England: Thirty-five years on from Punk, and what the fuck has changed? The Queen is still on her throne. Celebrations are underway for another jubilee. The police continue to be a law unto themselves. The tabloid press peddles more smut and fear. The Westminster government is still centered on rewarding self-interest. And Johnny Rotten is a popular entertainer.
The promise of revolution and change was little more than adman’s wet-dream. All that remains is the music - the passion, the energy, the belief in something better - and that at least touched enough to inculcate the possibility for change.
Raw Energy - Punk the Early Years is a documentary made in 1978, which details many of the players who have tended to be overlooked by the usual focus on The Sex Pistols and The Clash. Here you’ll find Jordan (the original not the silicon pin-up and author) telling us, “it’s good females can get up on stage and have as much admiration as the male contingent”; the record execs explaining their dealings with The Pistols, The Clash, The Hot Rods and looking for the “next trend”; a young Danny Baker, who wrote for original punk magazine Sniffin Glue, summing up his frustration with “all you’re trained for is to be in a factory at the end of 20 years, and that’s the biggest insult…”; the comparisons between Punk and Monterey; the politics; the violence against young punks; and what Punk bands were really like - performances from The Slits, The Adverts, Eddie and The Hot Rods, X-Ray Spex, and even Billy Idol and Generation X.
1972 Dodge Sportsman Royal Van, better known as the “MELVAN” Featured in many books, Cobain Unseen, Come As You Are ETC. & Many NIRVANA documentary films. This is a very unique piece of MEVINS/NIRVANA history & truly one of a kind. The KISS Mural on the side was hand drawn by Kurt Cobain using sharpie markers shoplifted from the Thriftway grocery store in Montesano Washington. (former employer of King Buzzo) This was one of the first MELVINS tour vans & was used on at least one U.S. tour. Kurt himself was often times known to drive this van to local shows, also included are two former registration’s, one signed by Roger Osborne (King Buzzo) & the second signed by former MELVINS bass player Matt Lukin !
The van is being sold by Tad Doyle “Mitch” and the winner must pick-up the “Melvan” in Montesano, WA.
Last Friday I posted the new video from the band SSION called “My Love Grows in The Dark.” If you haven’t watched it yet, then go and do so right now. It’s a little bizarre and rather brilliant. The album that song is taken from, Bent, was available as a free download release for one month only last year, and it was one of my favorites. This year too in fact, as it is being given a physical re-release soon by the Dovecote label.
SSION, which has existed in various forms over the years, is essentially the brainchild of Cody Critcheloe. Cody is a visual artist and video director by day (he has directed clips for Peaches and Santigold) but by night he transforms into a gender-and-preconception bending performer whose live shows have been picking up a lot of acclaim. I spoke to Cody a short while back about SSION, and his decision to release such an excellent album for free. Here’s a little taster:
Bent is a great pop album. In fact, I’d say it is surprisingly great for a free download release. How did the idea to release it for free first come about?
I have always worked outside of labels, and the way it goes I’ll put out a record every four years. I’ll take a while to develop it and work out what I wanna do with it. At the time there’s wasn’t anyone anxious to put it out, so it seemed like the right thing to do. I thought if a label really wants to be a part of this they’ll figure out a way to go about this, because SSION is such a different kind of project. It seemed like a big FU to put it out and let people get it and listen to it, and I like the idea of people being able to get it, so people who aren’t even your fans can still get into it.
What has your fans’ reaction been to the download release?
It’s crazy ‘cos I think in the long term it’s gonna pay off. The shows we’ve played in New York have all been really amazing, and everyone knows the words to the songs already. It’s been instant, like this has already had an effect, an effect outside of any label being behind it to pump it up or publicize it. Everything that has happened to SSION is because of people who are genuinely interested and really into the music. I love the fact that there’s gonna be a physical release ‘cos I put a lot of work into the art work, but I could also take it or leave it. If it doesn’t work out I can still have a life. I still somehow survive off doing these things and other projects. I’m just into it as a very punk way of going about things.
But what about an effect on sales?
The thing about it is, the last record we had you can find it online for free, so why not make it available for everyone? And it’s crazy too because our other records are on iTunes and we still make money of them every month, even though people could easily get them for free.
Attention old skool hip-hop fans, there is a little seen, uh, cinematic relic from the mid-80s, the Run DMC-starring Tougher Than Leather that’s been recently posted on YouTube. You might want to clap eyes on this one pronto because I don’t think it will be there for long.
Directed by Rick Rubin, produced by Russell Simmons, with a screenplay written by Rick Menello and Rick Rubin, Tougher Than Leather is a mind-blowing mix of a blaxploitation flick and a spaghetti western. It co-stars the Beastie Boys, iconic 80s punky pornstar Lois Ayres and actor/musician Richard Edson (Stranger Than Paradise and a gazillion other films).
Run-DMC’s “Tougher Than Leather” is vile, vicious, despicable, stupid, sexist, racist and horrendously made. Call it rap-ploitation, but since it’s a pure product of Russell Simmons’ Rush/Def Jam rap empire, that’s just another word for business as usual. Sometimes there’s no difference between in-house and outhouse.
—snip—
Blacks, Jews, women, gays—they’re all fodder for this gang. Are crass exploitation and ugly race- and gender-baiting excusable because the perpetrators are often themselves victims? No, particularly when it’s done as gracelessly as it’s done here.
Dangerous Minds pal, photographer Glen E. Friedman had this to say on his blog this morning:
If you’ve never seen this fictional 1988 “student film” of Rick Rubin’s then you must ASAP, especially If you are a fan of Run-DMC, The Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin, or Def Jam during the early years, (there’s also a classic Junk Yard band performance at a backyard party, and Slick Rick to name a few.)
