Out of Control.

Just before leaving, though, they met Sonny and Cher’s television producer Chris Bearde — who was bowled over by how the brothers intuitively crossed one leg over another in synch when they sat down on the couch to talk.

...They were asked to come in to CBS Television City to improvise before cameras, not thinking much of the results. Turned out, they were edited just right to get them a five-week stint as the summer replacement for Sonny and Cher, whose supporting cast were brought over from Toronto, where the earlier seasons had been filmed.

While those primetime episodes were slated to air through August 1974, a deal was struck to make the Hudson Brothers a half-hour fixture on Saturday mornings — translating the formula of the prime-time music and comedy shows for a younger audience. The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show would also allow them to salvage the services of Sonny and Cher’s sidekicks...
While the early 20s Hudson Brothers had top billing on the program, the episodes start with them admonished by a redheaded runt television executive. Razzle Dazzle might’ve been unearthed from the vaults sooner had the role gone to another kid who auditioned for the part, Mike Myers...
Brett had already perfected his own recurring character, Chucky Margolis, based on an insufferable dweeb who’d hover around the Hudson Brothers shows in Portland, desperate for anyone to listen to him slur tall tales — the kind of character unlikely to be mocked in a modern-day kids show.
“The whole motivation for me as a performer was to make my brothers laugh,” says Brett. “And I know they felt the same way. But, in general, the things we did back then are things we’d either get arrested or sued for today. Just a few years later, suddenly the qualification to create sketch comedy on television was a degree from Harvard, because that’s who executives related to.”

Where the Hudson Brothers found a kindred spirit for a year, following their return to Los Angeles, was John Lennon — who, it turned out, recognized them immediately at a party: “You’re the kings of Saturday morning.”
“What we had in common was that working-class mentality,” says Brett. “You could have been in the Beatles, but you never get over looking for the cheapest drink.” The Hudsons also spent a long evening at Harry Nilsson’s house where Lennon was arguing that he didn’t have a good enough singing voice. Finally convinced otherwise after hours of needle-drops, he serenaded them with “In My Life” on a battery-powered portable piano at 5:30am.

“It’s not simply that these things don’t happen to me anymore,” says Brett. “The fact is, these things don’t happen to anyone anymore.”
Two singles broke into the top 30 during Razzle Dazzle’s run: “So You Are a Star” and “Rendezvous”.
...From there, the brothers retained the stature of on-call television personalities good for ad-libbing on any chat show, although that didn’t translate into sales of the records they kept getting deals to make. The Hudsons tried kids television again, following The Muppet Show formula of going to the UK to produce Bonkers!, syndicated across the pond in 1978. There was also a comedy-horror movie, Hysterical, in 1983 — a disaster that led them to amicably call the act off.

Bill Hudson was married to Goldie Hawn, co-producing a future movie star in the process. Then he was married to Cindy Williams... and they later produced The Father of the Bride movies.
Mark Hudson stuck it out in music, frequently collaborating with Aerosmith and Ringo Starr...
Brett Hudson, on the other hand... landed behind the scenes, initially pitching and selling, if not necessarily writing a finished product. But his efforts have built momentum over the past few years, leading to the recent completion of a documentary about a kindred spirit of sorts, Neil Innes, called The Seventh Python. Premiering next week at the Mods & Rockers film festival in Hollywood, plans are afoot to shop it around this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival.
...And typical for someone whose day job involves rifling through other people’s archives, Brett isn’t in a hurry to sit down and watch 34-year-old footage of his 21-year-old self.
“I’ll get around to watching an episode or two eventually,” he says. “But I can already tell you what my reaction will be: Who the fuck put us in those outfits?”

Neil Innes-Hudson Brothers power combo helps turn The Seventh Python into greatest hit at Chicago Fest for Beatles Fans

With its star, supporting cast, director, producer and music supervisor in prominent attendance and a special, surprise late-night screening that followed up the packed, enthusiastic showing on Saturday morning, the unreleased Neil Innes biopic The Seventh Python is surely the hottest news to come out of The Fest for Beatles Fans that continues with overflow crowds today in Chicago.

The film from our pals at Frozen Pictures had its world premiere in June at Martin Lewis' Mods & Rockers Film Festival in Hollywood and is on the march to a New York City screening soon to be announced as producers look for theatrical distribution for what's proving to be a crowd pleaser that has audiences cheering, laughing, crying and singing along!

