"A Touch of Crass"
That's what Jaye P. Morgan's handwritten sign said on an episode of "The Gong Show" I watched this weekend.
I think she was (is?) a comic genius on that show. Had I been a contestant on "The Gong Show," I would have been crushed if she wasn't a panelist on my episode. Jaye P. Morgan had (has?) the priceless, almost unheard-of ability to be crass and classy at once. After she gongs an act, her post-gong putdowns are often censored with silence and a big "Oops!" graphic on the screen. Who knows what she says? But when they come back on camera, everyone in the studio is gasping in shocked laughter. Sometimes, the contestants don't look happy about whatever she said. I think she would have been (would be?) fun to hang out with.
Watch this video to see what I'm talking about. Listen to her comment about 1:35 into it.
Before she was a panelist on "Gong," Jaye P. Morgan was an acclaimed singer back in the 1950s. While killing some dollars on iTunes today, I found a 2005 release called "Jaye P. Morgan Lately!" It's actually a 1983 project released in 2005.
Go to her Myspace page and listen to her '83 version of "Every Breath You Take." It is mesmerizing. I don't know how, exactly, but it is.
You don't know who I'm talking about, do you?
7:56 PM