photo credit: Karl Simone

By Paul Freeman [April 2011 Interview]

Undoubtedly, there are young women who can trace their strength in careers and in life to their devoted childhood viewing of “Wonder Woman.” That was a TV celebration of girl power.

Wonder Woman Lynda Carter’s many strengths include not only twirling a golden lariat and acting in a variety of movie and television roles, but also bringing beautiful, exciting new interpretations to classic songs.

Her latest album, “Crazy Little Things” (release date April 26, available for pre-order at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com) showcases the power, eloquence and versatility of her voice. She interprets songs penned by a wide variety of great writers, including Carole King, Freddie Mercury, Chuck Berry, Hank Williams, John Denver and Holland-Dozier-Holland.

The Phoenix native began as a singer and, after being named Miss World USA, found opportunities as an actress. She shot to superstardom in “The New Adventures of Wonder Woman” (1975-1979).

She released an album, “Portrait,” in 1978, and starred in several music specials for CBS. Carter acted in numerous hit TV movies, including “Rita Hayworth, Love Goddess.” She also starred in the series “Partners in Crime” with Loni Anderson and “Hawkeye” with Lee Horsley.

In recent years, Carter appeared in such movies as “Super Troopers” and returned to the DC Comics universe for a role in TV’s “Smallville.”

She was able to display both her acting and singing talents in a West End London production of “Chicago.” Her one-woman cabaret performances have been wowing audiences.

The stylish, charismatic singer’s show "Body & Soul” has earned rave reviews. You can experience Lynda Carter live! She plays San Francisco’s The Rrazz Room, March 22-25. Tickets are $45-$55. For details go to www.TheRrazzRoom.com or call 1-800-380-3095.

Ms. Carter graciously spoke with Pop Culture Classics.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
For the new show, “WIcked Cool,” is there more emphasis on ‘60s and ‘70s songs, while retaining a bit of the Great American Songbook?

LYNDA CARTER:
Yeah, I think so. There’s even some ‘80s songs in there. It’s a nice blend. They’re familiar songs. But they’re not just covers, not just the way you’ve heard them before. They’re reimagined and updated, with a different feel behind them... and very groovy.

PCC:
Is that challenging, to hold onto the song’s essence, while putting your own imprint on them?

LYNDA CARTER:
I think it’s a great challenge, because you don’t want to change them just for the sake of changing them. We’ve all heard very bad disco versions of popular songs, that don’t sound too good. And so, it is really taking a melody and the words and chord changes and acting as though this is a newly written song.

And there’s collaboration. I bring it to the band or I bring it to a couple of guys I work with. Viktor Krauss, a great bass player, Alison Krauss’s brother, he’s helped me with some of the stuff. And we sat down, for the album, certainly, with Kyle Lehning, my producer. He’s a Grammy-winning producer. We sit down and it’s about the messages of the song or the idea behind the song. And it kind of develops on its own, when you start working with other people on what sorts of ideas you want. It’s cool. I like the process. The process is fantastic.

PCC:
And the new album, ‘Crazy Little Things,’ sounds terrific. It incorporates a lot of different styles. You have eclectic tastes, musically?

LYNDA CARTER:
Yeah, I would say very eclectic taste. I’m really no different from other people, in that, when iPod came out with the shuffle and a song pops up out of your library, that you haven’t listened to in a while, it’s kind of a surprise. It feels good, when it just pops up. And I think that that’s a pretty popular program on iTunes and I think the reason behind it is that music stirs up all kinds of memories and I guess that’s what my show is and how I like to sing songs. I think I sing what I would like to listen to.

PCC:
‘Jessie’s Song’ is quite beautiful. You wrote that one for your daughter?

LYNDA CARTER:
That was for my daughter, yeah.

PCC:
And what sparked the writing process for that one?

LYNDA CARTER:
Well, she was going away to college. We’re packing her up, packing the car up with all the stuff she wanted to take with her. And we’d sit down and I would watch her face, saying goodbye to her friends, saying goodbye to me and her dad... and the loss that I certainly felt. And how I wanted to hold onto her. Time is marching on.