Neil Innes with superfan, Barbara Poudrier, who’s developed and runs several Innes fansites.

Key to The Seventh Python mania among the thousands of fans who’ve lined up this weekend with Python memorabilia and posters, is the approachable charisma of the movie’s star, Neil Innes, who's become a key figure at these Beatles Fests-- and an unexpected comeback of Seventies pop stars and John Lennon compadres The Hudson Brothers, who teamed up with Innes onstage and at signing sessions.

Mark and Brett Hudson eat in public.

Mark Hudson, familiar to Beatle Fest fans for writing with and producing Ringo Starr (and in a remarkable coup, filling for a lost friend by recording a tracks with George, Paul and Ringo ) was joined by brother Brett, who returns to performing after 28 years. A noted television and film writer and producer, Brett is producer and writer of The Seventh Python (Mark is music supervisor).

The trio was a triple-threat of promotion and star quality, joined occasionally by non-celeb Seventh director Burt Kearns.



Brett Hudson and Kearns entertained a large crowd last night with their stories of the making of The Seventh Python, a forum in which Brett revealed publicly that there will indeed be a Hudson brothers reunion (probably in New York City) and a documentary film produced by himself and Kearns.


Their talk was dwarfed by the no-standing-room-left Mark and Brett discussion moderated by Martin Lewis ("A Brit a A Brett & A Brat"). The fest continues today, and will be capped by another huge concert featuring the Hudsons (two out of three, so far) and Neil Innes.

Brett Hudson surrounded by the Mark Hudson power sales and promotion team, borrowed for The Seventh Python promotion: Still Nancy, Killer Heels, Soft Focus and Cheryl.

Brett Hudson stuns, inspires crowd at Fest for Beatles Fans, announces plans for cancer film, foundation project

A routine question-and-answer session about the making of The Seventh Python turned into a newsmaking and emotional highlight of The NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans this afternoon, when producer Brett Hudson broke from the script to deliver a broadside against the American medical establishment and a call to arms in the fight against cancer.

The Seventies pop star-turned-Hollywood writer and producer, who's been performing at the Fest with his brother Mark Hudson, has received international attention and kudos since it was revealed early last year that he was battling throat cancer and had succeeded against great odds thanks to state-of-the-art treatment not widely available in the United States. His advocacy of other cancer patients and the crucial importance of individual determination of treatment and a positive attitude, displayed on a widely-circulated blog, has attracted a worldwide following and given Hudson a new mission that he pushed to the forefont today.

Well-attended

Hudson had earlier introduced The Seventh Python with director Burt Kearns and star Neil Innes at a well-attended afternoon screening, and had rushed from an autograph session to join Kearns was onstage at the Crystal Ballroom to discuss the making of the film.


The discussion had led to future Frozen Pictures projects, including a Hudson Brothers reunion and a film about Sixties rocker Chris Montez, when Hudson stopped the session to bring up the project that has been foremost on the Frozen Pictures agenda.

"On August 27, 2007, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer. My doctors told me to get my affairs in order and that I wouldn't survive six months. I proved them wrong.

"I was headed toward a morbid operation to remove my larynx when my dear friend Cher, whom I've known for 35 years, led me to a doctor in Germany, and today I don't have cancer.


"Bottom line: You go to Germany, they'll cure your cancer. You stay in America, they'll cure you if you survive the treatment."

Help!

The crowd, there to hear the dishy show business behind the scenes stories and scandals, wastransfixed as Hudson, wrapped in a scarf that many assumed was worn in homage to the skiing sequence in Help! but which he explained he wore to protect his radiation-scarred neck from sunlight, took them down a dark alley that each and every one could relate to. He explained that Frozen Pictures is already at work producing a nonfiction film called The Klinik, which uses his own experience as the jumping-off point for a larger-themed story about innovations and obstacles in cancer treatment.

"I don't care if you see the film or buy the DVD, but go to the website The Klinik Movie dot com, Klinik spelled 'k-l-i-n-i-k' and spread the word."

Farrah

Hudson then detailed some of the most intimate details of his illness, spoke movingly about others who've sought him out for help and amazed the crowd as he told of the state-of-the art treatments that removed 14 tumours from Farrah Fawcett's liver-- not to mention his own throat cancer.

