Monitor Picks

Get dolled up

Once upon a time he anchored rock stages across the world with his thundering bass lines for the '70s glam/punk band the New York Dolls. Then, in a bleary blink of an eye, it was over. Arthur "Killer" Kane did what any self-loathing, cross-dressing, has-been rockstar would do - he jumped out a window. When he woke up, he became a Mormon. New York Doll, now on DVD, tells his astounding tale of redemption.

"Just when you think you're alone, you're not," goes the theme song of the 1980s gal-pal hit, Kate & Allie. (Season 1 now on DVD.) Nothing since has quite measured up to the snarky piquance of Susan St. James and Jane Curtin as they toughed out the laughs and loneliness of being divorced with children. The show still holds up, not because of the ghastly '80s wardrobe, but due to great writing and casting.

Just past its first anniversary, Tango talks up relationships to the professional crowd and does it without too much self-help babble. Grounded with the requisite aching-heart advice, the latest issue of the bimonthly also offers candid comment from Christopher Hitchens, among others, on marriage and a piece on the inner-beauty myth - and what really counts.

Touring ahead of the release of his 10th CD, folk great John Gorka (dates at johngorka.com) reminds his audience why they come back for more of his mischief. Gorka's charmingly distracted between-songs banter sets off lyrics that are sometimes soulful, sometimes wry. His warm baritone flavors songs like "Houses in the Fields" and his moving "Let Them In," a tribute to soldiers.

The Dixie Chicks took a huge public-relations hit by speaking out against President Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003. Three years later, their new single Not Ready To Be Nice - an orchestral blend of guitars, horns, and violins - shows that the Chicks have not forgotten the backlash.