She’s a filly at the starting gate, just ready to go and have this new adventure. And there’s a piece of me that just wants to hold on, to be able to hold her when she is feeling low or when she needs me.

PCC:
That’s certainly a song that a lot of people will relate to.

LYNDA CARTER:
Yeah, I think so. I hope so. I was very happy with the way that turned out. And I wrote that fairly quickly. I wrote that, really, to sing to her before we left her at school, something for her to take with her.

PCC:
Sometimes it’s the most personal material that becomes the most universal.

LYNDA CARTER:
I think that sounds right.

PCC:
And ‘Desperado,’ that sounds like a particularly poignant rendition of the song. Is that a song you had a lot of emotional resonance with?

LYNDA CARTER:
Actually, yes. The truth is, it relates to a nephew of mine who has been really struggling over a lot of years. And I see that he continues to be searching for something that he can’t find. And he keeps trying stuff that doesn’t work. As a result, he’s had some health issues. He’s not that old. He’s only like 40. So that’s kind of why I did that one.

PCC:
So was that song another way to communicate with him?

LYNDA CARTER:
I suppose so. But it was really my point of view, of watching him. It’s about, you’ve got to let someone love you. You’re searching for it and you’re searching for it and you keep trying this and that. And the prison is the life you’re living. Whatever he takes from it, he takes from it. But it’s really my frustration, because it’s out of love. He’s special in my life. And it’s difficult seeing someone on a destructive path, when really it’s about loving yourself and letting someone love you.

I don’t mean it to be depressing. I get a little reluctant to tell the story. But it can be about anything. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about that. It can be about someone who complicates their lives with things they don’t need to and they don’t stop and see the value of the things that are in their lives. So it can be interpreted in a lot of ways.

What I think happened is that Kyle Lehning, I was singing the song in the studio and he knew the story and I tried it on several different days of different vocal sessions we’d done. And he just said, ‘No, that’s not really what the story is, about what you’re telling me.’ So I just stopped singing it and just kind of told the story in a really quiet way. And he was able to pull that out. He’s pretty brilliant. It was one of those moments that was captured on tape, where I just let everything go. In a quiet, darkened vocal room, I sang it.

PCC:
It’s important to have someone in the studio who’s really in synch with you.

LYNDA CARTER:
Kyle Lehning is really so good. He really is a brilliant, brilliant producer in Nashville.

PCC:
So, would you say that each of these songs, in one way or another, has a very personal connection to you?

LYNDA CARTER:
Oh, absolutely. I would not have done any of them otherwise. That’s why they’re on the album, because they all have a story behind them.

I turned ‘Loco-Motion,’ instead of being a dance, really, it was more with a sexual overtone to it [Laughs].

PCC:
There are many surprises in the arrangements.

LYNDA CARTER:
Yeah. So we changed it. Instead of the background singers going, ‘Come on, baby, do the Loco-Motion,’ we changed it to ‘Come on, baby... do it!’ So I get a big kick out of that when I sing it. So there’s most definitely storytelling in the songs we do.

PCC:
Even the most familiar songs really sound fresh. You have a great version of ‘I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry.’ Your vocal actually reminds me of another Linda from Phoenix, Linda Ronstadt.

LYNDA CARTER:
Thank you.

PCC:
So when the acting career had taken off and then you first released an album, did you have to overcome skepticism, ‘Oh here’s another actress trying to be a singer?’

LYNDA CARTER:
Well, it’s normal. I think that ‘Wonder Woman’ is such a big, big deal that it takes quite a bit to have people understand it. And then when they hear the music, I would say that most people like what they hear or they see. And then it speaks for itself. I’m used to overcoming obstacles.

When I did ‘Wonder Woman,’ there were no women doing their own shows, in a way like that. There was Carol Burnett. Angie [DIckinson] had a show. And Mary Tyler Moore. And ‘Laverne and Shirley.’ But they didn’t think a woman could handle a show on her own. They didn’t think people would tune in for it.

