Frank Sinatra "Best of the Best"

Frank Sinatra’s only son. Frank Sinatra Jr. recently sat down with Spinner to discuss the holiday release of Frank Sinatra’s latest music compilation, Best of the Best. Sinatra Jr. also shared why he feels his legendary father lived to be 82, while most iconic legends meet their tragic ends prematurely.

Frank Sinatra, Jr. told Spinner, “[Frank] Sinatra always had both feet on the ground. He never believed, or allowed himself to believe, any of the fame that surrounded him. He never took the adulation seriously.”

Frank Sinatra’s son and namesake, Frank Sinatra Jr. went on to explain that it was his father’s down to earth outlook on fame and his close ties to his family that helped him to avoid the kind of early tragic end that had befallen other icons like Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.

Frank Sinatra Jr. explained to Spinner, “They were tragic figures in the sense that they didn’t have their feet on the ground and they died that way. Isn’t that interesting, that all three of those people died alone?”

Praising his legendary father, for whom he composed music and musically directed until Sinatra’s death in 1998, Frank Sinatra Jr. says one thing he wants Frank Sinatra fans to know about his father is that “he never lost the concept of the reality of life. That is something I believe that people should know. And I believe that is the reason why he lived to be 82-and-a-half-years old.”

Not too long ago I had the opportunity to interview Frank Sinatra Jr’s older sister, Nancy Sinatra, for PR.com and Nancy and I discussed Frank Sinatra’s legacy from the point of view of his first born (Nancy).

Here are some clips from the Nancy Sinatra interview on PR.com:

PR.com: Your father was around to see the first inklings of the power of the Internet back in the late 90s, shortly before he passed. What did he think of it?

Nancy Sinatra: He was thrilled. He would read the questions that people would write in, and then he would tell me what to say in response to their questions, and he said, “This is great. Please keep in touch with my supporters.” And I said, “I promise.” I have ever since.

PR.com: For your Sirius XM radio show, Nancy for Frank, how do you go about scripting each show, and how do you determine what Frank Sinatra stories should remain private and what stories about your father you care to share with the public?

Nancy Sinatra: It’s all up to the music. We’re recording a show tomorrow and the album we’re playing is the Strangers In The Night album. I haven’t seen a script yet. I send the songs to my producer and he takes the songs and puts them into a script that includes the composer, lyricist, and if possible, when it was recorded originally. Whatever nerdy kind of technical information we can get, we put it into the script. If there are any stories, they come about as a result of a song.

PR.com: Your sister Tina does a great deal as far as managing, I guess what you would call the Sinatra brand. Is that an equal three-way partnership between you, Tina and Frank, Jr., or does Tina take the lead with business matters pertaining to your father’s work?

Nancy Sinatra: Tina’s a producer, so we rely on her for that sort of thing. We are all absolutely involved, of course. We all meet once a month, or once every two months if we’re traveling. We discuss the projects that are coming up and what we are going to do about them, and who’s going to do promotion. I liken it to a family farm. The products are usually recordings, sometimes films, and you take them to market and market them as best as you can. It’s not easy anymore. The music business is pretty much history. It’s generally via downloading, and mostly the younger people don’t want to pay anything for music. There are also so many expenses involved in putting out CDs, and you have to be very sure that everything you put out is of quality. If there is a mistake at the printers or there is someone along the way who misspells a composer’s name or puts in a wrong date, we get clobbered by the Frank Sinatra fans who know every detail. When that happens it’s embarrassing for us, but we can’t be there every second of every day with this stuff as it goes through. We can license and hope (laughs)… that they do a good job and not let us down.

CLICK TO READ MY ENTIRE NANCY SINATRA INTERVIEW ON PR.COM

This story is brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

My Interview with Jenna Dewan Tatum

I just posted my Jenna Dewan Tatum interview on the newswire PR.com, where I discussed with Jenna all of the controversy surrounding her new NBC television series, The Playboy Club (airing tonight at 10/9c). The show will transport viewers back in time to the swinging 1960s and the glamorous and sexy nights at the original Playboy Club in Chicago, Illinois.

Though Jenna Dewan Tatum told me she is proud to don the iconic Playboy bunny outfit and that she feels the real Playboy bunnies from the 1960s were empowered women, there is one thing she will never do. Have a look at some of my interview with Jenna Dewan Tatum below to get all of the juicy details on how Jenna feels about nudity, feminism, and female sexuality:

PR.com (Allison Kugel): So the feminist groups, the parents’ groups, the religious groups, none of them have actually screened an episode of The Playboy Club.