After revealing that his treatment has cost him more than $400,000-- despite insurance-- he broke the big news:

Foundation

"I will take my fee for this film-- with the exception of the Writers Guild payment, because I need their insurance, which is great-- and I will use it to start a foundation. I'm not going to put my name on it, I don't need that. I'm going to use it to help people who can't afford to get treatment. The way it is now, if you've got the money you can live, if you don't have money, you don't have the choice. I want to pay for transportation to treatment centers, for medicine. I want people to have the same choices I have."

(clockwise from top: Greg Hawkes, Martin Lewis,

Earl Slick, Brett Hudson, Neil Innes, Mark Hudson)

EXCLUSIVE! THE HUDSON BROTHERS TO REUNITE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 28 YEARS; ONE CONCERT & DOCUMENTARY FILM; 300 TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR PERFORMANCE!

The Hudson Brothers are preparing to perform together for the first time in 28 years.

The announcement that the Seventies teen idols-- one of the top rock and comedy acts of the decade-- would reunite for a single concert performance and documentary film feature was announced this afternoon in a message posted at 5:11 pm by youngest Brother Brett Hudson on the Hudson Brothers MySpace page:

Hi,
This is Brett Hudson... My brothers and I are about to do a documentary feature about our lives and career. We will be doing a "one time only" concert. It will be the first time in 28 years that the three of us have performed together. There will only be 300 tickets available and the audience will be a part of the movie. www.myspace.com/bhudson1.

The announcement has already caused hysteria among Hudson Brothers fans across the Internet, who have remained faithful to their heroes for decades, and managed to freeze Brett's site where he directed inquiries.

The reunion is prompted by unprecedented demand for the DVD release of the Hudson's Saturday morning show from the Sebenties, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show. Amazon.com is carrying the set and has sold out several times in the past week.

Little word has been released about the film project, though Brett confirms it will be produced by our pals at Frozen Pictures and cover the Hudsons' career through the reunion.

The reunion of Bill, Mark and Brett has been hinted at in the past weeks, in wake of the world premiere of The Seventh Python, the Neil Innes biopic produced by Brett, with Mark Hudson as musical supervisor and Bill contributing to the audio production. Mark and Brett appeared onstage together at The Fest for Beatles Fans in Las Vegas last month and will be at the Fest in Chicago August 8-10.

BOYCOTT ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE UNTIL THE HUDSON BROTHERS ARE INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME!

Let the movement begin now.

Let the movement begin here.

Boycott Rolling Stone magazine…

Until The Hudson Brothers
are inducted into
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

And let the inspiration come from the picture above: former Mickey Mouse and Lou Perlman ward Justin Timberlake on his knees before disco pop queen Madonna, not at a Bravo, Nickelodeon or VH1 awards show-- but at last night’s Rock Hall induction ceremony.

As of last night, Madonna is in. Tina Turner is not.

Leonard Cohen is in. Lou Reed is not.

John Mellencamp is in. The MC5 are not. Neither are The Faces, The Stooges, or The Monkees.

Or The Hudson Brothers.

The weakening of the Hall is the work of Jann Wenner, the Rolling Stone magazine publisher who has inserted enough of his minions onto the Hall’s board to control the voting and keep out the greats out while putting cronies and personal favorites in (see Fox.com's Roger Friedman's story on the "Rock Hall of Shame".

And high on the list of the neglected, forgotten greats are Bill, Mark and Brett Hudson, the brothers who were the kings of youth and pop culture in the Seventies, who worked and palled with the group including Keith Moon, Harry Nilsson and John Lennon, whose work was influenced and equally by The Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys, and who continue to be relevant and influential thirty years on, working with the likes of Ringo Starr, Ozzy Osbourne and Neil Innes.


The Hudson Brothers were an American rock ‘n’ roll band from Portland,Oregon that rose to international fame in the Seventies with hits like "So You are a Star" (1974; Billboard #21), "Rendezvous" (1975; Billboard #26), "Lonely School Year" (1975; Billboard #57), and "Help Wanted" (1976; Billboard #70).

The group was formed in the 1960s by young Beatles-influenced school kids Bill, Mark and Brett Hudson, and first named The New Yorkers (after the Chrysler), after winning a "battle of the bands" contest. In spring 1967 they released "When I'm Gone" (SCE-12190) on Scepter Records, following that in August 1967 with the Indian-influenced "Mr. Kirby" (SCE-12199) and "Show Me The Way To Love" (SCE-12207) in the falloff that year. By October 1968, The New Yorkers had switched to Jerry Dennon's Pacific Northwest label Jerden Records and issued "Adrianne" (#906), and, in March 1969, "Land of Ur" (#908) in March 1969. Also in 1969, The New Yorkers recorded "Lonely" (#7318) for Warner Bros. Records and "I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City" (#32569) for Decca Records.

