Marc Bolan’s career was in decline by the time he appeared on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. His singles were failing to chart back in Britain, the original T.Rex line-up had split after the departure of Bill Legend, and Bolan was no longer working with his key producer Tony Visconti. There were also rumors of Bolan living an out-of-control, tax exile, lifestyle of cocaine and brandy, and his once svelte, androgynous frame, had ballooned into a debauched cherub.

The fans had changed too. A new generation had sworn allegiance to the tartan-trewed Bay City Rollers, rather than fantasies of Glam. This then was the background against which Bolan was first introduced to the American public on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, in 1974.

In a new line-up that included Bolan’s girlfriend Gloria Jones on keyboards and backing vocals, T.Rex kicked ass (even Bolan’s voice was occasionally flat) as they played “Jeepster”, “Zip Gun Boogie”, “Token of My Love” and “Get It On (Bang A Gong)” to an audience that seemed both literally stunned and amazed.
 

 
On the heels of my Spikedrivers post, I’d like to share this exceedingly awesome episode of Detroit teen dance show Swingin’ Time. It was aired in September of 1966 and features a terrific line-up, including the astounding Wayne Cochran.

1. Leavin’ Here - The Rationals
2. You Got The Loving Touch - Buddy Lamp
3. Do The Boo-Ga-Loo - Tom & Jerrio
4. Peace Of Mind - The Magnificent Men
5. Maybe, Maybe Baby - The Magnificent Men
6. No Stranger To Love - Charlie & Inez Foxx
7. The Harlem Shuffle - Wayne Cochran
8. Goin Back To Miami - Wayne Cocran
9. Put Yourself In My Place - The Elgins
10. Heaven Must Of Sent You - The Elgins
11. I’ve Got News For You - The Magnificent Men
12. Respect - The Rationals
 

 
Motor City moptops The Spikedrivers make an appearance on Detroit teen dance show Swingin’ Time in 1967.

The band recorded two 45s for Warner Brothers/Reprise Records featuring the tunes “Strange Mysterious Sounds,” “Break Out The Wine,” “Often I Wonder” and “High Time.”
In this clip they’re performing “Strange Mysterious Sounds,” an example of early psychedelia with some really tripped-out guitar solos.

Robin Seymour is the host, one of the nation’s great DJs for decades.
 

 
More daytime TV courtroom drama featuring rock stars!

The perfect follow up to the Judge Judy clip featuring John Lydon I posted earlier this week, this time it’s the turn of the super freak himself, Mr Rick James, to stand in the dock, on the show Judge Joe Brown.

James is there to sue the pants off guitarist Jeronne Turner, to whom he lent a guitar and amp which subsequently got stolen from Turner’s car. That’s some cold blooded shit right there, Rick!

(In case you’re not familiar with “Cold Blooded”, James’ excellent slice of minimal electrofunk from 1983, you can hear it here. Apparently the song was inspired by James’ relationship with Linda Blair.)

Perhaps not as cold blooded as James claiming that Turner, who apparently has “a little sugar in his tank” (though he has no problem with homosexuals he is at pains to stress) groped James’ butt for a period of 40 or so seconds when they were hanging out in Club Hollywood. James is still happy to let Turner call him “Rick” just as long as he pays him. He even admits at the end, in fact, that if he WAS gay, he’d marry Turner!

As ever, Rick James is highly entertaining. If you crave more courtroom action, there’s some more videos of rockers in the dock on this excellent post on the Yuppie Punk blog. It’s fairly old now, so some of the clips have been taken down, but I’m sure if you hunt around you can find them.

Thankfully, this one still exists in its entirety:
 

 
Note: I can’t find a date for this clip - anyone have any ideas? The show first aired in 1998 and James died in 2004, so there’s the ball park.
 

 
Not, of course, that I’m down with where she’s coming from, but I found it amusing, if not nearly surreal, to watch Ann Coulter give a reality check—a cold, hard, blunt, old fashioned reality check—to angry Fox News blowhard Sean Hannity:

“We lost the election, Sean!”

