Love & Misery

His marriage to her was one of pop’s great love stories for almost 30 years. These 2 met at a night club Located in a basement in Soho, London. This was the late sixties and the two were watching a performer that went by the name Georgie Fame (with his backup band the Blue Flames). At the time, she was a photographer for a small rock magazine and happened to be at the club with the group “The Animals”, who she had photographed earlier that year in New York. And at the time, he was a singer/songwriter/basses/piano player/etc… of arguably the biggest rock band in the whole world. And if you heard our podcast last time or saw our Facebook post/poll, then you know that this week we are talking about Sir Paul McCartney & Linda Eastman.

There is a saying that behind every great man there’s a great woman. Today we present one of the truest examples of that. This is the story of a brilliant Surrealist painter & his wife, without whom he would have never become an icon of modern art. She was 10 years older than him and when they met in 1929 she was also married to someone else and was a mother of a little girl.  She also had a lover, who painted her in a number of portraits. But, it was a love at first sight. In his book “Secret Life”, he wrote: “She was destined   to be my Gradiva, the one who moves forward, my victory, my wife”. The name Gradiva comes from the title of a novel by W. Jensen, the main character of which was Sigmund Freud. Gradiva was the book’s heroine and it was her who brought psychological healing to him, the main character. If you hear our last podcast, then you know we are talking about Salvador Dali & his wife Gala.

To mention these two is to invoke the 1920s, the Jazz Age, romance, and their outrageous early success, with all its attendant pitfalls. Their names can summon images of taxis at dusk, they conjure images of gleaming hotel lobbies and smoky speakeasies, flappers, yellow phaetons, white suits, large tips, expatriates, and nostalgia for the Lost Generation.  They also remind us of what the effect of alcoholism and mental health can have on a marriage. These two were reckless and abandoned. So, if you heard our last podcast, then you know we are talking about F. Scott Fitzgerald & Zelda Sayre.

This man is known around the world as one of the most powerful emperors that ever lived, but his first wife, was an amazing leader in her own right, and the story of her life is one of the best things you'll hear about today. She was 17 and he was 16 when they got married. She was a skilled archer, mother of nine, her husband's most trusted adviser, and loved by her people. While he was out there conquering the world and creating one of the largest empires in history, she stayed closed to home, ruling with the wisdom of a true empress. If you listened to our podcast last time then you know that we are talking about Genghis Khan & Borte Ujin.

Easily the most iconic country music romance of all time, these two had a love story that transcended time, addiction, and the highs and lows of fame. From performing hit crossover songs ("Jackson"), to inspiring an Oscar-caliber movie about their relationship, these two remain to this day one of the most famous and celebrated relationships of the 20th century. But it wasn't always smooth sailing—both of these two overcame personal hurtles and industry obstacles that could have prevented their being together. So, if you listened to our last podcast, then you know our couple this week is Johnny Cash & June Carter.

Describing the relationship and marriage of these too people as on-again, off-again, on-again,would be a massive understatement. Across 12 years, the pair dated, split, became engaged to another,dated again and then decided rather than split they should wed. After the marriage ended they continuedto date for another 10 years. She was a three-time Emmy-nominated and Grammy-winning actress andauthor and he was a 16-time Grammy-winning musician. If you listened to our podcast last time, then youknow our couple this week is Paul Simon & Carrie Fisher.

We were originally going to do this podcast on King Mohammed VI & Princess Lalla Salma…as proposed tous from our friend Ms. Marci. But, we didn’t find enough material about the “ghost princess”…we foundtoo much information about her being alive and we found a lot of sensationalized journalism trying tomake this a bigger item than it was. So, instead, this episode will be on another couple.this couple had a romance that captivated the world, a marriage that kept us entranced. They were twoincredibly powerful people coming together to lead a country into the future. She was a world-famousactor who rose from up from the suburbs. He was the playboy prince of a tiny European principality whoalways knew what a luxurious life looked like. They met in France, courted for a short while, & gotengaged in Philadelphia. This couple is none other than Princess Grace Kelly & Prince Rainer III of Monaco.

These two would be 25 years apart in age. He ended up with a string of marriages. In fact, this woman didn’t even like this man when they met at first, but they eventually married.  She was 19 years old and very impressionable and he was 44 and very experienced. They starred in 4 major released movies together from 1944-1948 and eventually fell madly in love. If you listened to our last podcast last time, then you know that we are speaking about Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall, Also known as Bogie & Bacall (also known as Bogie & Bacall).

These two represent a premier song writer & social activist and an Avant guard multimedia artist & socialactivist. He was once a front person in the biggest rock band in the world and some say the reason thatthis band broke up was because of her. I personally don’t think so, and feel that she got a bad rap…These twomet each other at one of her art exhibitions in the United Kingdom and got married 3 years later. If youlistened to our podcast last week, then you know that our couple this week is John Lennon & Yoko Ono.

Our story this week deals with a girl who was the last queen of France before the French revolution. Andthe man who was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution.These two lived a life of excess in the Palace of Versailles while their people were literally starving in thestreets. She is famous for using the phrase, “Let them eat cake”, but I found out that she never usedit…but we’ll get into it in our episode. So, obviously I’m speaking of  Marie Antoinette & Louis XVI!