They changed their name to Everyday Hudson in early 1970, releasing "Love Is The Word" (Decca #32634).

For the spring 1971 release of "Love Nobody" on Lionel Records (L-3211), their name was shortened to Hudson. This name was also used in 1972 after switching to the newly re-activated Playboy Records, with the release of "Leavin' It's Over" (P-50001), Billboard Bubbling Under Chart #110. In 1973 Hudson signed with Elton John's Rocket Records and released "If You Really Need Me" (MCA-40141), which was recorded in France and produced by Bernie Taupin. It was followed by "Sunday Driver" (MCA-40317).

Their first record release as The Hudson Brothers came in September 1974 with their chart record "So You Are A Star" on Casablanca Records (NES 0108; Billboard #21), followed by "Coochie Choochie Coo" (NES 816) in 1975, Billboard Bubbling Under Chart #108. They returned to Rocket Records for more 45 RPM charted songs in 1975 with producer Bernie Taupin, later switching to Arista Records in 1976. Yet another name change back to Hudson came in 1980 on Elektra Records, and then to The Hudsons in 1983 on Columbia Records.

The Hudson Brothers albums include "Totally Out of Control" on Rocket Records, Billboard 179 in 1974; "Hollywood Situation" on Casablanca Records, Billboard 176 in 1974; "Ba-Fa" on Rocket Records, Billboard 165 in 1975; "The Truth About Us" on Arista Records in 1978; and "TV's Hudson Brothers" on First American Records, also in 1978. "Those Damn Kids" on Elektra Records in 1980 was released under the name Hudson.

They also starred in The Hudson Brothers Show, a TV variety hour Wednesday nights on CBS in the summer of 1974, followed by The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show on CBS Saturday mornings, from September 7, 1974 to August 30, 1975, in a half-hour format, and Bonkers!, a half-hour syndicated comedy show in 1978, produced in Britain by ATV and distributed by ITC. The three brothers also starred in Hysterical, a horror-comedy film released in 1983.

All three remain active today in the music and movie fields. More on their influence to come. Meanwhile...

No Hudson Brothers?

No Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

Brett Hudson is in the middle of the fight over Farrah Fawcett's hijacked documentary

Not taking any sides but that of the truth and the knowledge of what his friend Farrah Fawcett intended when she set off to film a documentary about her battle against cancer, Brett Hudson has found himself in the middle of the unseemly brouhaha over the shameless, manipulative, exploitative two-hour Dateline version that aired on NBC Friday night.

Hudson, one of our pals from Frozen Pictures, is a cancer survivor himself, and was filming his own experiences for Frozen's documentary project The Klinik in 2007 when he and Farrah wound up at the same alternative cancer treatment in Germany. Farrah's friend Alana Stewart, who was videotaping Farrah's project, got lots of footage of Farrah and Hudson together, in treatment and on the road through the Alps as the "cancer buddies" traveled among a network of cancer treatment kliniks in the area.


The scenes in which Farrah and Hudson discussed the merits of alternative treatments were cut from the Farrah doco after the footage was sold to NBC and NBC News producers removed the news content-- including Farrah's intention to focus on the difference in quality and cost of cancer treatments in the US and Germany-- and replaced it with interviews with Charlie's Angels actresses and crying shots of Fawcett's on-and-off lover Ryan O'Neal in a mawkish, morbid ratings-grabber called Farrah's Story (a sequel, presumably including Farrah's death and funeral, is in the works).



Hudson has become a cancer activist and something of an expert on alternative cancer therapies through his very popular and crucial Brett's Blog on The Klinik website, is quoted in the New York Post today and is being interviewed by the syndicated infotainment show Extra! this morning.

"The Klinik will tell the story that Farrah wanted to get out there," Hudson told us exclusively. "Why aren't certain treatments available in the States? Why are drugs so expensive here when they're available for pennies on the dollar in Germany and other countries? People are sufferint when they don't have to-- and dying every day-- because of a stranglehold on the American medical system."

Click here to read
Brett Hudson's
influential cancer blog.