I have no idea how long Tougher Than Leather will last on YouTube, and it’s not on DVD as far as I know, but it’s a classic, tasteless epic, that needs to be seen to be believed. It actually played in theaters to riots. Some great cameo’s too (Rick’s dad, Russell Simmons dad [RIP] who put in two of the greatest performances in the film, to name a few, besides the infamous Richard Edson, and Lois Ayres, George Drakoulias and I running down the street for a hot second at around the one hour mark too).
If you live in lower Manhattan you may also recognize some of the locations all within a walk from the original Def Jam offices at 298 Elizabeth street. I shot some stills on the film that I’ll add below (the poster up top was based on one of my photos as well.)
Enjoy, I know you will. I’m re-watching, after not seeing it for over 20 years, as i’m putting together this post, and it’s blowing my mind.
When this film was shot, in 1986, I actually lived two blocks away from the Def Jam office (I was on Elizabeth and Spring, Def Jam’s HQ was just north of Houston Street in a little house between tenement buildings). It’s difficult to imagine this now, but 25-years ago that neighborhood was so full of crack dealers that I carried a switchblade with me at all times (My rent was $250 for what would rent for $2500, or more, today).
A roommate of mine, who didn’t actually live in the apartment, he just used it as a photography studio, also shot some set stills for Tougher Than Leather . I came home from work one day, still wearing the ridiculous Von Trapp family-esque uniform of a restaurant where I was working at the time. Usually I changed right after my shift, but that day I was too lazy and just wore it home on the subway. With my key still in the door, the three members of Run DMC turned and looked at me like I was a strangely-dressed bug. I recall quickly changing into my normal clothes and slipping out to let them finish, mortified at what they saw me wearing. True story and one I can tell better in person, but it’s more embarrassing than this version!
The New York Dolls deranging the airwaves in 1975.
1. (There’s Gonna Be a) Showdown
2. Stranded in the Jungle
3. Trash
4. Chatterbox
5. Don’t You Start Me Talking
6. Personality Crisis
The shock heard around the block…the rest of the world didn’t get it. But don’t blame me. I bought tickets for their show at a strip joint in Boulder, Colorado but the Dolls canceled. Not enough advance ticket sales. The hippies and mountain climbers were too busy smoking dope and waiting for Poco to pull into town.
In 1993, legendary avant-jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock accepted a gig (along with drummer Lance Carter) doing music for the Cartoon Network’s Space Ghost Coast To Coast. The combination of Sharrock’s “futuristic electronic folk music” and the surreal sensibilities of Space Ghost’s creators melded beautifully. Sadly, Sharrock died of a heart attack at the age of 53 during the show’s first season. In 1996, the show paid tribute to Sharrock in fittingly offbeat fashion.
In this very special episode, Thurston Moore incarnates one Fred Cracklin in a brief non-sensical cameo which is but a pretext to pay homage to the great avant-noise-jazz-blues guitar player Sonny Sharrock, who had recently expired. If the Coast to Coast series is bizarre for any standards of good TV conduct, the Sharrock episode is particularly strange in that its plot is a lame excuse to pay tribute to the musician and listen to several minutes of his ethereal noise-jazz guitar, thinly framed by some silly jokes between the Ghost and his adorable sidekicks.” - Sound Of Eye.
Twelve minutes in which television touches on the sublime.
I’m dating a guy who refuses to give up on his dreams of rock stardom. While it’s admirable in a way, I need a little bit more stability if we’re going to make this work. How can I gently break this to him?
Don’t you dare say anything to him about giving up his dream. You’re not the right person for him. Never ask someone to give up on their dream just so you can feel more stable. It’s his choice and his choice alone, no matter how ridiculous his dream may seem to you, or to society, or even to himself. Dreams make humans into self-realized individuals. Your only responsibility is to love everything about him, including his dreams. The idea of “making this work” sounds more like a way to make his life more boring and predictable. At worst, it’s a genuine sadistic desire to control someone else because your own life feels out of control — or a cruel need to dominate and break someone’s spirit for the sake of your own peace of mind. Look for stability and peace of mind inside yourself, and not in your relationships or the dreams of others.
I’ll leave it at that (with thanks to Nickie McGowan.)
More than an artist, Duggie Fields has been an Art Movement over the past 5 decades. His paintings, films, animation, photography, music, and design, have been at the pioneering edge of British Art and Culture. And he has collaborated with the likes of Ken Russell, Stanley Kubrick, Derek Jarman, and Andrew Logan.
In the 1990s, Mr Fields devised a new Philosophy of Art - MAXIMALism, which he described as “minimalism with a plus, plus, plus” and “the individual use to create chaos out of order and vice versa”. As Mr Fields developed his MAXIMAList Art Works, he produced a series of short art films and music videos. This is one of those many gems, THE BIG RIDDLE from 1993, written by Fields, with music co-written with Howard Bernstein, and directed by Mark Le Bon.
Whether you were a Britney Spears fan or not, like it or not, you were forced to watch her very public meltdown in every newspaper, magazine, entertainment website, and everywhere else. I always felt extremely sorry her. It seemed like the world couldn’t wait for some new tragedy or misfortune to befall the poor woman so they would have something new to gossip about at the water cooler or post on their Myspace page.
While watching the photos of her face morphing throughout the years, I noticed her eyes. When she was young, her eyes sparkled. She was happy, but as time goes by it’s like the massed machinery of the mediadrome sucked the very life right out of this young woman. Heartbreaking.
No, Nick Cave is not wearing a costume from Battlestar Galactica in this photo, he’s just been presented with an honorary award by the Brighton Graduate Association of the University of Brighton at a ceremony held last month.
“I’m not wearing that fucking hat. Forget it. Don’t even ask.”
Julie Howell honoured by Brighton Graduate Association (Watford Observer)