Or, ‘You’ll never make it as an actress, because you’re too tall.’ Or whatever. It just goes on. And I never let anything stand in my way. I just go about it and it will work or it doesn’t.

PCC:
Were you originally aiming at a career as a singer?

LYNDA CARTER:
Yes. I started singing, actually getting paid for singing, at 14. School dances, at various high schools, with a band. When I was in high school, I was in a couple of bands that played around town.

PCC:
Gary Burghoff was in one of those bands?

LYNDA CARTER:
Yes, right., a band called Just Us. And then, I went on the road with a couple of bands and did some studio singing in L.A. to help support myself.

PCC:
Who were the musical inspirations for you?

LYNDA CARTER:
I sang in everything I could ever sing in. So I always sang, for as long as I can remember. But most kids do. They put on plays for their parents and they do that kind of thing. And I just loved it. And I saw some of the old-timey singers on television with their own shows. And I thought that was for me [Laughs]. My mother was a big supporter. She would encourage me.

PCC:
And the Miss World competition, did that open doors for you?

LYNDA CARTER:
Well, I had left the road, realizing that being in a band on the road was not going to take me very far. And I wanted to regroup. I was just in Phoenix for a few weeks and I went into this modeling agency to find some work. And they were putting on the Miss Phoenix or Miss Arizona portion of the Miss U.S.A. contest. It was about three weeks after that I was Miss U.S.A. So there was absolutely no grand plan on that.

I did a record for EMI, when I was in England during that time. Someone just recently sent me that. It’s pretty funny. It was early days [Laughs]. And then I moved to L.A. and started studying acting. But back then, people that were going to hire an actress, the days of the movie musical were over. They did not want singers that were actors. They wanted actors. They didn’t want multitalented people. So I never told anyone, while I was trying to get hired, that I was a singer.

PCC:
Did you find any correlation between acting and singing, just in terms of the creative process?

LYNDA CARTER:
Well, I knew a lot more about singing than I did about acting. I was studying, but I didn’t have a lot of practical experience, when I got ‘Wonder Woman.’ So singing is like riding a bike for me. And the truth is, I think I’m a better singer now than I was back then. Because of my life. Because of just living life. And l think it’s the same way in acting, that you pull upon your experiences and you get out of your head and you get into what the character is about. It’s like you have to really know your lines. You have to be singing what the song is about and not trying to be perfect in the notes or anything. You just have to trust that you know how to sing. But you really try to put meaning into what the song is and connect with an audience. And in acting, you have to connect with another actor. You have to believe it yourself. And so there are a lot of similarities.

PCC:
So you can really lose yourself in a song? Or is there always thought of technique?

LYNDA CARTER:
Yes, I can lose myself in a song. And I can lose myself in a part, as well. It’s easier, performing live, to lose yourself, because there are not a lot of starts and stops as there are in film. And so, yeah, I can lose myself in a song. But you’re always aware of support, kind of, breathing correctly. You sort of go in and out of it. But I can lose myself in the music. The band is so good, that I work with. They’ve all got platinum and gold records they’ve played on. It’s really the cream of the crop, in terms of musicianship. The group is really kind of amazing, actually.

PCC:
That’s a great luxury to have.

LYNDA CARTER:
It’s a great luxury and I’ve done it without that. When I first came back singing, I was playing with people that weren’t as gifted. And, truth is, I want to work with people that I can totally rely on, where the level is so high that everyone’s in synch. When you’ve got a group of people that are really, really at a very high level, it raises the level of the whole band. The whole band, they all are in synch with each other, that it just raises the level. We all work really hard. And we love it. We love it, love it, love it. It is a blast.

PCC:
When you were starting the acting, doing things like ‘Starsky & Hutch,’ ‘Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw,’ did you just look at those as building blocks towards where you wanted to go?

LYNDA CARTER:
Sure. But just getting a part... You have to realize the time. There were a lot of actresses in town and not a lot of parts. So you kind of took what you got. Once again, the grand plan was subject to who hired you. So I was really fortunate that I looked a lot like the character of Wonder Woman.