Blogger reconsiders The Hudson Brothers

We’ve been writing for a while now about a revival of interest in the Hudson Brothers, the rock n roll trio turned pop culture legends thanks to their unexpected turn as Seventies variety television stars and friendships and collaborations with the likes of John Lennon, Harry Nilsson and M. Richard Monda. The combination of new fan-created MySpace pages, video clips on YouTube, attention on the Internet and their work together behind the scenes on The Seventh Python film was enough to win them our 2007 Comeback of The Year award.

And now we hear that LA’s Mark & Brian morning radio team took time out from their time-killing hours of playing Trivial Pursuit on the air (either the most passive-aggressive work action in the medium’s history or a brilliant Kaufmanesque take on Godot) for a riff that went from Britney Spears’ shaved head to Brett Hudson’s short haircut to the Grammy Awards and whether the show will include a Hudson Brothers tribute.

Though we suspect they were “making fun,” M&B must be aware of the grassroots movement to boycott The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and its czar Jann Wenner’s Rolling Stone magazine if they continue to refuse to seriously consider the very influential Hudsons in the Performer or Lifetime Achievement categories.

And the movement spreads, as reflected in "Maybe I had them pegged all wrong," a posting this week from journo Erik Hogstrom’s Route 1 blogsite. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reporter, Heartland hipster and self-professed “music geek” writes about compiling an iPod playlist “full of songs my sister Inger and I would have heard on KFRC 610 -- a former Bay Area Top 40 station we enjoyed during the heyday of AM radio”:

“While compiling my playlist, I have discovered three categories of songs:

1) Songs I will always love ("Chevy Van" by Sammy Johns).

2) Songs I will always hate ("Playground in my Mind" by Clint Holmes).

3) Songs I once hated, but now I think I might like them -- but -- maybe --
OK, yeah I like them.

This latter category includes "So You Are a Star" by THE HUDSON BROTHERS.

I always thought there was something phony about The Hudson Brothers when I was a kid. I watched them on "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show," for one thing. The kids' show also featured Rod Hull and that Emu puppet of his. I hated them. Now, more than three decades later, I am starting to think I might have been wrong about Mark, Bill and Brett. "So You Are a Star" sounds a little like Wings, which is OK.

I also now know that Mark Hudson is a bit of a musical savant. He has co-written a dozen Aerosmith songs and produced Ringo Starr, among others. Bill Hudson holds the distinction of having married not one but *TWO* of my childhood dreamgirls -- Goldie Hawn and Cindy Williams. Brett Hudson became a television producer.

So, there was apparently some talent in those boys from Portland, Ore., even if I couldn't see it at the time.

Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle DVD out June 3rd

We've been telling you about the major revival of Seventies superstars The Hudson Brothers, including a new MySpace fan page, grassroots campaign to get them into he Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in February, the upcoming DVD release of their freaky Saturday morning kiddie extravaganza, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show.

Now the details are in:

VSC (Video Service Corp.) is releasing a 3-disc DVD set on June 3rd.


The set includes every episode from the second series, along with a bonus episode from the original prime time version of the show.

Also, Brett Hudson's basement-dwelling-kid character "Chucky" gets spotlighted in a bonus featurette "The Best of Chucky Margolis."

Cost for The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show - The Complete Series is $29.98 SRP for 355 minutes' running time.

Bill, Mark and Brett Hudson moved from rock ‘n’ roll to prime time TV comedy in the summer of 1974 with their two CBS television shows as well. The first was the brief (5-episode) prime time series The Hudson Brothers Show. Then CBS moved it from Wednesday nights to Saturday mornings, expanded the program's already family-friendly variety format to appeal even more to kids, and renamed it The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show (their pal John Lennon renamed them The Kings of Saturday Morning”).

Look for Mark and Brett at the Fest for Beatles Fans June 29-July 1 in Las Vegas and in Chicago, August 8-10, signing the DVD and other memorabilia-- and performing. (Brett, one of our pals from Frozen Pictures will be screening his new film, The Seventh Python in Chicago—along with the film’s star, Neil Innes.

The Razzle Dazzle DVD has a placeholder page on Amazon.com.

...and a tip of the Tabloid Baby hat to Stephie for the tip...

COLLECTORS' ITEM ALERT: Check out the photo of the original Razzle Dazzle box art we posted back in February-- when it was advertised as a two-DVD set!

Brett Hudson's Beatles Fest cancer remarks spark international response, makings of a movement

Brett Hudson's surprise, emotional discourse on his fight against cancer last weekend at the NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans continues to resonate throughout the world, as hundreds of victims, relatives, professionals and fans have contacted him and his related businesses, offering to help his cause.

