Popeil, King of TV Pitchmen, Dies at 86

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 30-31, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 13 People & Places Music Top Spotify charts Italy’s Maneskin enjoy blurring stereotypes ROME, July 29, (AP): Several years ago they were four teenagers busking in the piazzas of Rome. These days, the members of the rock band Maneskin are basking in adoration after triumphing in the Eurovi- sion Song Contest and consistently riding high in Spo- tify charts. With their androgynous outfi ts, in-your-face videos and what their lead singer calls “cathartic anger,” they tell The Associated Press they’re having a blast blurring stereotypes. Taking a break from their high-octane artistic routines, Maneskin members sat still on a couch in a Rome hotel on Tuesday evening for a half-hour to refl ect on how they plan to use their new-found fame. “We feel free to wear whatever makes us feel right, and we are also trying to send a message about blurring all these kinds of stereotypes, between gender norms and stuff,” said bassist Victoria De Ange- lis. “We think it’s just fi ne to wear whatever makes you feel good with yourself.” Whatever it is they do — defying neat categories in the De Angelis process- music listeners love it. On the day of the interview, Maneskin’s “Beggin’” was No. 1 on Spotify’s global chart, with more than 6.8 million streams. Their win- ning Eurovision number, “Zitti e Buoni’’ (Italian for ”shut up and behave”) ranked 77th, with some 1.1 million streams. In this Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1982 fi le photo, Ron Popeil, the man behind those late-night, rapid-fi re television commercials that sell everything from the Mr. Micro- In Italy, known more for exporting cheese, Ferraris phone to the Pocket Fisherman to the classic Veg-a-Matic, sits surrounded by his wares in his offi ce in Beverly Hills, Calif. Ron Popeil, the quintessential TV pitch- and designer fashions, not rock bands, Maneskin’s “I man and inventor known to generations of viewers for hawking products including the Veg-O-Matic, the Chop-O-Matic, Mr. Microphone and the Showtime Rotisserie Wanna Be Your Slave” was getting nearly 300,000 and BBQ, died Wednesday, July 28, his family said. (AP) streams. When they started out, De Angelis, now 21; lead singer Damiano David, now, 22; guitarist Thomas Raggi and drummer Ethan Torchio, both 20, it wasn’t Obituaries easy to be a rock band in Rome. “Let’s say that, especially from the point of view of the situation of bands, especially emerging ones, it’s not very easy,’’ said De Angelis, who switched seam- lessly between English and Italian. She recalled how ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill dies in his sleep at 72 they found it hard to fi nd places and events where they could perform. So they started playing in the street. Blending Popeil, king of TV pitchmen, dies at 86 David said the problem is especially true for bands, “while for individual artists, especially in the indie LOS ANGELES, July 29, (AP): Ron the bottom again and built himself and Simpsons” and “King of the Hill.” and hip-hop music sector, in Rome many new artists Popeil, the quintessential TV pitchman his company back up. By the 1990s, Popeil is survived by his wife of 25 are growing.” and inventor known to generations of as the infomercial gained footing and years Robin; daughters Kathryn, Lau- Hours earlier, Maneskin’s members were mellow viewers for hawking products includ- cable television’s infl uence spread, he ren Contessa and Valentina; and four but clearly pleased as Mayor Virginia Raggi (no rela- ing the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fish- was doing full-length shows that evan- grandchildren. A fi fth daughter, Shan- tion to the guitarist) gave out in their honor tiny rep- erman, Mr. Microphone and the Show- gelized about such devices as pasta non, died before him. licas of the Lupa, the she-wolf foster mother who is time Rotisserie and BBQ, has died, his makers, food dehydrators and “GLH” a symbol of Rome, an appropriate award for a band family said. (Great-Looking Hair), which was Also: blending genres. Popeil died “suddenly and peaceful- commonly called “hair in a can.” HOUSTON: ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill, the Asked about their often angry lyrics, David said Bassist and vocalist Dusty Hill, from ly” Wednesday at Cedars Sinai Medi- He appealed to consumers in part long-bearded bassist for the million- their dissatisfaction with the diffi culty of native rock the US rock band, ZZ Top performs cal Center in Los Angeles, his family because he was a classic American selling Texas blues rock trio known bands in Italy fed their determination to succeed. “We at the