Jenna Dewan Tatum: No. No one has seen it. It’s sort of like me talking badly about a movie and someone asking me, “Have you seen it yet?” And I say, “No, I haven’t seen it, but this is what I think.” (Laughs).

PR.com: Would you ever pose nude in Playboy?

Jenna Dewan Tatum: No. I’m not looking to pose nude in anything.

PR.com: What do you think of the prevalence of female nudity in cable television and in film?

Jenna Dewan Tatum: I believe that it’s overused. I think there are a few times in movies and maybe a few TV shows, where scenes do call for it and there is a certain sense of realism. But you can tell when a girl didn’t want to show nudity, and it’s pretty obvious. A lot of times nudity sort of takes me out of the scene and takes me out of the movie, because immediately I’m going, “Oh, that’s somebody’s breast,” and I’m not thinking about what the scene is. So that’s my own personal argument against doing nudity. I never say never because in my life I’ve learned that you say one thing and then later on something makes sense. But thus far in my career I have said no to nudity for that reason. I want people to be invested in the story and invested in the character before they’re just looking at my boobs.

PR.com: Is there anything you can share about the premiere episode?

Jenna Dewan Tatum: Oooh, it’s a fun one! Sometimes I want to come home, I want to sit down on my couch with a glass of wine and some food, and I want to watch a show that is sexy, fun, exciting escapism and pure joy, and just sort of release my day. I believe that’s what this show will be for Monday night. It is a character drama and there are really great storylines and really great interactions between characters. I think this first episode will be a taste of what’s to come. You do learn about all of the different characters but you don’t get too involved. [The first episode] is more like, come and experience the sixties and the Playboy Club.

CLICK HERE TO READ MY ENTIRE JENNA DEWAN TATUM INTERVIEW FOR PR.COM

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DJ Pauly D Opens Up About Jersey Shore Fame & Fortune: "You Find Out Who Your Real Friends Are..."

My recently published DJ Pauly D interview for PR.com revealed a lot about the Jersey Shore star’s perspective on his newfound fame and fortune, how Pauly’s friends from Rhode Island have reacted to his success, what type of women the famous deejay looks for, how he really feels about Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, and what was going through his mind during that Britney Spears lap dance in front of a crowd of twenty-thousand screaming fans.

This is DJ Pauly D’s most candid interview to date, and here are some excerpts from my conversation with him:

PR.com (Allison Kugel): What has sudden fame taught you about human nature?

DJ Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio): Everybody thinks that it completely changes you. I don’t think it does. I think it changes everybody around you. Before, nobody knew me. Now everybody knows me, but I’m still the same person I was when I was just deejaying around [locally]. Now I’m deejaying all over the world. So I think it changes the people around you more than it changes you.

PR.com: You see changes in your friends and family, and people you work with?

DJ Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio): I find it with everybody, basically. You find out who your real friends are, who’s going to stick by you, because you don’t see them as much anymore. The ones that are genuinely happy for you, those are your real friends. The ones who hate or are mad at you because you didn’t take them along… that’s how you know who your real friends are.

PR.com: This is a really important question: A few years ago, say back in 2008, did you ever think you would have Britney Spears’s thighs wrapped around your head?

DJ Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio): (Laughs). Never in a million, million, million years! I never thought Britney Spears would even know I existed, let alone to give me a lap dance on stage in front of twenty-thousand people (laughs).

PR.com: How’d Britney wind up giving you a lap dance?

DJ Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio): I’ve been on the Britney tour. When I DJ with her on her tour, I do my act, then Nicki Minaj would go on, and then Britney would go on. I always stay for the second two acts because I’m a fan of both of them. So Britney called me on stage and the dancers brought me up, and she sat me down and gave me that lap dance (laughs). I did not expect that at all.

PR.com: Are all of you on the outs with Mike (The Situation) [Sorrentino] right now or is that all resolved?

DJ Pauly D (Paul DelVecchio): We’re not really on the outs with him. He’s a… he’s an interesting dude. He likes to start trouble and we’re just really not into that. When I went to Italy I was into Italy and I wanted to have a good time, and that’s all I wanted to do. I just want to have fun and I don’t want to deal with drama. It’s how I’ve been my whole life, and on the show. I stay away from the drama, so I stay away from him a little bit.

