We then asked how she and Koladner had met in the first place, and she recalled their auspicious introduction with a hearty laugh. “I remember the first time I saw him. I was at some music awards thing with David (Geffen), and John was sitting five or six rows in front of us. He just kept turning around and looking at me. Finally, I said to David, ‘Who in the f—k is that guy, that weird guy? And why is he looking at me?’. David said ‘Oh, that’s John Koladner. He works for my label and blah-blah-blah-blah. Then, all of a sudden, David says ‘You know, John thinks that you need to be singing again…”.
Though Cher had been linked romantically with David Geffen by the press at one point, he’s actually a treasured friend. Talking about him prompted us to ask if working with a husband or lover enhanced or hindered a recording project. “Oh, I think it definitely enhances it. I’ve worked with husbands, lovers…and I just worked with my son (on a cover of “Crimson & Clover” that son Elijah Blue produced for an upcoming Sire Records soundtrack project). As a producer, Cher says that her son was especially fun to work with. “He was so sweet…he said, ‘Mom, don’t worry about it, just relax, everything’s gonna be fine’…and it was!” Cher is also fond of the album she recorded with Elijah’s father, Greg Allman. “I loved being in the studio with Gregory. I loved making that album with him…but it didn’t stand a chance, did it? I mean, everybody hated that we were together, didn’t they? The album didn’t stand a chance.”
Story Continued Here When prompted by some ten-second sound bites we provided (on a miniature boom box that we brought with us to the interview), Cher took the time to look back at some of the other ‘hits that got away’. We started with a snippet of “I Paralyze”, and proceeded from there. Listening intently, she begins singing along with herself and says, smiling broadly, “I’m sorry, that was just such a good song! I loved ‘I Paralyze’…RuPaul said that it belongs on my next ‘Greatest Hits’ album” (Note: there is one, forthcoming, from Geffen). Written and produced by John Farrar (the man responsible for Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical”), this 1982 Columbia label release is one that Cher says she would like to re-record someday. Ditto “Rudy”, a Phil Spector-styled pop ditty from the same period that somehow fell through the cracks in spite of an enthusiastic single review in Billboard. “That was a good one…I remember liking ‘Rudy’ a lot. I had a lot of fun recording it. Like ‘Turn Back Time’, this is the kind of song that pulls you up. I think ‘Believe’ is kind of like that too.
Cher continues, reminiscing about about other personal favorites of hers. “I loved making the Stars album (Warner Brothers, 1977). I loved ‘Geronimo’s Cadillac’. I wish I’d been a better singer then because I would have done a better job on it. I had the emotion, but I didn’t quite have the control that I needed. Also, I just got so tired of people making fun of my vibrato that I worked really hard with my teacher to control it, you know? To be able to get rid of it at will.” Other songs that, popular or not, remain close to Cher’s heart include “Save Up All Your Tears” (“Nobody liked it but me”) and “Do What You Gotta Do”, which she recorded with Greg Allman. “There’s a song that Sonny wrote for me called “Where Do You Go”---I loved that song. Another really favorite favorite record that I did was with Genie (Simmons), a Kiss song called ‘A World Without Heroes’.”