The popstar-turned-producer was at The Beatles Fest to perform and meet fan in his role as a former member of The Hudson Brothers, as well as to present The Seventh Python, the Neil Innes biopic he produced with his Frozen Pictures. It was during a Q&A on the making of the film that he announced Frozen's next project is The Klinik, a film that uses his own battle against throat cancer-- and his treatment at alternative treatment centers in Germany-- as a starting point for revealing alternative and experimental treatments and therapies, and exposing the American medical system that denies patients such protocols.


Hudson's remarks-- and his announcement that he's starting a foundation to give others access to the choices-- sent an electric jolt-- and a bracing shot of reality-- through the fan convention, that drew thousands to celebrate the music and legacy of The Beatles. As word spread through the Crowne Plaza Hotel and beyond, it's generated offers of donations and thousands of hits on The Klinik website, where "Brett's Blog" (currently down for maintenance) has already been a major gathering point.

"It was great to see you in Jersey! I'm so happy to see you filled with energy and enthusiasm. It was also great to hear you talk about your fight against throat cancer and how you have become a survivor. People have to be aware of their options, not just the ones offered by their American doctors. If you decide to document your crusade against cancer and would like any assistance with videotaping or video editing, do not hesitate to contact me..."

"you are truly an amazing man........ BLESS YOU"


The sole negative reaction was recorded hours after Hudson's lecture, by an attendee who wrote on The Examiner website:

"...Hudson spent a goodly amount of his Sunday forum session... sharing his stories of cancer survival and his battles with the U.S. healthcare system. Without sounding unsympathetic to his personal plight, it was an inappropriate diversion from the festivities to say the very least."

Occasional Tabloid Baby contributor Sam Peters, who attended the forum session and sent us the earliest, excited reports about the positive response, reacted this morning:

"The guy what wrote that? I heard Neil Innes sing his theme song when they showed The Seventh Python: How Sweet To Be An Idiot!" Peters told us when roused this morning. "Here's a little tip to that schnook. Don't write about things you're not smart enough to comprehend. I was there and Hudson's talk was a lot more appropriate than playing Cars songs on the ukulele-- no offense to the great musician Gregg Hawkes who did so. Cancer has killed as many Beatles as crazed gunmen. George Harrison died of the same cancer that Hudson's beat. Paul McCartney would never have got tied up with that one-legged ex-hooker if his beloved Linda hadn't died of cancer. Ringo's ex died of leukemia.

"You think that was inappropriate? Hudson made the Beatles Fest relevant to today. The guy that wrote that? I know where his head is. And he should get a little help from his friends to pull it out!"

Whew. Then there were the notes of support:

"I can honestly say that I would not be here today had I not had the escape that was The Hudson Brothers...My daughter is healthy and happy...I am physically healthy and have insurance that is so far cooperating with helping me stay emotionally healthy. I am not only inspired by your strength and fortitude, but I am inspired by the countless Americans who have to endure the sub-par medical care we have in our country. You are right, politicians and government cannot fix this FUBAR system... we have to do it... I will join any group, write to any congressman and do whatever I can in my power to make sure everyone and their brother sees the klinik movie so change can start to happen. When your movie is complete and people start to see it there will be a revolution. Bravo! If I can help in getting even one more person to see it then might not have, then I will be on my way to paying my debt to you..."

"I hope all is well with you, and that you are on your way to feeling more energetic and healthy. Your blogs happen to be in perfect timing with what I am teaching in Pharmacology. I just finished discussing the fentanyl 'transmucosal' narcotics (lollipops!). I hope you don't mind, but I showed the students the photo of your neck, and the images of you in the mask. I heard a couple of audible gasps when I showed the photos..."

"YOU AMAZE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, Brett, I can hardly believe that you were at the NY Beatles Fest. Wow! You are a 'soldier/trooper' for sure! I viewed many of the pics, videos, your blog, the Tabloid Baby write-up that you had, and was so proud of you for speaking up for what you believe in!! So good to see your SMILING FACE. Brother, I don't know how you have done it and continue to do it! You are ONE SPECIAL PERSON!"

"There seem to be so many people that have no integrity, have no conscience, have no heart and will lie as they are looking right at you. Then you meet people or others you know do something so good and sometimes so unexpected that it somehow makes it all okay. Those moments bring tears of gratitude to my eyes..."

Reached this morning, Hudson confirms that he's been "overwhelmed" by responses on various platforms including Facebook, MySpace, websites, email and telephone.

