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Curtis Mayfield and Clayton Moore..... damn
I've been taking it easy this holiday season. Relaxing, trying to recharge the ol human battery for the coming onslaught of just plain stuff.
Hooking up with family and friends... celebrating the last days of this thousand years. And I come home after a wonderful night out with two of my dearest friends, where we watched the four AIRPORT movies while getting fairly tanked... JOE PATRONI IS GOD! And I check my email... phone messages...
And the Lone Ranger and the man behind the music, feel and funk of SUPERFLY have both slipped away from the land of the living.
What a total buttload of uncoolness.
Ok... So I hear some cynics in the cheapseats saying bunk like, "Well what have they been doing latelly?"
Well, it's like this...for me anyways...
Ya sit down... ya pop in an old LONE RANGER tape... or just happen to hear 'giddiyup giddiyup giddiyup yup yup giddiyup giddiyup giddiyup yup yup..." and thinking... wow... I share the same air as the LONE RANGER.
With SUPERFLY... well it's a bit different. You see... for years now in my life, I have sat there and listened to that bad muther reach in and pump my heart to his damn fly beat... and my cortexes were firing away buzzing... "Man... If I ever get a chance to hear Curtis play... I'm there!"
I had this same feeling when Cab Calloway died. Somehow... the world I lived in became whole shades greyer when I realized I'd never get a chance to scream "Hiddy Hiddy Hiddy Hoooo!" back at Cab... and then wait for his response.
With Clayton... I never got to meet him... at least to my knowledge... But I was already mourning the fact that Tonto had left long ago. However... At least now I can comfort myself that the Lone Ranger and Tonto ride again... but on a channel I just can't get yet... And if you turn that dial to AM... you'd hear a funkass beat and Curtis waning away!
A FATHER GEEK note! Harry you did meet the Lone Ranger. It was the last time I got to meet him and it was in 1974 or 5 in Dallas at one of Joe Bob's big big old comic-film-science fiction summer shows. BUSTER "Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers" CRABBE was there, so was HENRY "Fu Manchu" BRANDON, JIM "Red Ryder" BANNON, DUNCAN "Cisco Kid" RENALDO, BJO "Ms Star Trek Fandom" TRIMBLE, JACK "Mr. Comicbook" KIRBY, and KIRK "Superman" ALYN. CLAYTON MOORE was the last of that great group to die, they're all gone now. If you remember The Lone Ranger had to wear sunglasses around to capture the look of the man because somebody had just sued to prevent Clayton for ever appearing anywhere as THE LONE RANGER, a character he had developed over a 30 year period, a character that was CLAYTON MOORE. It was like when Disney Inc. sued CARL BARKS to prevent him from ever doing a painting of Uncle Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, & Louie, Grandma Duck, Gyro Geargoose, or the Beagle Boys... all characters he had created (drawn and written) and that had made the Corp.(not him)a fortune. Life is weird sometimes. "Hi Ho, Silver... Away!!!"
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He had been in so much pain since his spine was broken on that windy day in Central Park. He had suffered enough. If eventually it turns out that this was a suicide I say, "I understand." It's like the man said: Right on, right on through the darkness.
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Uh, Harry, it's ok when guys are like 700 years old and they die. Hell, they probably want to. It's not like the guy worked in the last 40 years. Yes, he is an American icon, or moreover, his screen persona is. But, it's long over, Clayton's at rest now.
Now Curtis, there is a real tragedy. Guy's performing one minute, next a whole fucking beam falls on him, paralyzing him. God rest his soul. And I do mean soul, brother.
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Ever since I bought the Superfly double CD soundtrack, (I mustve listened to it a million times), i found a new appreciation for soul and funk music. Curtis Mayfield was a great songwriter performer and musician. His music will forever be part of our consciousness. Just as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X made people stop and think, Curtis told the people through his great music that violence is wrong and that we need to come together. People Get Ready....
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I've had the pleasure of meeting 2 of the LR icons, Mr. Moore himself at a parade in 1981 at West Allis WI,(of which I was 11) and this past year I met Fred Foy, the man who was the ORINGALL radio announcer for the radio show, as well as The Green Hornet, Sgr. Preston and others.
The Lone Ranger is a dead hero. A man who does nothing more than fight for good, who has no faults, who has no personal agenda, is gone. As well as Sgr Preston, The Green Hornet (all created by the same person) are hero's that people like my father had growing up..now what do we have? Poke'mon and the WWF.
Clayton Moore was also different that most actors, in that he LOVED his role, he even fought for the legal rights to wear the mask and hat..unlike so many other prima-donas, who hate their main creation, their bread and butter..