PCC:
Did you see that as a huge opportunity, as soon as it came up?

LYNDA CARTER:
Oh, of course, I did. Oh, yes. To have my own show, to have a pilot that I’m the star of, it’s a huge deal. And I worked hard at deciding how it is that I wanted to play this character. I never really bought... In the first few episodes, they dumbed her down a little bit. But I think that worked all right. But you really had to suspend belief, that not anybody really recognizes her [as Wonder Woman’s alter ego, Diana Prince], with the ponytail. Because dumbing her down doesn’t really work either. I still look like I look. I’m not wearing a mask. [Laughs]

PCC:
You had actually been a fan of the comic books?

LYNDA CARTER:
Oh, absolutely. When I was growing up, this is before there was that much on television. And we would go and buy our comic books, sure.

PCC:
What about the whole girl power aspect of this? There must have been satisfaction in serving as a role model, with girls being empowered by watching the show.

LYNDA CARTER:
How I grew up, the baby boomer daughters, they all had mothers that worked during the war. My mother did. She was a young girl. And so, I think that Women’s Lib movement was really driven by those mothers of the baby boomers, because they all went to work when the guys were all away. And then they were put back in their box. Or they tried to put them back in their box. And so I think that those mothers gave us the feeling of, ‘You can do whatever you want. You’re capable of doing anything.’ And I think a lot of girls grew up with that idea, that we could do anything, even though our mothers were put back in the box. We didn’t have to be put back in the box.

So I just always had a lot of confidence. And my father contributed to that, too. My father would say, ‘You know, Lynda, you can do whatever you want to do. If you want to be a doctor, whatever you want to be you can be. You don’t have to be restricted by anything.’ And I was always into the singing. So I didn’t go to the football games. I was singing at the place where everyone wanted to go after the football game. But I don’t think I missed a lot. I was after what I was after.

PCC:
In the course of the shooting ‘Wonder Woman,’ was it basically fun and an adventure, or was it harrowing with all of those action sequences?

LYNDA CARTER:
Oh, that was the most fun, the action sequences. The whole thing was great. They became a family to me, the people. I still run into them when I do various films. ‘I was on ‘Wonder Woman.’ ‘Oh, hi!’ As a matter of fact, one of the stunt guys that I worked with quite a bit, just came to see my show in L.A. and it was wonderful to see him. So I’m always running into people that worked on ‘Wonder Woman’ with me. And it’s pretty cool. It was a great whole family.

PCC:
That was the era of the personality posters. Were you not entirely comfortable being part of that phenomenon?

LYNDA CARTER:
Oh, no, no, no Those posters were okay with me.

PCC:
They were certainly popular.

LYNDA CARTER:
Yeah, they were popular. And, it was that era. And my poster did well. And, so, yeah that was all cool. I haven’t even thought about those posters in ages.

PCC:
It must be gratifying, looking back now, to know you were pioneering, in terms of women action heroes on TV.

LYNDA CARTER:
Absolutely. It was in my mind that I did not want the character to be predatory. I don’t think Wonder Woman really thought so much about herself being all that. She just did what she did. And that’s why women like her... and why they still like her. She wasn’t trying to be all that.

PCC:
What do you think about having a new version of ‘Wonder Woman’ from David E. Kelley?

LYNDA CARTER:
I think it’s great. I’m really looking forward to seeing it. I think it will be very cool. I’ve spoken to him a couple of times and who knows? Maybe I’ll end up in it. I can’t tell.

PCC:
Wonder Woman fans would love that. When you have that kind of a hit, you’re always identified with the role, but you haven’t let yourself be confined by that role. Is that something you had to work against?

LYNDA CARTER:
No, I think, really, by not working against it, by embracing it... You know, there’s the old adage that what you resist, persists. And I’ve never tried to resist it. It would be futile anyway. So I’ve embraced it. And it’s a way to connect with people. People like to tell me their stories. And she’s a beloved character. And I totally recognize that. I feel the same way about her. I like her very much.

PCC:
It must have helped, being able to do a lot of TV variety appearances with your singing.

