DOUBLE YOUR STANDARD, DOUBLE YOUR FUN? ... Colin Powell and William Bennett helped sponsor an April 29 benefit for the Best Friends Foundation, which asks teenage girls to postpone sex and reject drugs and alcohol. The event was a pseudo-sock hop in which Powell's Roll team beat the other side, dubbed Rock, in a Name That Tune contest. Hideous as it is to contemplate, Bennett, Powell, AOL honcho Steve Case and their wives actually "sang" the Marvin Gaye classic, "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved by You."
The event also featured the Drifters, the "Marvellettes," and the Platters. All the groups were phonies - sleazy fake band promoter Larry Marshak doesn't own a trademark on the real Marvelettes so he misspells that group's name. Not one of the three groups has a single original member, and in some cases, Marshak is able to prevent legit performers from using the names of their groups!
A friend of ours who attended the Best Friends event approached Powell and Bennett about their perpetration of this fraud. "There's no harm being done here," Powell said.
Told he was dead wrong - Marvelettes leader Gladys Horton recently had to apply for public assistance - because work is so scarce - Powell responded, "Why are you trying to ruin a good event and a good cause?" Powell, who helped cover up the My Lai massacre, walked away in a huff.
Our friend then cornered Bennett "Yeah, I knew," said Bennett. "But I don't care." The author of The Book of Virtues also huffed away.
There is legislation pending to prevent Marshak and other promoters from perpetrating these frauds. Apparently, it's a good thing Gen. Powell and Bennett haven't realized their Presidential aspirations or the bill would probably be vetoed if it ever did manage to pass. Not that the current President is any better: On March 18, the day that the rock'n'roll impostors bill was introduced, Clinton was in Florida being serenaded with "Stand By Me," sung by a fake group of Drifters.