Actually,Sonny Bono was very musically inclined,he just didn't have that fantastic a voice. ...but in the "do your own thing" '60s,I guess it didn't matter.
He worked behind the scenes to make Sonny & Cher work because let's not forget,Cher wasn't even of legal age when they met! Cher has always given a great part of the credit to Sonny for the hard work he did.
As for the show on TV,Sonny enjoyed being the butt of the joke,heck,he even wrote some of them that were targeted at him. They did it in the stage act and then on CBS.
Original point of topic,I haven't heard this new version and if it is as bad as you say,then hopefully I wont. On the other hand,I do like it when GL's music keeps reaching new people (whatevr way that may be.
Been me,later!
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Borderstone,gonna post some lines tonight!:D