Peace to you Clayton Moore as you ride into the sunset, and to you Lone Ranger, a hero who wasn't made for these times....
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This is a Geek site run by people who love and respect all aspects of film. If they wish to honor the memory of those who have touched and shaped them through their artistic outlet (acting, music, etc.), or the way they lived their life let them. It's their site to do with as they please. If you only want bare bones hard core news go out and get it, but don't rag on Harry for not running things the way you think it should be. This is a forum for geeks everywhere to gather, discuss, and debate not just pick up on the latest word in the world of film. While I don't claim to know either of the recently deceased personally, I do know that they both touched many people in their own way, they will be missed, and the world is a little poorer for their loss.
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Dec 29, 1999 11:41:47 AM CST
I'm sorry Mr. Moore's dead, but the whole Lone Ranger thing cree
by fred4sure
As a kid I never dug the Lone Ranger mythos. Didn't he make his mask out of his dead brother's pants? How weird is that? He did have a set of bitchin' guns, though.
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Clayton Moore was one of the finest actors that ever lived! He was 85 and even at that age he could kick your ass, chum! Mr. Moore's character, "The Lone Ranger", stood for integrity on the screen. Something which is lacking in today's society. When Mr. Moore made personal appearances, he NEVER charged for autographs and always encouraged kids to be good and to the best they could in life. He was someone kids could look up too and respect, not some overpaid, drug-sucking, football asshole that drives by killing his pregnant girlfirend! There are no heroes today the way they were years ago. Its all about the money instead of doing the job! That's why guy's like you are weak! I hope to God that you live until 85 shithead and you reflect on the things that you've done with your life. All the things that you wanted to do, but didn't. Think about that. At least Mr. Moore and Mr. Mayfield left behind a legacy. What are you do gonna do?
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I'm not old enough to remember Clayton as the Lone Ranger when the show originally aired on TV, but his performance as the masked avenger (with his trusty steed Silver and his faithful companion Tonto) is immortal. My dad tells me kids used to run around and pretend to be the Lone Ranger -- just they used to wrap a towel or a sheet around their collars and pretend to be Superman or Batman and Robin. Kids need heroes that aren't all about just violence and fighting. Clayton helped make the Lone Ranger an eternal hero that represented noble morals, that showed that good could triumph over evil and that we must all stick up for the oppressed and fight for justice. I very saddened to hear that Clayton has passed away, but I thank him for the legacy he's left behind. Today's "hero makers" should look at the Lone Ranger of yesteryear and use that as a model the next time they write a superhero script. -- Nick
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. . . is an honest-to-God silver bullet.
Have a peaceful ride into the sunset, Clayton. -
Darn right heroes aren't what they used to be. the Lone Ranger withstood the test of time......who'll remember Pokemon,Power Rangers or Turtles in 30 years time.
Clayton Moore went the extra mile or so to keep up his Lone Ranger persona, to keep the magic alive for the kids who grew up watching him.
Mr Moore, job well done, sir.....may you rest in peace. -
Texas Ranger against (fmr.) Texas Ranger. I hate to say it, but my kindergarten lunchbox back in 1980 was a Lone Ranger lunchbox (yep, they were still making lunchboxes for the Lone Ranger then) and being a Texan, I always thought Clayton Moore was a bad ass. Seeing reels of him last night on the news next to Gene Autry made me kind of sad, especially with the recent passing of Hank Snow. All those old cowboys are gone, but at least in Austin there's still Don Walser (that, and Johnny Gimble, the old fiddle player from Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys still hangs out in Austin as well). Despite being a big fan of Lenny Bruce, I hope Clayton Moore stops off in hell and kicks Bruce's ass for that "Masked Man" routine.
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HI HO SILVER....AWAY!!!
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as a d.j. and an i.j., i and the ppl that dance to what i play love Curtis. it's all about Move On Up! which is what he has now done. on my internet radio show tuesday, i played an entire cd of amazing songs he wrote & produced; his musical legacy extends far beyond the Impressions and his solo work shaping the Chicago soul sound. my favourite on that cd to look for would be Nevertheless (I Love You) by Billy Butler & the Enchanters from 1964, written by Mayfield. he will be greatly missed.
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Who will be the 3rd?
I'm putting in my vote for Pauly Shore -
re Genghis' query: "no. 3" was first -- Robert Bresson a week ago was the lead off of this week's godhead going beyond, then Clayton and Curtis. Three irreplaceable originals if ever there were.
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