LYNDA CARTER:
Yes, without question. It took my career to an entirely different level.

PCC:
And you had a lot of success in TV movies. Playing Rita Hayworth in a biopic, was that an unusual challenge?

LYNDA CARTER:
Yeah the dancing was the challenge. She was so multitalented. I would wear these red wigs and all of that. It was pretty cool. All those TV movies that I did were pretty nice to do.

I have to say that playing a bad guy is more fun. I played a good guy all the time and I had a chance, on a double-episode of ‘Law and Order’ I did, to play a bad guy, which was a lot of fun.

PCC:
What about your other series, was that trying to catch lightning in a bottle again?

LYNDA CARTER:
No. Well, I suppose in a way you could say that. But you do your work and you hope it’s successful. Unless you’re doing all of the writing and producing of it and such, there is not a lot of control you have over how it ends up and how it’s promoted and what people will like.

When I did ‘Partners in Crime,’ I’d just gotten married. As a matter of fact, I just saw Loni. She came to one of my shows. And then when I did ‘Hawkeye,’ I was away from my family. And that was really hard. That’s when I decided I wasn’t going to do any more series. I had a young family and I didn’t want to be away from them.

PCC:
Is there a less well known role you wish people would rediscover on DVD?

LYNDA CARTER:
I don’t know. That’s something I’ve never really thought of. I guess I’m always focused on what I’m doing in the moment. And whatever I did in the past, is just what I did. Moving forward, I think that’s where my head is. I don’t dwell a lot on that. In fact, I haven’t even thought of those movies in a long time.

PCC:
You have such a healthy perspective on things. Were there aspects of celebrity that were difficult for you to handle?

LYNDA CARTER:
I didn’t expose my children to much of it, of the fan-type of thing. I mean, people recognize me, but I never really, not until they were much older, did they ever go to a premiere or anything like that. So yeah, I think I’ve had a pretty healthy... children will do that to you. [Laughs] They keep your feet on the ground.

PCC:
So what have been the greatest satisfactions for your, career-wise? And what have been the greatest challenges?

LYNDA CARTER:
I would have to say that the specials, the five specials I did for CBS, were the great satisfactions. Those were really a blast to do. I had an amazing time doing those.

When it’s your work, it’s just your work. It’s what you do. And I’ve now been doing it for much longer than I wasn’t doing it. I’ve been at this now since I was 14 years old, which is a long time. And so, it’s always been a part of my life. I don’t know anything else, but performing and writing and acting.

I think, if there are any challenges, it would be really, kind of determined by the effect that celebrity has on your family and friends, because, if you’re with friends, people tend to ignore everyone that you’re with. And then your friends just have to sit around, while you’re talking to strangers. So, if you’re in the middle of a conversation and someone comes up to you in a restaurant and you get up to talk to them, and they’ve got something that they want to say, and all of that, I try to deal with it in a way that doesn’t make the people I’m with disappear. So usually, if I’m in a restaurant, I’ll say, ‘If you don’t mind, I’m with my family right now. I’ll be happy to do it on my way out.’ If they can wait, great.

PCC:
You have your priorities in order.

LYNDA CARTER:
I’ve been around the reverse, when I’m with somebody who’s a sports figure or somebody who’s really famous and people come up and they just interrupt and I’m the one just sitting around waiting, because it’s a big deal for the person. So I get it. I understand it. And I think that the people around me are sometimes very patient.

PCC:
It must be great to be connecting with audiences as you are through your live shows.

LYNDA CARTER:
That is really, really, really fun.

PCC:
Any goals yet to be attained?

LYNDA CARTER:
I really enjoy doing the comedy. I did a couple of little things that were comedy and that was a lot of fun. So I’d love to do more of that.

PCC:
You’ve played the West End in London. Would you like to try Broadway?

LYNDA CARTER:
Maybe. You know, doing a live show of my own, it seems to be pretty satisfying. So I would be letting go of that in order to do Broadway. It’s hard to keep all the balls in the air.

For the latest Lynda Carter news and tour dates, please visit: www.lyndacartersings.com