A soul/jazz/reggae mix of “Light My Fire” covers set to some vintage grind and go-go.
1. Ananda Shankar
2. Soul Sam
3. Andre Brasseur
4. Massive Attack
5. Bo Baral
6. Spanky Wilson
7. Young Holt Unlimited
8. Boogaloo Joe Jones
9. The Soul Merchants
For more versions of “Light My Fire” and a truly impressive collection of some your favorite hit songs done by artists that may surprise you, check out Versions Galore. The curator of the site, Leopold Stotch, is doing an amazing job of putting together an archive of covers that will blow your mind.
Highlights of Debbie Harry hosting a certain late Saturday night show from 1981. The clip includes what is now believed to be the first appearance of a rap act on national US TV - the Funky Four Plus One More.
The Videodrome Discothèque is pleased to present these excerpts from the rarely seen 10th episode of the ill-fated 6th season of a certain rather popular late-night weekend entertainment program.
Fronting a marvelous one-off band, Ms. Harry offers up fabulous versions of both “Love T.K.O” (made famous by Teddy Pendergrass) AND Devo’s “Come Back, Jonee”. Chris Stein plays on both, with Clem Burke joining in for “Come Back, Jonee”.
Also included: a sketch featuring Debbie & Joe Piscopo, as well as the performance of Debbie’s special guests, The Funky Four + 1 More.
To commemorate Andy Warhol’s 83rd birthday on August 6th, the McDermott Galleries in Birmingham, England, are exhibiting a sculpture of what the 83-year-old might have looked like had he lived.
The sculpture is by Edgar Askelovic, a 23-year-old artists based in Birmingham, who spent 3 months working on it, and while the result may be incredibly “life-like”, it looks less like Andy Warhol and more like one of the two aged hecklers, Waldorf and Statler, from The Muppet Show.
“The pose of the piece is taken from a photograph of Warhol in the 60s. He is a huge inspiration to me and I wanted to make sure that I did him justice with my work.”
“I thought long and hard about what he might look like today, which led me to sculpt him without his teeth and with the wrinkles that reflect the years that have now passed. Although maybe there should also be a botox version – after all, he was a pioneer of all things new”
“I remember reading about Andy’s humble beginnings – his first film, titled Sleep, was an epic 6 hours long and all about one of his friends sleeping. 9 people attended the premiere apparently and only 7 stayed until the end – he was a true creative.” I also love this quote from Andy, it sort of sums up how I try to approach my own work:
“An artist is someone who produces things that people don’t need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them.”
—Andy Warhol on Art and Artists
Gallery owner Terence McDermott said: “The idea is that on Saturday if he was still alive he would have been 83-years-old so what Edgar has done is to use some artistic license to create his own interpretation of Warhol as an 83 year old. This wig is just as he would have worn it – a simple substitute for a cap.”
“It’s tragic to think about the life, art and advances Warhol missed out on. I wonder what he would have done with the internet, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube…reality TV?! Maybe there would even be a Warhol App?
“The thought of Andy Warhol in the digital age is mind blowing. The world was always one step behind him and it’s such a shame he is not here with us.”
The sculpture is called Andy Walking, Andy tired, Andy take a little snooze, after a line from the David Bowie “Andy Warhol”, and is on sale for $16,355 (£9,995).
Raymond Johnson, a 26-year-old man from Charleston, SC has breast cancer, something that rarely afflicts men. Mr. Johnson, who is employed laying tile was unable to afford health insurance BECAUSE IT COSTS TOO DAMNED MUCH.
Susan Appelbaum, an angel working in disguise as a patient advocate at the Charleston Cancer Center, tried to help Raymond get into a state program providing Medicaid for breast cancer patients. Mr. Johnson was denied the coverage because he’s a man and the program is only for women.
The SC Department of Health and Human Services has asked the federal government for help. But Raymond Johnson needs the treatment NOW. From WCIV ABC-TV news in South Carolina:
“Each treatment is probably roughly around 10 grand,” said Susan Appelbaum, the patient advocate for Raymond Johnson. She says, Raymond still needs several more chemotherapy treatments.