This really happened. Someone said this on Fox News. (Keep in mind that nearly 50% of Republicans believe that Obama stole the election.)

I loathe Ann Coulter, don’t get me wrong, but she’s not an idiot. However Sean Hannity is a huge fuckwit and this was really fun to watch.
 

 
Fox News decided that “radical left-wing Hollywood actor” Ed Asner needed to be taken to task for his role narrating a “disgusting hit piece” on rich people. In an animated video for the California Federation of Teachers, to make a point about “trickle down economics” and America’s outrageous and ever-widening income disparity, a rich person is seen taking a piss on the head of a poor person. (Yesterday Fox News decided that the video was “controversial” and invited the pathetically inconsequential Daily Caller publisher Tucker Carlson on to pretend he was all offended by it… as if he gives a shit.)

Since nothing gets Fox News viewers more excited than make-believe outrage—not even Viagra—Sean Hannity sent one of his minions to track down Asner and stick a mic in his face.

It didn’t go very well, as you can see in the clip. Via Raw Story:

The Fox producer asked Asner: “Do you remember the video? Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“I don’t remember a thing I said on it or a word I said on it,” Asner replied, “but I agreed to do it for California teachers. I approve this message.”

“There’s a part of it where talking about things trickling down and they have like rich people peeing on poor people,” the producer explained further.

“How disgusting,” Asner said. “It should be reversed.”

“So you don’t remember that?” the producer asked.

“Do you have any money?” Asner asked with a smirk.

“Yeah.”

“Can I piss on you?” asked the actor.

And… end scene.

Good on Ed Asner. He treated this Fox News clown with ALL the respect he deserved.

Speaking of pissing on people, if frat-boy dickhead Sean Hannity was on fire on the ground in front of me, and I’d just drunk a six-pack, let’s just say that I’d hold my fire.
 

 
There is no footage of George Orwell, no recordings of his voice, just assorted photographs, and of course, his writing, his brilliant writing, which forms the basis of this Emmy award-winning documentary George Orwell - A Life in Pictures.

This documentary recreates Orwell’s life through a series of imaginary film clips, fictional archive news stories, and the sort of documentary films Orwell may have made. Chris Langham is Orwell and he brings a warmth, intelligence and humanity to the role.

Best known for his star performance in The Thick of It, and his work with Spike Milligan and The Muppets, Langham has become a controversial figure of late as he was sent to gaol in 2005 for downloading hard core child pornography. He said he did it for research, for a character he was playing on a TV series. Well, you would, wouldn’t? You’re not going to say it was just for the hell-of-it or, you wanted to knock one out, are you? But Langham has served his time and accepted responsibility for his actions. However, this knowledge can make this excellent documentary problematic to watch, though Langham’s performance is superb, and the content of this documentary - George Orwell’s writing -  essential viewing.

Though this all perhaps raises a bigger question, as to whether creative works can be viewed separately from the lives of its creators? Can we read William Burroughs without considering the senseless murder of his wife, or his use of young boys for sex? Can we read Philip Larkin’s poetry without thinking about his racism? Or, look at Eric Gill’s vast output - from religious sculpture to typeface - without thinking he sexually abused his daughters and fucked the family pets? Unlike these reprobates, Langham has served his time, and all we can do is to be aware of what has happened, before choosing our own response to it.

Ultimately, the issue is perhaps subverted by the importance and quality of Orwell’s writing, which Langham brings brilliantly to life.
 

 
To celebrate the impending end of mankind, the weirdos behind Everything Is Terrible! are doing the impossible! As the Mayan long count is about to run out, EIT! are going to be spreading their own unique brand of Holiday Cheer ON 2 TOURS AT THE SAME TIME! What the fuck?!

