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Behind the Music: The Singing Senators
Suddenly, the Singing Senators were silent.
Jim Jeffords, in June 2001: "I'm disappointed. I know John Ashcroft wants to get together, but the other two seem less than enthusiastic."
  Ah, simpler times: The Singing Senators, from left, in 1996: Sens. Trent Lott, Larry Craig, John Ashcroft and Jim Jeffords. (Gerald Martineau - The Washington Post) |
The darkest days were yet to come.
Coming up: A stalled solo career, and the comeback.
Part 3: Reunion
By 2001, the former members of the Singing Senators were on a roller coaster ride they could not control.
Without one another, things seemed to fall apart. Ashcroft was mired in Gitmo. Jeffords had gone indie. Lott, the bass, was forced out as Senate minority leader over remarks perceived as supporting segregation. Then, Hurricane Katrina wiped away Lott's home.
Meanwhile, Ashcroft's attempt at a post-S2 career had stalled, as he was repeatedly mocked for his solo patriotic ballad "Let The Eagle Soar."
But by June 12, 2007, all wounds seemed repaired. Craig, Ashcroft and Lott gathered to perform at an Arlington fundraiser for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. A little older, a little wiser, the Singing Senators blended their voices for "Elvira," just like in the old days, and ended the gig with a rousing encore of "God Bless America."
They were back -- and ready for a return to the spotlight. But only one of them that night knew of the incident at a Minnesota airport barely 24 hours earlier that would once again divide them and change their lives forever.
Coming up: A stall. A wide stance. The death of a dream.
SORRY, YOU'RE NOT ON THE LIST
One in an occasional series of dispatches from parties you should have crashed.
Site: Hirshhorn Museum.
Occasion: Promotional fete for GOOD, an earnest new magazine that aspires to reach "people who give a damn."
Crowd: About 1,400 Gen X and Yers, dressed nice but unshowy, from earnest give-a-damn professions (journos, policy wonks, committee staffers, nonprofiters, etc.).
Draw: Music by local-hero DJ Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation.
Scene: Constantly changing colored lights illuminating the courtyard fountain, groovy touch-screen art displays, a dance floor that was actually full.
Bar: Open -- from 7 until midnight ! Sapporo Light, soymilk White Russians, vodka with Red Bull or Izzi sodas.
Drawback: Long bar lines -- guests took to ordering two at a time and double-fisting.
Pleasant surprise: An unexpected appearance by Thievery's other half, Rob Garza.
Disappointment: GOOD's former associate publisher Al Gore III didn't make it.
Overheard: "I need to do some more networking."
An 'Unidentified Escort' No More
That guy with Nancy Reagan at Michael Deaver's memorial service? The Associated Press photo (which ran in our column Friday) called him "an unidentified escort," but friends immediately recognized Fred Ryan, former Reagan staffer, chairman of the Reagan Foundation and president of Albritton Communications. Ryan was flooded with phone calls and e-mails, many from people he hadn't talked to in years, who teased him about his -- c'mon, who could resist? -- "escort" service. "Somehow, there may be a business opportunity here," he told us.
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