"All the personal praise is very flattering-- but this is not about me," he again insisted. "This is about saving lives and giving people who need financial help the same opportunity I had. Giving them the opportunity to go where they they will get the best treatment for their illness. I'll get the word out when the time's right to support this cause-- if not by donation but in their hearts.

"Most important: speak out! It's also important to simply spread the word!"

Farrah's funeral filmed for sequel

Camera crews filmed Farrah Fawcett's funeral in downtown Los Angeles this afternoon, apparently for the sequel to Ryan O'Neal's "Farrah's Story" television special that sadly had the same Hollywood ending as his "Love Story" movie forty years ago.

Tabloid Baby pal Brett Hudson (above, entering the cathedral), Farrah's "cancer buddy" when they both were treated at cancer clinics in Germany, met O'Neal at the reception following the services. O'Neal was overheard telling Hudson that he telling Hudson that he is "in the sequel" to Farrah's Story, and he recognized him from Farrah's original documentary journal that O'Neal took over and recut with NBC News after her health failed. Hudson was left on the cutting room floor.

O'Neal was heard telling Hudson that he is "in the sequel."

Hudson, of Frozen Pictures, is in production on a nonfiction film and documentary project about cancer, alternative treatments and the American medical system, called The Klinik. He announced last week that the project will be dedicated to Farrah and address the issues she wanted to hit in her own project.

** UPDATE: We've just realized that a staffer in the Tabloid Baby photo department erroneously substituted a photo of actor Ernie Hudson for Brett Hudson. Brett did attend Farrah's funeral. Read his thoughts on his blog at The Klinik website.

Exclusive! Kate Hudson's uncle responds to split

For the first time, a member of Kate Hudson's family is speaking out about news of the actress' separation from stoner rock singer Chris Robinson.

And he is speaking exclusively with Tabloid Baby.

Kate's uncle Brett Hudson is a former Hudson Brother, writer and producer (along with Tabloid Baby author Burt Kearns and two-time Oscar winner Albert S. Ruddy) of the Burt Reynolds motion picture comedy hit, Cloud 9, former Bigfoot hunter and producer of the Frozen Picture documentary film, Basketball Man.

Hudson, who has been besieged with phone calls from the news media since the news broke yesterday, decided to issue his first and only statement on the sad turn of events to Tabloid Baby.

Hudson released
the following
statement
this afternoon:

Fuck off.

Leave me alone.

And leave her alone.

Kate’s mother, Goldie Hawn was married to Hudson’s brother Bill in the 1970s, but split up when Kate was 18 months old. Ironically, Kate and Robinson have a two-year old son. Even more ironically, Bill Hudson was a rock ‘n’ roll musician and singer at the top of his game when he married Hawn, while Robinson was also a rock ‘n’ roll singer when he married Kate. Except Robinson was a former heroin user.

(Brett Hudson also said today he's joining with the Fab Forever tribute group in throwing his support to the campaign to save L.A.'s Sunday morning Beatles radio show, Breakfast with The Beatles, which is set to be cancelled after Labor Day weekend.)

Disgusted, appalled by Farrah's Story? Blame NBC News. They hijacked it.

Did Farrah's Story on NBC Friday night make you a little queasy? Uncomfortable about the exploitation and exploitative methods? Confused about the validity or effectiveness of the "alternative" treatment she received in Germany?

Thank NBC News for that. They're the ones who took what could have been an historic, agenda-shifting subject and turned it into the equivalent of an Americanized version of a British reality show: in this case, the televised death of Jade Goody.

Farrah Fawcett spent two and a half years videotaping her battle with cancer, from her treatments here in the States, where doctors told her there was nothing else they could do, to Germany, where experimental and cutting-edge treatments cut away her tumours and kept her alive far longer than she would have survived had she done what American doctors told her to do, which was get her affairs in order and die.

We've got an inside track on this story.

Our pals at Frozen Pictures have been working on a documentary project called The Klinik that covers similar ground. Theirs is based on the experience of another Seventies icon, former Hudson Brother and current Frozen partner, writer-producer Brett Hudson, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer back in 2007, and for all intents and purposes has beaten it (though he needs to put on some more weight), most all because of treatments he received at the same "alternative" kliniks where Farrah was helped.

(Click here to visit TheKlinikMovie.com)

Since it first appeared last summer on The Klinik website, Hudson's blog has become a rallying point for cancer patients across the country. Hudson has bared all, including the painful treatments, the outrageous disparity between pharmaceutical costs here and in Germany, and the treatments that are dismissed out of hand by the American medical establishment but have worked in his and other cases.