READ MY ENTIRE DJ PAULY D INTERVIEW AT PR.COM

This news story was brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

Allison Dawn PR Makes 2011 Donation to ASPCA

As a matter of personal and professional priority, Allison Dawn PR annually donates a portion of its revenue to both the ASPCA and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The public relations company announced today that it has just made its annual 2011 charitable donation to The ASPCA, a non-profit organization that works tirelessly to rescue abused and neglected animals from horrendous conditions.

“Now, with so many natural disasters and a faltering economy, more domestic animals are in danger of being neglected and abandoned than ever before,” states Allison Dawn PR President, Allison Kugel. “I consider these charitable donations to be a mandatory part of the operation of my PR Firm and a corporate responsibility in helping those creatures who cannot protect themselves.”

The ASPCA is on a perpetual crusade to brings battered, starved and sick animals to shelter, health and safety, as well as working to find animals loving homes.

For more information and to learn more about the ASPCA’s work for animal rescue and animal adoption, please visit www.aspca.org. By getting involved with the ASPCA you can volunteer your time, adopt an animal who needs a loving home, make a donation, or just become more informed about animal welfare.

Have a happy and healthy Labor Day Weekend.

This news was brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

Seth Gold from truTV's "Hardcore Pawn"

Amidst the choppy waters of our 21st century American economy, a television show like truTV’s Hardcore Pawn seems perfectly fitting, entertaining and sobering. With a show like Hardcore Pawn the genre title of “reality television” rings a little too close to home at times, particularly in the chronically financially depressed city of Detroit, where the show is filmed.

Set in Detroit area pawn shop, American Jewelry and Loan, Hardcore Pawn documents the lives of the Gold Family as third and fourth generation pawn brokers. Les, Seth and Ashley Gold all try to be fair to their customers while protecting their property and conducting business in one of the country’s roughest cities. The Golds run their pawn shop, American Jewelry and Loan, with decades of experience, a vigilant team of security and a lot of heart, which makes for some interesting conflict and drama: enter truTV!

I recently had the chance to chat with American Jewelry and Loan co-owner and Hardcore Pawn cast member, Seth Gold, who offered me a crash course in how a pawn shop operates, the impact of our recent economy on the pawn business, and how Seth and his family balance emotion and brokering the best deal.

Allison Kugel: How has the climate of the pawn business changed since 2008 when our economy crashed?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): Pawn shops are barometers for the economy, so we saw this coming a few months before the recession began. Our loan lines got longer and the people in them were coming from further out.

Allison Kugel: What kinds of changes in people’s demeanor have you noticed and what changes have you observed in the things that people are willing to sell over the last few years?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): We haven’t really seen a change in people’s demeanor. Desperate times call for desperate measures and no one is happy that they have to pawn something, whether it’s their first time or their fortieth time. But they are happy that they have a place to turn when there’s nowhere else they can get cash. When people need money they’re going to bring in anything they have, so that hasn’t really changed. It’s really more the people who have changed. We’re seeing a lot more traffic from the suburbs and people who had never set foot in a pawn shop before.

Allison Kugel: Do you sometimes become like bartenders or shrinks where people will start giving you their sob story as to why they have to sell their goods to your pawn shop?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): Sure and we try to help as much as we can. We know this can be tough on someone that’s never had money issues in the past. But at the end of the day, we have to separate their story from the item they’re trying to sell. We can’t get caught up in the emotion.

Allison Kugel: Can you give me an example of a time when you got emotionally involved in a customer’s life story or felt sorry for them?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): We had a customer that had been coming to us for ten years. We got to know her really well and there came a point where she needed a little extra help to pay for her medications, so we’d give her more cash than we would in a normal situation. We knew she was good for it and we wanted to help her. And there was a woman that you may have seen on an early episode of Hardcore Pawn who brought in just about everything she had [from] her home to pay for her father’s funeral. We knew we had to step in there. She came in afterwards with the program from the memorial service to thank us. It’s moments like those that we can see the difference we’re making in people’s lives.

Allison Kugel: What was the most dangerous or hostile situation you have experienced with a customer, either trying to buy or sell something in your shop?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): We don’t let things get out of hand here. As you’ve seen on Hardcore Pawn, we’ve got a lot of very big security guards on staff. There are the ones you see and the ones you might not notice. There are eyes everywhere and while things might get loud at times, the situations are diffused very quickly. We’re not going to put ourselves or our customers in a dangerous situation.

