Bethany Cosentino loves music. Last year, she worked as an intern for cool music magazine Fader. Now, she’s the lead singer for up-and-coming band Best Coast and getting love from – who else?- her former employer:
She is now nearing full-on diva status with many, many jams under her belt and many more on the way. We don’t even remember that one time she FUCKED UP OUR COFFEE ORDER. JK we don’t send interns to get coffee, it’s the only time we get outside. But for real, if we had known Bethany, and her bandmate Bobb Bruno, were capable of music this good, we would’ve fired her instantly. “The people need to hear this!” we would’ve said as we pushed her out the front door. But we didn’t so we just enjoyed her non-musical presence for the short time she was here. And now we enjoy her presence wherever we can find it.
You can download a new Best Coast single at Fader or check out one of their videos after the jump.
This morning while waiting for my bagel, a song came on the radio. It’s a catchy oldies tune that I’ve always liked called “Take a Letter, Maria.” Then, as I was singing along in my head, I realized something: the song is about an assistant – well, a secretary, but you get the idea. Basically, the storyline is that this guy finds out that his wife is cheating on him and starts dictating a letter to his secretary. While he’s dictating the letter (which is going to his lawyer, presumably so they can start divorce proceedings), he pours his heart out to the secretary, Maria, and by the end of the song has asked her out to dinner.
Here’s the thing – obviously it’s hard to glean this sort of backstory from a two and a half minute long song, but is the ending romantic or creepy? I mean, it could go either way. Maybe Maria had been secretly pining for her boss, but it took his wife’s infidelity to get him to notice how awesome Maria was. Or it’s possible that the boss was just depressed and looking for affection and Maria just happened to be there. Anyway, one thing is clear – I spent entirely too much time thinking about this song today. And, possibly, I spend too much time thinking about assistants in general, but, hey, I like my job.
Here’s the song so you can listen for yourself, and if you’re not able to watch video you can check out the lyrics.
Fashion is a notoriously competitive field to break into – that’s why people are still willing to work for crazy bosses like Kelly Cutrone and Anna Wintour. However, it may be so competitive that even famous and/or rich people have to do grunt work. First, Tallulah Willis toiled away as an intern guest of the editors at Harper’s Bazaar instead of simply being handed a job or a column. Now, the New York Times reports that even famous Korean pop stars still have to start at the bottom:
Let us take the example of Sang A Im-Propp, who was a pop star in Korea before she decided, while on a business trip to New York, that she wanted to be in fashion. This was nearly a decade ago, and Ms. Im-Propp’s command of English was tenuous, but she enrolled at Parsons and in short order found herself an internship with Victoria Bartlett, a noted stylist and designer whom she admired and hoped would introduce her to the glamorous world of design. Instead, Ms. Im-Propp found it difficult to understand Ms. Bartlett’s heavy British accent, and at first she thought she had misunderstood just what Ms. Bartlett was asking her to do. Get cupcakes?
Not just any cupcakes, but the glossy butter-cream confections from the Cupcake Cafe, which is a four-block crosstown walk from Ms. Bartlett’s studio through the dodgy garment district, and it was freezing outside.
“It made me cry a lot,” Ms. Im-Propp said. “Vicky is an amazing artist, but she can be difficult.”
Could it be that fashion is actually becoming a great equalizer? I’d be a lot less demoralized about having to fetch coffee if the other lackey fetching coffee was a pop star. I’m just saying.
Brian “Ren” Renfield Nelson, longtime assistant to rocker Alice Cooper, passed away in June. In addition to being Cooper’s PA, Nelson was a collector of Cooper memorabilia and an all-around nice guy. In his honor, the Spider’s Parlor YouTube channel created a special video:
Personally, I would love it if Alice Cooper wrote a song in honor of Ren the way that Bruce Springsteen did when his assistant, Terry Magovern, died in 2007.
Former Fugees member Wyclef Jean stopped by MTV’s New York studio recently to promote a new contest. He has 10 aspiring musicians remixing versions of his latest single, “More Bottles,” and is posting them all on his official website so that fans can vote on which one they like the best. However, while he was at MTV to promote one contest, he ended up starting another one. An MTV intern named Josh Rosenstrauch challenged the musician to a push-up competition. Not only did Clef accept, he’s upping the ante. During the taping of one of the remixes, he announced:
Josh from MTV, push-up competition, we’re gonna do it at the Nokia Theater, so I can embarrass you in front of everybody. No less than 100 push-ups. I know you’re a young man, so you will be facing the old man. Wax on, wax off.
Is there a day set yet? Because I’m happy to pop over to the Nokia Theater and record this for posterity.
How do you tell when a celebrity has really hit the big time? Is it when they’re on the cover of People magazine? Maybe the first time they’re invited to Diddy’s White Party?
I’d venture a guess that a celebrity is really famous when he or she gets a personal assistant. So in that case, let’s now welcome Susan Boyle to the big-star table. The Scottish woman who turned into a YouTube sensation when she sang “I Dreamed A Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent has been coping with the effects of fame. She’s going on tour, has had to learn how to use a cell phone for the first time in her life, is purchasing the house she’s been renting for years, and has a brand-new PA named Julia. With help from Julia and her mentor Simon Cowell, Susan is also recording her first album.
As long as you’re nice to your assistant, Susan, I won’t have to say anything mean about you on this blog. But you’ve been warned.
I recently saw 9 to 5 the Musical on Broadway.I saw it on a Thursday night after a particularly frustrating day at work and this was definitely the cure. Alison Janney, Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block were hilarious and had great chemistry together. I wished they worked in my office instead of the one other female who thinks she’s a princess and creates drama.
Dolly Parton, hero to STA, did an amazing job with the music and it took the story to another level entirely. The fantasy sequences were my favorite. Their takes on getting even with the boss were exhilarating. Kathy Fitzgerald stole the show as Roz singing in the bathroom in her musical number. I don’t know about you but I’ve had days when I wish I could escape to the ladies room and belt out a tune.
The musical also showed how far women have come in the workplace as well as how far we have to go. There are so many things in the show that they accomplished that are status quo these days.I think it is important to understand what the women before us overcame in the workplace so we can fully appreciate their progress. 9 to 5 is a fun way to do this.
Grab a couple of your assistant friends after work, go to TKTS and get discounted tickets for 9 to 5 the Musical. It’s more fun than happy hour. You can follow them on twitter @tdfnyc to see if they have tickets on sale that day. Tickets are subject to availability. You may leave the office defeated but you will leave the theater with a smile on your face.
I don’t know how it took me so long to discover this song, but I really love the Emiliana Torrini song “Unemployed in Summertime.” The idea of the song is pretty similar to the sentiment on this blog as of late – if you’re young and single (i.e. not supporting a spouse and/or kids), sometimes unemployment can end up being a blessing. I was let go in February and, while I have less money than I did before, I’ve used the last few months to learn a lot about myself and my career goals as well as to appreciate little things like taking a walk in the middle of the afternoon. Anyway, even if you’re employed, you’ll really like Emiliana and her lovely voice:
Fashion is a notoriously competitive field to break into – that’s why people are still willing to work for crazy bosses like 
How do you tell when a celebrity has really hit the big time? Is it when they’re on the cover of People magazine? Maybe the first time they’re invited to Diddy’s White Party?