Brett Hudson knows Farrah's real story.

A Wing and A Prayer

He was not only treated at the same German kliniks as Farrah, he was there with Farrah. He traveled with her and Alana Stewart through Germany. He was interviewed for Farrah's and Alana's documentary. He didn't make the cut, because the documentary was taken away from them by the sensitive souls-- no make that exploitative hacks-- at NBC News.

Farrah and Alana had wanted to create a film called A Wing and A Prayer. They intended to tell her story in diary form. Early on, while they were filming, there was talk that Hudson and his partner in Frozen Pictures would get involved with the project, but it was put in the hands of a guy named Craig Nevius, who produced Farrah's reality show on the TV Land network. Farrah wanted her film to open with the question of why alternative treatments that were extending her life weren't available in the United States. It was going to be "Farrah's Story."


Then Farrah and Alana made a deal with NBC. They sold their footage for about a million dollars, and then the hacks took over. You can read about the hacks in Tabloid Baby. They're the children of Tom Brokaw, the old "anchorman" whose industry's influence was capsized by tabloid television and only got it back by infiltrating the tabloid television ranks with network news people and, while the new bosses ran the tabloid genre into insignificance, appropriated it with "respectable" imitations like Dateline and 48 Hours and "anchorpeople" like Katie Couric and Matt Lauer (you can read all about it in Tabloid Baby). That's why the only media group impressed with the Farrah special was the corporate porn-pushing gossip site, TMZ.

Money shot

The NBC News producers are the ones who think the way to wring some emotion out of a story is to fill it with tinkly baby-in-the-incubator piano music, lots of slow motion footage and tears. They're the one who let William Shatner-- sorry, that was Ryan O'Neal-- wedge his way into the project and nudge Nevius out (Nevius is suing). Don't blame Farrah for the footage of her shackled son climbing into bed with her when she was close to comatose. That's NBC News going for the money shot.

NBC News.

One look at the credits and the number of producers and camerapeople involved showed that this was not Farrah Fawcett's vanity project. What was to be a documentary treatment, based on Farrah's footage, with the message she wanted to deliver, was hijacked by NBC News.

NBC News is the news division of the television network NBC, a part of NBC Universal, which is majority-owned by General Electric, a multinational techonology conglomerate which deals in everything from nuclear weapons to medical imaging equipment to healthcare, and would have its own connections and reasons to keep a lid on publicizing the progress and cheaper, life-extending alternative treatments available in Germany.

Questions

The powerful GE would have its own reasons for portraying the technological advances in Germany as quackery, and showcasing Farrah Fawcett as the modern version of Steve McQueen seeking laetrile thirty years ago. (You were shocked that the movie Network became a reality? That's nothing. 30 Rock is reality.)


The message that Farrah Fawcett wanted foremost in her doco was tacked on to the end like a contract-filler. Brett Hudson writes about it tonight in his blog:

"At the end of the special, Farrah said, 'I have some questions. Like why isn’t there more research done on certain types of cancer? And why doesn’t our health care system embrace alternative treatments that have proven to be successful in other countries?'

"How about these questions, among others:

"Why do some medicines cost five to ten times more in the United States than they do in Germany?

"Why don't we do chemotherapy sensitivity tests here like they do in Germany and other countries?

"And why is the United States of America so far behind in treatment for this horrendous disease?"

We'll have to leave it to Hudson and The Klinik to show the real story.

Brett Hudson talks cancer on Internet radio

Brett Hudson, one of our pals at Frozen Pictures, is on the radio with quite an amazing story. Brett's entertained us as one of the Hudson Brothers, and behind the scenes with this television and film work, and over the past two years, inspired and illuminated us since he went public with his successful fight against two formidable foes: throat cancer and the American medical establishment. While he's kept us updated with his blog on the website for his documentary project, The Klinik, you can catch up as he talks about his experience and philosophy with Louis Velazquez online at the UCW Magazine Radio Show.

Click hear to listen to the entire ninety-minute interview with Brett Hudson.


And while you're at it, click here to listen to Lou's talk with Tabloid Baby pal Michael Lohan, star of Brett and Frozen Picture's legendary reality show pilot you can see on the right hand side of this page --->

(And Tabloid Baby pal Chris DeRose, too. That Lou is everywhere.)