Allison Kugel: Give me some examples of things that you absolutely will not buy.

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): Well, we won’t buy bodily fluids! A guy came in and wanted to sell us a vial of sperm last week. We’re really not sure what was in the vial, but we knew we weren’t going to buy it! And then there was the glass eye. A customer came in with nothing in his hands and asked for a loan. Then, right in front of us, [he] popped out his eye. That would be a tough thing for us to re-sell (laughs).

Allison Kugel: How did truTV find your particular pawn shop and what was their vision for the show?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): It was really just being at the right place at the right time. A producer walked into the store and saw what we always knew. Every day at American Jewelry and Loan it’s a reality show waiting to happen!

Allison Kugel: What is the most money you ever made from a single transaction in your shop?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): People come in all the time and pawn valuable items for much less than they’re worth. You have to understand, they’re paying interest on the amount they borrow so they may use an expensive item as collateral, but they tend to take out only what they need. So we’ve taken in items for $1000 and then when the customer hasn’t returned, sold them for $5000.

Allison Kugel: Explain to me, for people who don’t know, how a pawn shop operates. How do the goods you buy from people translate into loans and into your profits?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): When you come into the store you have two options. You can sell your goods outright or you can get a loan. Most people come in for a loan. So they bring in an item to use as collateral. We give them an interest based loan at 3% per month, for 3 months, and we charge them a dollar for storage. If they don’t come back within 90 days, the item belongs to us and we can put it out for sale.

Allison Kugel: If you could be in any other profession other than the pawn business which business would it be?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): Ashley and I are third generation pawnbrokers. Les learned this business at his grandfather’s side. He did his first deal when he was seven! So I can tell you for sure, that there is no other business Les would be in. If he wasn’t running his own pawn shop, he’d be running someone else’s.

Allison Kugel: Why did you go into the pawn business in the first place?

Seth Gold (Hardcore Pawn): I was on my way to medical school before I decided I wanted to work in the family business, so I suppose that’s what I’d be doing. I knew I wanted to help people. And that’s the way I see my role at American Jewelry and Loan. I know that’s hard for a lot of people to understand, but we’re helping more than a thousand people a day. We know that when our customers leave here, they’re able to put food on their tables. And that means a lot to us and to them.

“Hardcore Pawn” airs at 9PM ET/PT Tuesdays on truTV. Visit truTV.com to meet the cast and watch episode footage.

Next stop, the PGA Tour?

Is it just me, or is Peter Parker’s replacement in Marvel Comics’ new Spider-Man comic, Miles Morales, a dead ringer for disgraced Golf-Pro, Tiger Woods?

Peter Parker’s replacement is a half-African-American, half-Latino teenager named Miles Morales. The new Spider-Man is a fitting reflection of a new 21st Century America and actually makes me quite proud of this new racially-modern era we are living in. Pop culture is taking a cue from how we are all living our lives now.

As CNN reports, “Wednesday, a new book, Ultimate Comics Fallout #4, debuts, and the world will get to see the new web-slinging super hero. The book will be a glimpse into the Ultimate Comics universe after Peter Parker, when a new, multi-racial Spider-Man arrives on the scene.” Pretty Cool!

Indeed, Axel Alonso, editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics told CNN, “When the opportunity arose to create a new Spider-Man, we knew it had to be a character that represents the diversity, in background and experience, of the 21st century.”

The original Spider-Man that was conceived created by Stan Lee and portrayed by Tobey Maguire in the movie franchise, Peter Parker, was a white orphan from Queens, New York who died in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #160 fighting his arch-enemy, Green Goblin.

As told to CNN by marvel Comics’ honcho, Axel Alonso :

“He died a hero, he died fulfilled. He’s really dead too, not come-back-to-life dead.”

But on a comicical note, I can’t help but wonder if the comic’s sketch artist was watching the Golf Channel or thumbing through an issue of Golf Digest for inspiration for the physical characteristics of new Spider-Man, Miles Morales. Maybe young Miles’ cover gig could be as a player on the PGA Tour. Golfer by day, masked crime fighting spider by night??

What do you think?

Nudity During Sex is Waaay Overrated!

During my chat with Pamela Anderson for an interview to be published this week on PR.com, the international bombshell gave me the scoop on her new sultry stocking collection, The Pamela Couture Stocking Collection by Secrets in Lace.

