Mark Ryden seen here in the process of painting “Incarnation” in 2009 via time-lapse photography. If you’re a fan of his work (hand raised!) this is an incredible thing to see.
I’ve examined a lot of Mark Ryden’s paintings “in the flesh,” so to speak, and I gotta tell you, it’s always been impossible for me to figure out how he “does” it. When I first saw his work, I just assumed that he used an airbrush and was one of the greatest airbrush artists of all time. Nope, he gets his signature effects using a regular brush. Even though you can “see” exactly how he works here—and it’s fucking fascinating—after watching this, the artisan magic of what Mark Ryden does to a canvas was still very much a mystery to me. I think it’s best kept that way, don’t you?
Lady Gaga should hire Mark Ryden to do a portrait and repay the favor… After all, she got a lot of mileage out of one his best-known ideas.
Another solo DJ excursion from Richard Metzger, spinning tunes from the Monkees, Lydia Lunch, Hawkwind, Mick Farren, Ru Paul, Liam Lynch, Big Daddy Kane, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Lene Lovich, Blur vs. The Pet Shop Boys, Eels, Jeff Beck, the Dandy Warhols, Super Furry Animals, obscure 70s glam rocker Brett Smiley and more.
01. Monkees: Tema Di Monkees
02. Monkees: PO Box 9847 (alt stereo mix)
03. Malvina Reynolds: Little Boxes
04. Lene Lovich: Lucky Number
05. Lydia Lunch: Carnival Fatman
06. Hawkwind: Silver Machine
07. Mick Farren: Aztec Calendar
08. The Tomorrow People: Delia Derbyshire, Dudley Simpson, Brian Hodgson & David Vorhaus
09. PJ Proby: You Can’t Come Home Again If You Leave Me Now
10. Blur vs Pet Shop Boys: Boys & Girls
11. Ru Paul: Ping Ting Ting
12. Liam Lynch: My United States of Whatever
13. Monkees: Zilch
14. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien: Mister Bobalina
15. Big Daddy Kane: Warm It Up Kane
16. Jeff Beck: Hi Ho Silver Lining
17. Brett Smiley: Va Va Va Voom
18. Eels: That’s Not Really Funny
19. The Dandy Warhols: Bohemian Like You
20. Super Furry Animals: The Man Don’t Give A Fuck
W/S of cranes and ships along the river and docks, tinged orange by winter’s twilight. City lights sparkle, the small theaters of tenement windows, the sound of distant traffic, blue trains rattling to the suburbs.
Caption
: Glasgow, 1963
Interior Night: The Lindella Nightclub. Wisps of smoke, tables along one side of room, a bar with a scrum of customers, eager to get drunk, enjoying themselves. Backstage - a band, The Gleneagles, are ready to go on. They can hear the audience getting restless. The bass player asks if everything is okay? Over the sound system, the voice of the compere introducing the band. This is it. A ripple of applause, a rush, then the band is on stage. At the rear, a young girl, who looks hardly in her teens, her hair bright red, sprayed with lacquer, and set in rollers. She has a cold, but smiles, and looks confident. A pause. She checks with the band. The audience are uneasy, mutter quick comments (“Away back to school, hen”). Laughter. Then 14-year-old Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, opens her mouth and sings:
The voice is incredible. Little Richard, Jerry Lewis and The Isley brothers all rolled into this tiny figure at the front of the stage.
At the back of the room, a woman stands slightly away from the crowd, which is now mesmerized by the young girl’s singing. The woman is Marion Massey, and she will become Lulu’s manager.
Lulu
: (V/O) When I was fourteen, I was very lucky. I was discovered - to use a terrible term - by a person who was absolutely sincere. Since I was five, people had been coming up to me saying: ‘Stick with me, baby, and I’ll make you a star’. In fact, nobody ever did anything for me. Then Marion came along.
CU of Marion watching Lulu perform.
Marion Massey
: (V/O) She looked so peculiar that first time I saw her. Her hair was in curlers underneath a fur beret. She had a terrible cold, was very pale and wore three jumpers. But I was very intrigued by her. It wasn’t her singing;There was something tremendously magnetic about this girl. I knew she had the makings of a great star.
Cut To:
Scene 2
Caption
: London, 1964
Interior Day: Lulu performs on Ready Steady Go
More scenes from Lulu’s life co-starring David Bowie, Sidney Poitier, Maurice Gibb and Red Skelton, after the jump…
Terry Southern, photographed by Stanley Kubrick near Shepperton Studio, England, 1963. From The Terry Southern Estate.
Well, not really…
Nile Southern has generously given us permission to post another of his late father’s unpublished pieces. This short satirical piece was originally submitted to Grand Street magazine in the 1990s:
(The following is a transcript of a conversation which took place recently at Mr Trump’s penthouse office atop the Trump Plaza Hotel)
Terry Southern: Unless I’m very much mistaken, you have rather low-profiled your gayness until now, isn’t that so?