This holiday season, world-famous psychedelic soldiers of found footage Everything Is Terrible! return with another epic masterpiece! Over the last 5 years, EIT! has built upon their classic Holiday Special regarding everyone’s least favorite time of the year, piling on layers of erotic Santas, Nazi elves, misplaced sentimentalities, fistfights over toys-for-tots and an endless parade of singing kids that will surely destroy us all. As they sculpt an ever-more-abominable collage out of a millennium’s worth of VHS memories, EIT! asks: will this holiday season be our last? Will our Mayan brothers and sisters of so many moons ago be correct in their prediction of doom? There’s only one way to find the answers — and that’s to watch one more crappy holiday special. As always, EIT! will appear live to present the evening’s festivities in all of their fur-covered glory — and this time, they promise to convert every stage into the tackiest winter wonderland imaginable with all the trimmings: puppets, sing-a-longs, candy, fake snow, and a visit from the big man himself. The word “miraculous” falls short to describe the happenings of this Cataclysmic Transformation!

Coming soon to your town (or one just like it):

EAST
12-7 - Detroit @ Corktown
12-8 - Toronto @ Lee’s Palace
12-9 - Montreal @ Pub Brouhaha
12-10 - Worcester @ Firehouse
12-11 - Troy @ 51 3rd St
12-12 - Brooklyn @ Bell House
12-13 - Philly @ PhilaMOCA
12-14 - Boston @ Coolidge Corner
12-15 - Baltimore @ 5th Dimension
12-16 - Pittsburgh @ Filmmakers
12-17 - Cincinnati @ Mayday
12-18 - Nashville @ Belcourt
12-19 - St. Louis @ Mushmaus
12-20 - Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
12-21 - Chicago @ Lincoln Hall

WEST
12-7 - San Francisco @ Roxie
12-8 - Oakland @ ABCO Arts
12-9 - UC Davis @ TCS Building
12-10 - Portland @ Hollywood Theatre
12-11 - Olympia @ Le Voyeur
12-12 - Vancouver @ Biltmore Cabaret
12-13 - Seattle @ Central Cinema
12-14 - Boise @ Spacebar
12-15 - Salt Lake City @ The Coffee Pit
12-16 - Denver @ Denver Film Center
12-17 - Albuquerque @ Guild
12-18 - Tucson @ Loft
12-19 - Phoenix @ Filmbar
12-20 - San Diego @ Che Cafe
12-22 - Los Angeles @ Cinefamily

Get tickets here for ”The Everything Is Terrible! Holiday Special”—Is it comedy? Is it found footage? Is it both? It’s just seriously fucking fucked up, that’s all I know. Don’t miss this!!!
 

 
I did not know this existed, but I’m glad it does, as it has made my day a whole lot brighter!

in 1997, former Public Image Limited drummer Robert Williams brought an action against John Lydon for breach of contract and assault and battery. The suit got played out on daytime TV, in front of the nation, and the one and only Judge Judy. What the hell were they thinking?!

Lydon comes out of this looking good, despite being accused of head-butting Williams at a Japanese restaurant and firing him for no good reason, three days before an American tour. Williams protests that he did not want to share a room with two other musicians while on the tour, and thus was let go.

SPOILERS: Williams loses, and faces a stern telling off from Judy, who advises him that the music industry is full of strange characters unlike any other business, and that perhaps he is in the wrong trade.

Yeah, Judy doesn’t like WIlliams much, you can tell. It looks as if she takes a shine to Lydon though, despite having to calm his boisterousness by telling him to keep quiet on many occasions.

Perhaps this was the moment Lydon’s ambition as a TV presenter was born. Who knows? But it certainly deserves its place in his canon of classic television appearances.
 

 
Thanks Freddy!

Previously on Dangerous Minds:

John Lydon’s stance on drugs upsets Conservative politician on British TV

Post-Pistols, pre PIL: John Lydon interview, 1978

 
Frank Zappa talks with Charlie Rose on Newsnight in 1988 about Tipper Gore and the PMRC censorship battles, Christian fundamentalism and tee-vee evangelists.

Good old Pat Robertson—who ran for president in 1988 as a Republican, of course—comes in for particularly withering comments regarding his connection to the Iran-Contra scandal!

The entire Zappa catalog has gotten an extensive sonic make-over in 2012 from the Universal Music Group. In recent months there have been a dozen releases coming at you at a time (admittedly more than I have been able to process as yet) including Understanding America, a new politically themed compilation selected by the iconoclastic composer’s widow, Gail Zappa.