When I questions Anderson about her general dislike for pantyhose, she set me straight by exclaiming that her couture stocking collection is not for every day use. Pam’s stockings are for sex!

Here are some yummy quotes that Pammy relayed to me:

“I’ve never worn pantyhose, but my aunt and mom swear by them. My stockings are for making love in. They’re real nylon stockings. It’s a fantasy. They feel incredibly sexy, and guaranteed not to run. They aren’t for every day, but they are so gorgeous and they’re historically pleasing. If stockings could talk…”

Pamela Anderson also expressed her funny side during our interview when she insisted that her mom still wears lingerie for her dad, but not in the way you might think:

“I know my mom still wears lingerie and jumps out of closets to scare my dad. She’s always joked that she tries to give him a heart attack so she can get [his] coin collection. But now she’s actually worried that she might give him a heart attack. And the coin collection may not exist, so she’s being gentler on him. They watch a lot of CNN and she also Twitters all her complaints about politics, but does it looking fabulous.”

On a more serious note, Anderson’s mom has passed along some words of wisdom to her famous daughter when it comes to seducing the opposite sex:

“She taught me how to walk, one foot directly in front of the other, so you lure men with your hips.”

At the end of our interview Pamela was kind enough to brief me on what she meant when she told me “if stockings could talk…” She said, “You know, like if walls could talk.” Thanks Pam, I got that one. My real questions for you is, “if your stockings could talk…” We would all love to hear what those naughty nylons would have to say!

READ MY FULL PAMELA ANDERSON INTERVIEW HERE

I need a vacay!

Although Oprah felt the nudge from within to take her final bow this year and exit The Oprah Show after 25 successful years on the air to move on to greener pastures, even Oprah can get a little down in the mouth when some professional turbulance hits. But, as all successful people do, Oprah says she considers her challenges to be “opportunities.”

Oprah’s media empire, which consists in large part of O Magazine, Oprah Radio on Sirius XM satallite radio and her new baby, The OWN Network, is sometimes difficult to manage, even for a superwoman like Oprah. It’s particularly challenging when she is fighting an uphill battle to get a fledgling cable television network off the ground. The OWN Network is featuring, by and large, very meaningful, “change your life” television, in the same vein as The Oprah Show, but it is struggling to find a strong and consistent audience.

In a ballsy move, Huffington Post blogger and sports writer, Michael Woods, asked Oprah via Twitter, “Are you frazzled because show ended, network doing poorly, mag sales down? Or did u foresee this?”

Wow, that was blunt!

Here was Oprah’s initial reply to Woods via Twitter, “ALL mag sales are down as we move ever more to digital. Just had my first week at OWN. No regrets ending show. Onward!”

You can’t blame Oprah for defending her position strongly to cancel out Woods’ question.

Later, Oprah expounded on her reply to Woods on Facebook, posting the following statement:

“@Woodsy1069 asked me on Twitter yesterday if I was ‘frazzled’ by OWN’s performance thus far,” she wrote. Nope, not frazzled. And I have faith that if I do what I’m supposed to–allow it to serve my purpose, and you, the viewer–it will succeed. Everyone in the cable business told me it would take 3 years. Some said 5. I’ve been here a week…I will say this; it’s 10 times harder than doing my daily show. Doing that show felt like breathing everyday. Now I’m in so many meetings I sometimes have to step out and catch a breath. But I see every challenge as an opportunity. So no shortage of opportunities here.”

The women admits she’s a little stressed, ok? You happy “@Woodsy1069 ?? She’s only human, and all cable television networks do take time to find their audience.

I really do hope that Oprah’s OWN Network succeeds because her programming is filled with educational and positive messages that we desperately need on television. Even OWN’s reality programming takes you on an authentic journey and teaches many valuable lessons. I cannot say the same for many other cable networks’ programming. “Real Housewives of Wherever.” Get my point.

Just like all of us, Oprah is in transition and I have no doubt that her new venture(s) will ultimately succeed. As for mag sales being down in favor of an increasingly digital media generation? As a journalist for an online newswire (http://www.PR.com/Articles), and a blogger in the online space, I can’t say that makes me unhappy.

But take heart Oprah, unlike the rest of us, you’re recession-proof. That alone should help you sleep like a baby.

