James Chance, one of the most iconic players of NYC’s “No Wave” scene, married the avant garde improvisational free jazz of Ornette Coleman to jagged, angular funk riffs that were straight out of James Brown, creating a squalling brand of chaotic jazz-punk-funk unlike anything that had been heard before. Chance and his band, The Contortions were one of the most unique groups gigging around New York from the mid 1970s until the early 1980s. James Chance and The Contortions also performed as James White and The Blacks, but it was essentially the same group of musicians.

Seen here, Chance and The Contortions perform at Max’s Kansas City in 1979. Another great clip from Paul Tschinkel’s long-running Innertube NYC public access TV show. He’s got to let his vast archive escape one day. It’s a treasure trove of the punk and post-punk era of NYC music. There’s obviously nothing else like it.
 

 
“Somebody told me you people are crazy! But I’m not so sure about that; you seem to be all right to me.”—Lux Interior

On June 13, 1978 The Cramps gave a free concert at the California State Mental Hospital in Napa. It is, simply put, one of the single greatest rock and roll moments ever captured on videotape (in this case, on a half-inch open reel Sony Portapak by Joe Rees and his Target Video outfit). Also on the bill were The Mutants from San Francisco.

One hundred years from now this video will be as iconic as The Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. But enough description, HIT PLAY AND WATCH IT, ALREADY!

Artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard meticulously recreated this event (and the video itself) as an elaborate art project at the ICA in London in 2003. Forsyth and Pollard’s “Cramps” also performed in front of an audience comprised of psychiatric patients in their “File under Sacred Music” re-staging of the infamous 1978 gig.
 

Illustration by Kristian Hoffman

Club 82, at 82 East 4th Street in New York’s East Village, was a well-known “high class” drag club of the 50s and 60s where the likes of Walter Winchell, Elizabeth Taylor and Errol Flynn could be seen. Down on its luck in the 70s, the space was transformed into a glam-rock club and later a disco.

In this clip, the New York Dolls, in drag (save for Johnny Thunders), perform “Pills” at Club 82 on April 17, 1974. I’m presuming this was shot by Bob Gruen, but I’m not sure.
 

Danny, the Elvis years.
 
Re-discovered in recent years via his viral video of the Abba-esque atrocity “I Want To Love You Tender”, Finnish pop star Danny (Ilkka Lipsanen) could plumb the dark side as well as perform sugar-coated fluff. In this video, Danny channels Jim Morrison as he sings apocalyptic versions of “For Your Love” and “House Of The Rising Sun” while being whipped by leather-clad Louise Brooks look-a-likes and beaten by a bunch of shaggy-haired punks.

Somewhere between The Lizard King and Bobby Sherman flails the enigmatic and oh-so silly Danny. Let the “wiolence” begin. 
 

 
When I posted the Lemmy needlepoint cross stitch yesterday by Defiant Damsel, I somehow missed the above Pepsi cross stitch. It’s still available for $35.00 + shipping.

And if you’re feeling really adventurous, there’s a Henry Rollins portrait pattern for $6.00.

Update:

 
Dangerous Minds reader Chris Bickel says, “This is a picture of me with Mary Woronov taken just last weekend. When I asked her if I could get a picture of her handing me a Pepsi, she knew instantly what I was referring to.”

“Hey Mike - your Mom gave *ME* a Pepsi.”

 
A few pages of Nick Cave’s artwork, as culled from his notebooks, posted over at the Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds site.

Images from Nick Cave Collection, the Arts Centre, Melbourne.
 

Notebook known as ‘Sacred and Profane’, 1985
 

Pages from the notebook known as ‘Sacred and Profane’, 1985
 
More from Mr. Cave, after the jump…
 

Portrait of Stevie Wonder in 1974 by Al Satterwhite

Classic—absolutely smokin’—set from Stevie Wonder at the height of his powers in 1974, on the German TV show Musikladen.

The quality here is outstanding and in this age of pressing a button to make music, the musicianship on display is all the more impressive.

Song list:
1. Jam
2. Contusion
3. Higher Ground
4. Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing
5. I Can See The Sun In Late December
6. He’s Misstra Know-It-All
7. Living For The City
8. Superstition

The whole show is great, but by the time they’re playing “Superstition,” Wonder and his band achieves lift-off.
 

 
Directed by Tim Pope, Soft Cell’s Sex Dwarf video, released to promote their debut album, created quite a scandal in 1981. Claiming it was pornographic, British police actually confiscated copies of the video. It was banned from MTV at the time and has been banned from YouTube…though it pops up now and then.
 
The Sex Dwarf clip reminds me of the films of Jack Smith and The Kuchar Brothers, mashed up with Texas Chainsaw Massacre: a Bacchanalian group grope full of writhing bodies, hot flesh and a chainsaw. Enjoy it in all its sleazy glory. 
 

 
Tim Pope and Marc Almond discuss the making of “Sex Dwarf.”
 

 
A ripping New Years Eve concert from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers taped in Santa Monica, CA in 1978.

My first ever concert was seeing Tom Petty on April 19, 1977 in Wheeling, WV when I was eleven years old. The Heartbreakers—who were in the charts at the time with their second album and the “I Need to Know” single (which I thought was the greatest song ever recorded except for “Live and Let Die”)—were the opening act for the Doobie Brothers, who I just hated. Tickets were like $4.

Speaking of doobies, this occasion also marked the very first time I smoked weed. My friend and I were so stoned that we went to the area behind the stage—where no one was sitting as the area was roped off—and fell asleep. Yes, sound asleep at a loud rock concert in a hockey arena! The trouble was, during the Doobie’s set, during the obligatory big 70s drum solo, the drummer did this thing with an electrified gong that he touched with a “magic sword” that caused massive electrical bolts and sparks to fly out of it (out of the gong).

This was a hell of a way to wake up out of a stupor, believe me. It was obvious after the fact why that section had been cordoned off. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were amazing, though!
 

 
Here’s a clip from Acid Delirio Dei Sensi (Acid, Delirium Of The Senses), a very obscure acid exploitation film directed by Giuseppe Maria Scotese. Italian language bootlegs on DVD are available of this over-the-top psychedelic mindbender. I’ve yet to find one with English subtitles.  

While few people have actually seen the film, poster art for Acid Delirio Dei Sensi is coveted among collectors. I own two, which I purchased 20 years ago before they became priceless.