F1 Rocks concert on Sept. 25, said in a statement. He was 86. No showman, equal parts P.T. Barnum for such hits as “Legs” and “Gimme never agreed with this way of seeing it. This gave us 2009, in Singapore. ZZ Top has an- cause of death was given. and Thomas Edison — an inventor All Your Lovin’,” has died at age 72. the strength and the cathartic anger to change this kind nounced that Hill, one of the Texas Popeil essentially invented the and innovator, yes, but a popularizer In a Facebook post Wednesday, of situation.” blues trio’s bearded fi gures and bass- popular image of the American televi- as well, a man who saw consumers’ guitarist Billy Gibbons and drum- Beyond their own evolution, Maneskin’s rock- ist, has died at his Houston home. He sion pitchman, whose novel products needs and then found accessible ways mer Frank Beard said Hill died in ers also refl ected on Italian society moving forward, was 72. In a Facebook post, band- solved frustrating problems viewers to entice them into making purchases. his sleep. They didn’t give a cause of slowly. mates Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard didn’t know they had. He popularized death, but a July 21 post on the band’s Political debate has been raging over a stalled bill in revealed Wednesday, July 28, that much of the vernacular of late-night Invent website said Hill was “on a short de- the Italian Senate to expand hate-crime protection for Hill had died in his sleep. (AP) TV ads and infomercials, with lines In a 1997 Associated Press inter- tour back to Texas, to address a hip is- those who are targeted with racism and anti-Semitism like “Now how much would you pay?” view, he said his drive to invent was sue.” At that time, the band said that its to include homophobia and transphobia. Right-wing and “Set it and forget it.” more than mercantile; it was a bit ob- longtime guitar tech, Elwood Francis, leaders want provisions about gender identity re- Popeil, whose father was also an sessive. “I have enough money today,” would fi ll in on bass, slide guitar and moved from the bill. inventor-salesman, built his ability he said at the time. “But I can’t stop. If harmonica. With their generous use of eyeliner, painted fi n- to sell things as a young man in the there’s a need for these things, I can’t Born Joe Michael Hill in Dallas, gernails, costumes defying gender stereotypes, and open-air markets of Chicago, where help myself.” he, Gibbons and Beard formed ZZ videos that feature female-male and male-male inter- he moved as a teen in the 1940s af- He seemed always to have new Top in Houston in 1969, naming them- actions, the artists constantly put gender identities up ter spending his earliest years in New products at the ready: the Ronco Elec- selves in part after blues singer Z.Z. for grabs. York and Miami. tric Food Dehydrator, Popeil’s Pasta Hill and infl uenced by the British pow- Their lyrics frequently span a gamut of possible Building on an invention of his fa- & Sausage Maker, the Inside the Egg- er trio Cream. Their debut release, “ZZ identities and roles. “I wanna be a champion/I wanna ther’s, the Chop-o-Matic, he marketed shell Egg Scrambler, the Bagel Cutter, Top’s First Album,” came out in 1970. be a loser,’’ sings David in ”I Wanna Be Your Slave.” the slicing-and-chopping machine he the Hav-A-Maid Mop, the Speed Tuft- Three years later, they broke through In the past, said De Angelis, “you just grew up be- called the Veg-O-Matic, sold by the ing Kit, The Whip-O-Matic. commercially with “La Grange,” a ing told who you are and who you should be. And Taylor Carlson company he founded and named after When home shopping networks funky blues song in the style of Slim you don’t even get to get in contact with yourself himself — Ronco. arose, he found a natural home, and he Harpo’s ”Shake Your Hips” that paid and understand who you truly are or who you like.” He would take the product-slinging sold Showtime Rotisseries in droves tribute to the Chicken Ranch, a notori- But now, she ventured, people are getting “a bit more style previously done at state fairs and on QVC. ous brothel outside of the Texas town open-minded.” Variety Woolworth stores to television start- Popeil was constantly parodied in of La Grange. At those words, David leaned forward and held two ing in the late 1950s, offering viewers pop culture. He was sent up by Dan The band went on to have such fi ngers close together to signal that open-mindedness a chance to skip stores and buy straight Akroyd in the early days of “Saturday hits as “Tush” in 1975, and the 1980s in Italy still has a substantial distance to go toward HELENA, Mont: A video showing a Mon- from the source with a simple phone call.

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