Franki Love, "Now Is The Time"

Independent recording artist, Franki Love, puts you in a happy place with the musical equivalent of a crackling fireplace, a warm and fuzzy blanket or a delicious box of chocolates. Love’s groovy, soulful tunes just make you feel good, and her newest album, Now Is The Time, builds on her earlier self-titled debut with some meticulous production value and a slightly edgier sensuality.

I have known Franki Love for some time and have followed her music career in recent years. With an A-list producer on her latest album, and songwriting and instrumentals by Love, herself, I knew that Franki Love would have to be the subject of my inaugural Allison’s Word “New Artist Buzz” Q&A series.

Allison Kugel: What’s the name of your upcoming second album, and how would you describe its musical genre?

Franki Love: My second album is called Now Is The Time and the genre is really a mixture of pop, R&B and soul.

Allison Kugel: Being that you write your own music, you play the piano and you blend musical genres, how do you categorize yourself as an artist?

Franki Love: I feel like with this new album it’s going to be more mainstream. My first album from 2008 (titled, Franki Love) was a little more of me as the indie artist. This one I’m pushing to go into mainstream because I would love to be heard by more people.

Allison Kugel: Tell me about the first single off the album, and what inspired the lyrics for this first single?

Franki Love: It’s an interesting story. The first single is also called “Now Is The Time.” I wrote this song four years ago with a couple of my songwriting friends. At the time, we knew that Shakira was looking for songs, so we said, “Let’s write a song for her and let’s write something that’s different from what she usually does.” We decided we would write a song about the world and empowering people to change their lives; something inspirational. The song turned out to be incredible. Shakira didn’t pick it up, but we had this song for many years. I kept listening to it in my car and on my computer, and thinking that it is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard! I said, “What are we doing with this song?!” It was four years later and no one had done anything with it. When I was in the process of doing this album, I felt that if a really famous singer isn’t going to sing it and nothing is going on with it, then I would like to put it on my album.

Allison Kugel: It’s sort of like when you go shopping for a gift for a friend and you buy them something that you really want, and you’re kind of hoping that you can keep it instead.

Franki Love: (Laughs). Basically, that is what it’s like. But sometimes when you write songs for other [artists] you can’t even picture yourself singing it. But yeah, this is definitely that situation. I’m excited that I got to keep it.

Allison Kugel: How long did you spend in the studio recording Now Is The Time?

Franki Love: The process of writing the songs was over the past four years. Actually getting into the studio and recording it was an extremely intense five months.

Allison Kugel: That’s a long time, no?

Franki Love: It’s a long time but we didn’t spend every single day [in the studio]. I did two songs in March, and then I did a lot of pre-production for the other songs with another producer in April, and then we did more recording in May and June.

Allison Kugel: There was a specific producer you wanted to work with on this album, and you used the website Kickstarter.com to raise money for your budget for this album. Tell me about that.

Franki Love: One of my friends connected me with a producer named Warren Huart who did The Fray and who is now doing the new Aerosmith album. Warren and I met, we really hit it off and I like his style. But I had to raise the money because it was a very expensive process to record the album.

Allison Kugel: When will the new album be released and where can people purchase it?

Franki Love: The album will be coming out August 10, 2011. You can buy a physical copy of the album through my website, www.FrankiLove.com or through Amazon. Digitally, the album will be on iTunes, and most major digital venues. iTunes is the major venue for purchase.

Allison Kugel: Many independent artists these days are only releasing their music digitally. What is the advantage for you in releasing hard copies of your album?

Franki Love: The advantage of getting a hard copy is, first of all, everyone who backed me up on KickStarter.com, a lot of them pledged for hard copy CDs. The other advantage is, I’m doing a lot of shows and I do sell quite a bit of CDs at my shows. I find that when people see you perform live, they enjoy being able to get that actual CD of your music in their hands to take home with them.

Allison Kugel: I saw some gorgeous new pictures of you posted online. Every single one of them looked like an album cover! How do you choose which images will make the final cut for your album art?

Franki Love: It’s been crazy to choose the cover. I work with my manager to sort through them. We picked out the top five. My manager said to me, “This is your album and your expression. You’re an indie artist so you have the freedom to choose the image you want.” That’s what’s so fun about being an indie artist. I printed them all out, put them on my table and over a three day period I began to narrow down all of the covers I didn’t like. I ended up with the one I liked that would speak the truth of this album and represent it.

Allison Kugel: Your name is Franki Love, and knowing you, I know that you are a very new age and spiritual person.

