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Marilyn Brings ‘Diamonds’ to Vinyl

Another compilation of Marilyn’s music is out now on vinyl. Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend is released by Bellevue Entertainment, and features 15 classic tracks. (The cover photo -with added sparkle – was taken by Bob Beerman in 1953.)

1. Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend
2. A Fine Romance
3. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
4. Running Wild
5. Some Like It Hot
6. I`m Gonna File My Claim
7. Two Little Girls From Little Rock
8. I Wanna Be Loved By You
9. Heat Wave
10. River Of No Return
11. One Silver Dollar
12. Do It Again
13. After You Get What You Want, You Don’t Want It
14. I’m Through With Love
15. Kiss

Thanks to A Passion for Marilyn

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What She Said: Marilyn and Chanel No. 5

Marilyn by Bob Beerman, 1953

Over at Garage Magazine, Tatum Dooley traces the origins of Marilyn’s famous quote regarding her favourite perfume…

“When asked what she wore to bed, Marilyn Monroe famously replied, ‘I only wear Chanel No. 5.’

The quote originates from a retelling by Monroe to Life Magazine in April 1952. The question wasn’t posed by Life; instead Monroe offered it up as a anecdote: “Once this fellow says, “Marilyn, what do you wear to bed?’ So I said I only wear Chanel No. 5.”‘

A bastardized version often tidily conflates Monroe as both speakers: ‘What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.’

Monroe is the subject of the second advertisement in a multi-part campaign, titled ‘Inside Chanel,’ levied by the brand. The ad, at just over two minutes, makes Monroe a posthumous face of the venerable perfume. ‘We may never know when she said the phrase for the first time,’ the video states about Monroe’s famous reference to the perfume, going on to cite all the times they have proof it happened: April 7th, 1952, in Life Magazine. October 1953, at a photoshoot for Modern Screen. April 1970, Marie Claire.

‘°5, because it’s the truth… and yet, I don’t want to say nude. But it’s the truth!’

But…it’s the truth lingers on the screen.”

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Marilyn’s Chanel Moment

Marilyn by Bob Beerman, 1953

Chanel have uploaded a rather nice video about Marilyn, including audio from her 1960 interview with George Belmont of Marie-Claire magazine in which she explains her answer to the question, ‘What do you wear to bed?’

Of course, it was Chanel No 5 – possibly the most lucrative free publicity a perfumier ever had. The source of the original quip remains obscure, though it dates back as early as 1953 when she posed for photographer Bob Beerman.

You can watch Chanel’s video here.

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Beerman’s Unseen Marilyn Found in Garage Sale

A set of rare photos, probably from Marilyn’s 1951 sessions with Bob Beerman, were found by photographer Anton Fury at a garage sale in New Jersey – more details at CNN

“‘I found an envelope of negatives, didn’t know what they were, but I realized they were old,’ Fury said. He paid $2 for the folder, which contained two envelopes of black-and-white negatives.

That was in Parsippany, New Jersey, in 1980, when Fury says he was ‘a fledgling photographer.’

‘I took it home, put them on the lightboard with a loupe and, needless to say, these are Marilyn,’ he said. ‘That was probably my greatest garage sale discovery ever.'”