“Right now I’m stuck with these bills and I’m trying to find a way,” said Raymond, who just underwent his second round of chemotherapy at Roper Saint Francis Hospital.
Breast cancer in men may be rare, but it does happen. Statistics show one in 1000 men will get it, roughly 2,100 cases a year.
Susan Appelbaum hasn’t given up.
“He’s young. He’s working and he’s worried this could be financially devastating to him.”
She is now contacting lawmakers, trying to get the medicaid program changed. Raymond Johnson calls her his new best friend.
“I don’t know where I’d be without her,” he said.
Best wishes to Raymond Johnson. May he live long and thrive. The only thing he did wrong was not being born in Canada. Ms. Appelbaum is a fine human being for not letting him slip through the cracks of our horrible healthcare system in this country. I do hope this story has a happy ending.
The 1971 Cadillac Eldorado convertible used in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, is up for auction on eBay. The current bid is at $2,075.00.
This car was originally a light cream yellow color from the factory, and was painted white for the movie FEAR AND LOATHING IN LOS VEGAS. The car was eventually painted blue for another movie, and the white interior was switched over for a complete nicer red interior some time down the line. You can see the white paint in several spots on the car, like behind the light bezels they didnt take off when they repainted the car blue (see pic below). The convertible top frame is there but the top is gone (if you watched the movie fear and loathing, you would know why. This is the car that the top was ruined and the American Flag was tied to, as the car went ripping through the desert!
Texas governor Rick Perry seems to really go out of his way to associate himself with complete fruitcakes. There’s a curious item at Right Wing Watch today about zany churchlady Alice Patterson, one of Perry’s “church mobilizers” for his “The Response” prayer rally. Patterson works on getting African-Americans interested in the Republican party (good luck!) and is the author of a book about her career titled Bridging the Racial and Political Divide: How Godly Politics Can Transform a Nation.
Kyle Mantyla, the author of the post, is reading Patterson’s book and found this astonishing tidbit about how she came to believe that the Democratic Party is “an invisible network of evil comprising an unholy structure,”(i.e. controlled by demons) when she was listening to a sermon by Charles D. Pierce. (Pierce author of Prayers That Outwit the Enemy and the recent book, Time to Defeat the Devil).
As Chuck described ‘Saul Structures,’ my thoughts raced to politics. “Oh my God, Chuck is describing the Democratic Party!” This was the first time I’d ever considered that an evil structure could be connected to and empowered by a political party ... One strong fallen angel cannot wreak havoc on an entire nation by himself. He needs a network of wicked forces to restrain the Church and to deceive the masses. Unlike the Holy Spirit, who is everywhere at once and can speak to millions of people simultaneously, the devil can only be in one place at a time. By himself Satan would be totally ineffective, but in cooperation with other powers of darkness he erects structures to deceive and manipulate entire nations ... At the time I was listening to Chuck Pierce in Louisiana, I hadn’t given any thought at all to strongholds in political parties. If I had ever thought about it, of course, it would have made sense, but it was new information. As Chuck’s words began to sink in, I asked the “Lord, Father, what is the demonic structure behind the Democratic Party?”
Incidentally, it doesn’t look like Perry’s day of prayer and “atonement” for America is getting much traction: According to Wonkette:
“[O]nly 8,000 tragic souls have signed up for Perry’s “The Response” rally on Saturday, which is mathematically many less than the 71,000 or so people that fit in the gigantic football stadium where he’s holding it. Has America suddenly lost its appetite for asking God to solve its problems? Did an entire day of Rick Perry weeping and speaking in tongues while a cabal of hate-mongering evangelical pastors grown in jars under Pat Buchanan’s bed fling spittle full of damnation and hellfire at everyone just sound like a little too much fun?”
“The pose of the piece is taken from a photograph of Warhol in the 60s. He is a huge inspiration to me and I wanted to make sure that I did him justice with my work.” 
