This amazing clip from 1971 shows just how fucking hardcore the early Alice Cooper (back when that was the name of the band) was, a NINE MINUTE live take on their evil-sounding epic “Black Juju” performed on a Detroit-based television program, “Tubeworks.”
Oh, for the days when rock and roll actually felt dangerous…
“Clap on, clap off.” Remember those late night TV ads for ‘The Clapper’? If not, let me explain. It was a device you’d hook up to the electric lights in your room that you could activate with hand claps. Clap twice and the lights would go on or off. Zachs used ‘The Clapper’ in a very innovative way to create a lo-fi lightshow in memory of Ol Dirty Bastard and his song ‘Got Your Money”. Very cool.
Via worldsbestever
It’s been, what, two-three days since my last Bowie-related post? Well fear not, fans of the Dame, here’s another…
The gorgeous Ava Cherry was David Bowie’s mistress and lover during the mid-70s. She was one of his back-up singers, the Astronettes, along with the late Luther Vandross. In the clip below, you can see her steal the show when Bowie was performing “Footstompin’” (which later got reworked into “Fame” with John Lennon) on the Dick Cavett show in 1974. (Is it possible to be any hotter than this woman???) This is pretty much the moment where the Diamond Dogs tour gave way to his Young Americans phase:
In late 1973, an Ava Cherry album was planned and partially recorded with Bowie producing, but due to lawsuits with his-then manager Tony DeFries, the album was shelved for 22 years. The tapes that existed had some Bowie originals along with some oddly chosen covers from the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa and Bruce Springsteen. What appears to be a semi-official release came out in 1996 as People From Bad Homes
In truth, it’s not that great. I wish I could tell you it was some undiscovered gem of what Bowie called “plastic soul” but it’s, at best, a curiosity for intense Bowie freaks. The most memorable track is probably “I Am A Laser” which was later re-worked into “Scream Like A Baby” on Bowie’s Scary Monsters album in 1980. In this rehearsal recording, you can hear Bowie in the background leading the band and calling chord changes. Note the rap and the line about her “golden showers.” (I wonder if “Golden Years” has a meaning that has hitherto escaped us?)
Listen to “I Am A Laser” after the jump…
Dangerous Minds pal Taylor Jessen writes:
Do Blu-Ray players dream?... There are some truly haunting moments in this guy’s film - stick with it. You can bet George Lucas’ student films would have looked exactly like this if he’d had access to MPEG compression. I have no words for it except “fucking awesome”!
Star Wars, tripped out, glitched out.. this would look great on big outdoor screens: Here’s Mikrosopht’s Freedom to the Galaxy. There are also 27 audio files you can download here.
Public access television is a bottomless pit of undiscovered talent. This Jesus freak duo has tapped into some hidden channel of inspiration that sends them into a suburban version of the high lonesome sound. The Shaggs meet BJ Snowden.
“We’re sorry daddy.”
I know you’ve all grown tired of the “Trololo” meme, but this version brings some new life to Edward Hill’s interweb sensation. Performed on the Moog Etherwave Pro Theremin by Jairo Moreno.
Why is it so damn fun when western rawk is done so wrong? In this case, its Iron Man, or at the least the main riff thereof, as re-imagined by one Soreng Santi. The provenance of the original recording is a mystery. Sounds 70’s to me.
Jaw Dropping doppelganger Sab-Jam from Sukothai psych-rocker Sroeng Santi. Iron Man meets Yama Yama on this original composition by a musical all-rounder who produced a string of Thai hard rockers until his freakish death in 1982.
Thanks Tony Coulter !
As is (tragically) the case with the Velvet Underground, there is precious little sync-sound footage of Iggy Pop and the Stooges in their heyday, although there was a fair amount of silent Super-8 film that was shot. (A guy I know purchased an old film projector at a flea market that came with silent footage of Iggy onstage circa 1973, believe it or not. He later sold it to Vh1).
This incredible footage of the Stooges comes from the Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival of 1970 (AKA Midsummer Rock Festival). Appearing on a bill with Grand Funk Railroad, Alice Cooper, Mountain and Traffic, the group performs “T.V. Eye” and “1970” as Iggy leaps into the crowd—probably inventing crowd-surfing in the process—smearing peanut butter all over his chest. It’s one of the greatest rock and roll moments of all time and resulted in the iconic photograph above. Thank the gods that this footage exists, too.
Note the square announcer’s reaction: “That’s… peanut butter!” Years later Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys took credit for bringing the tub of peanut butter from his home in Dayton, OH and putting it into the Iggster’s hands.
In the future there will be no love, sex will be provided by robots… and we’ll all be listening to eurodisco: “Automatic Lover” a worldwide hit for Dee D. Jackson in 1978. Apparently, the robot vocals are courtesy of another one hit wonder, Baltimora (“Tarzan Boy”).
Via PCL LinkDump
Have a listen to “Moogy Woogy” by Serge Gainsbourg, from the soundtrack to Trop Jolies Pour Etre Honnetes (Too Pretty to be Honest) (great title, eh?), a 1972 French crime caper co-starring “Mrs. Gainsbourg” at the time, gorgeous Jane Birkin.
Via the always awesome World of Kane.