“Donald Trump”: Oh absolutely! Good heavens yes! I could not care less about it! It’s just so silly, all the fuss about it! And at this late date! Good grief!
TS: Yes, well, just what caused your change of mind in that regard?
DT (with a toss of head, half-closed eyes): Oh well, that’s always one’s prerogative, isn’t it? Or am I beginning to sound too much like Doris Day?! Good grief, I hope not! I dunno, maybe it was peer pressure—I hate that expression!—but maybe that was it. Anyhoo, Leona—my very dearest friend, Leona Helmsley—kept after me about it. “Fess up, Donnie!” she would say, “fess up. fess up!” And finally I said “What the heck!” So here I am! (beams) Ready or not!
TS: Have you been able to use gayness to advantage in your financial affairs?
DT: Oh godness no, I would never ever think of mixing my financial affairs’ no pun intended!—with my personal mode. In fact when I switch into what I like to call my ‘prancing-gay mode,’ I
couldn’t add two plus two!
TS: You really get into it, do you?
DT (quite excited.). And how! Boy-oh-boy! Bro-ther!
TS: What is your response to having been dubbed “an Albrechian yahoo” by the general media?
DT: Oh no! Who said that? Was it Gore? Gore Vidal? Only Gore could say something so silly! Let me tell you exactly what happened! He came into the Palm Court and was as cross as two sticks because I was sitting at what he considered his table! Can you buh-leeve it?!? My Palm Court, my hotel. and his table. Quite the qrand-seigneur, isn’t he? But I simply love his work! Anyhoo, I sent a case of D.P. up to his suite, so perhaps he isn’t so cross with me now! And I most certainly am not what he said. ‘Prancing gay’, yes, but not that other thing. Good grief!
[Legal disclaimer: This is a fictional “conversation” that never actually took place. No, Donald Trump did not come out of the closet back in the 90s. Chances are that if he had, you’d have already heard about it…]
File under “Quite Odd”: Comedian—and perennial presidential candidate—Pat Paulsen appears in black face, telling ethnically insensitive jokes in a 1974 appearance on The Merv Griffin Show that never aired… for reasons that should be rather obvious.
Griffin and guest actor Doug McClure (who seems a bit drunk) actually walk off the stage in nervous embarrassment, but upon his return at the end, Merv fires off a great improv’d line.
This Friday, March 25, 20011, The Society of Illustrators is presenting “R. Crumb: Lines Drawn on Paper,” an exhibition of his original artwork spanning the past four decades. Both R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb will be in attendance at the opening. On Saturday night, Crumb will be performing with the East River String Band, but that performance has already sold out.
This 90-piece exhibit showcases seminal covers and interior pages from ZAP, HEAD COMIX, THE EAST VILLAGE OTHER, MOTOR CITY COMICS, BIG ASS, HOMEGROWN FUNNIES, SAN FRANCISCO COMICS, and much, much more.
This retrospective, curated by BLAB! magazine founder Monte Beauchamp, editor of The Life & Times of R. Crumb (St. Martin’s Press), presents key pieces culled from the private art collection of Eric Sack, with contributions from John Lautemann, Paul Morris, and David Zwirner.
Society of Illustrators, 128 E. 63rd St., NYC, March 25, 7:00pm-10:00pm
Below, The Confessions of Robert Crumb documentary:
I’ve researched the heck out of this and can’t find the artist who created this amusing image of Ozzy Osbourne as JC. If anyone knows, speak up and I’ll give proper credit.
BTW, I did find a rather odd St. Ozzy Prayer Candle on Etsy by ArtsyChica. If you light it, the Virgin Mary will bring you drugs. It looks like they’re all sold out, tho.
From our friends at Mod Cinema comes this fantastic forty song collection of TV performances, promo films and some wonderful duets featuring breathtakingly gorgeous French chanteuse Françoise Hardy. I was introduced to her at party in the the mid-90s and believe me when I tell you, it was a special thrill just to touch her hand. She was in her 50s at the time, and she was still one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever laid eyes on. Talk about a MILF…!
Françoise Hardy covered more stylistic ground and owed more debts to pop/rock than she’s given credit for. Immensely popular in her native France, the chanteuse first displayed her breathy, measured vocals in the early and mid-‘60s. Her (mostly self-penned) recordings from that era draw from French pop traditions, lightweight ‘50s teen idol rock, girl groups, and sultry jazz and blues—sometimes in the same song. The songs are invariably catchy and the production, arrangements, and near-operatic backup harmonies excellent, at times almost Spector-esque. This DVD compiles rare footage of Françoise performing on French television. Over 40 songs including “Tous les garçons et les filles”, “Le premier bonheur du jour”, “Ton meilleur ami”, “Mon amie la rose”, “La maison où j’ai grandi”, “Voilà”, “Comment te dire adieu?”, “J’écoute de la musique saoûle”, as wells as duets with Jane Birkin, Sylvie Vartan, Patrick Bouchtey, and Sacha Distel.
This two-hour collection is an embarrassment of groovy goodness. And the quality of the clips is uniformly very high.