Franki Love: My message as an artist, singer, and musician is I want to be a messenger of love and to share my music with others to inspire them. When I am being as vulnerable as possible, I feel like those are my true colors. When I sit at the piano and write a song, and when I work with photographers and they take photos of me, they feel that’s my style and they tend to bring that out of me.

Allison Kugel: I know that you’ve always played the piano, and you’re a real musician at heart. So many artists, now, are not recording with live instruments in the studio. It’s a lot of manufactured beats and sounds created with digital technology these days. Did you play instruments in the studio, and were there live musicians recording with you for this album?

Franki Love: I played all of the piano parts and that was a lot of fun. We also had some of the best musicians play on these songs, musicians who have played on Colbie Caillat’s record and Sheryl Crowe, and other big records like that. So a lot of it is live. I had a whole full band.

Allison Kugel: Will you be going on tour to promote Now Is The Time?

Franki Love: I’m going to be doing a lot of show dates to promote the album, lots of college dates. I will also be celebrating the release of the album in New York and in LA. We’re having a record release party on August 12th in LA at Room 5, and then it’s on to New York where we’ll have a record release party on August 30th at The Livingroom. I’m also going to be doing something really cool with StageIt.com. It will essentially be a skype-like show where people will buy tickets for $6.00 to tune in to me doing a live show from my home. People will be able to talk to me through the computer, watch me perform and they can download my album at the end of the show. I’ll be doing my StageIt.com show on August 7th at 3PM PST.

Anything else coming up for you in the near future?

Franki Love: I’m always looking for talented producers and co-writers to collaborate with. I’m also hoping to start collaborating with other artists.

Franki Love’s second album, “Now Is The Time” will be released August 10, 2011on itunes.com

Visit www.frankilove.com and Follow Franki Love at facebook.com/frankilovemusic, twitter.com/frankilovemusic and at her YouTube Channel.

Ouch, that's gotta hurt!

I’m sure Kat Von D is having very mixed feelings these days about her tendency to ink before thinking. The famous tattoo artist and star of TLC’s LA Ink, got inked with a portrait of a pre-teen boyhood photo replica of then-fiance Jesse James, under her arm. A giddy Von D was gushing and could hardly contain her excitement as she presented Jesse James with her”gift to him” on camera as the TLC cameras rolled.

The Monster Garage star and West Coast Choppers owner had a look on his face that looked half flattered and half horrified. Jesse James’s face was frozen with the oddest expression when he took a look at Kat Von D’s baby Jesse tattoo as she nervously unveiled his immortalized boyhood image on her skin for him.

Fast forward to after the couples’ breakup, and Kat Von D shows up at the KTLA television studios for an interview to promote the upcoming season of LA Ink. When she watched backstage as the Good Day LA morning anchors rolled a promo tape of Von D getting her Jesse James tattoo and showing James the now infamous body art, Kat Von D flipped and fled the studio without giving her obligatory interview.

Moments later, a very upset Kat Von D Tweeted, “Dear GoodDayLA, thanks for the waste of a perfectly good morning. Lack of compassion n respect for eachother never fails to dissapoint me.”

But here’s the weird part… according to the stunned Good Day LA co-hosts, it was TLC who provided Good Day LA with the offending LA Ink clip featuring Jesse James and that now infamous tattoo. So what gives?

I can say this much, as someone who has interviewed Kat Von D, from my own experience, the girl is all love and wouldn’t harm a fly. She must be really hurting right now. Here is an updated Tweet she recently posted to her Twitter account, “My apologies if I’ve offended anyone this morning-For the record: I did not storm off – I politely left w notice when GDLA broke their word.”

Back when I interviewed Kat Von D, she had expressed some serious regret about getting a tattoo portrait of her ex-husband on her upper thigh, complaining to me that she has to look at the damn thing “every time she pulls her pants down to pee.” You would think she would have learned her lesson.

But I digress. I’m assuming Kat means the KTLA morning show had agreed not to mention Jesse James or anything of the like. But, why did TLC provide an LA Ink clip that would only incite the Good Day LA co-hosts to want to ask Kat about her Jesse James tattoo? Weird! Kat, take this up with your producers and network, not KTLA.

As soon as the Good Day LA co-hosts got wind of Von D’s Tweet, they had a thing or two to say about the situation in a video clip below:

Kat Von D Walks Out on GDLA Interview: MyFoxLA.com