The Return of Bruno | Through the Shattered Lens

I’m still taking in the news that Bruce Willis has retired from acting for health reasons. When I was growing up, Bruce was the closest thing we had to an old fashioned movie star. No one can beat the bad guys like Bruce Willis. No one could deliver a stone cold perfect one liner like Bruce Willis. No one could liven up a movie like Bruce Willis. No one could surprise you with an unexpectedly sensitive and good performance like Bruce Willis. As far as I’m concerned, he is still the epitome of cool.. Moonlighting, Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Sin City, Looper, and more, Bruce Willis had quite a career and I think that his reputation as an actor will only grow as his performance are rediscovered and reevaluated.

Bruce Willis was not only an actor but he also a singer. In 1987, at the height of his Moonlighting fame, he released The Return of Bruno, an album the featured Bruce Willis covering several classic R&B tunes. To support the album, he toured in the the character of veteran singer, Bruno. Today’s music video of the day was originally a part of an HBO special that was designed to promote the album. Bruno remembers performing at Woodstock and covers Young Blood, which was originally recorded by The Coasters in 1957.

Enjoy!

Bruce Willis, R&B star?

It nearly happened!

Well, actually, it didn’t come close to happening but it wasn’t for lack of trying. In 1987, when Willis was still best known for co-starring on Moonlighting, Motown records released The Return of Bruno, an album that featured Willis and a host of well-respected musicians performing 10 R&B classics.

The Return of Bruno is actually a concept album, with Willis taking on the role of Bruno Radolini, a legendary soul singer who influenced everyone from Elton John to The Bee Gees. The Return of Bruno peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard 2000 chart and was later named the 4th worst album ever recorded by Q Magazine. It has since become a collector’s item. (My father owns a copy!) Willis performed the songs in his own style, which means that despite the presence of Booker T. Jones, The Pointer Sisters, and The Temptations performing backing vocals, this is still the smirkiest R&B album of all time. The best way to describe it would be to say that it sounds like John McClane performing karaoke.

There’s an idea! Die Hard 6: Sing For Your Life.

Heard you the first time, Bruce!

The biggest hit to come off the album was a cover of Respect Yourself, a duet with June Pointer that featured backing vocals from the other Pointer Sisters. The music video for Respect Yourself plays to what was then considered to be Bruce’s main strengths as an actor: blue collar cockiness and a refusal to let something like a lack of any real musical talent hold him back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3vMKSA0OKc

Two years after The Return of Bruno, Willis released one final album, another collection of R&B covers called If It Don’t Kill You, It Just Makes Your Stronger. Considering Willis went from The Return of Bruno to starring in Die Hard, it was an appropriate title.