Souperman, 1976
Germany’s Der Spiegel posted a pretty good collection of porn posters from the 70s and 80s with a detailed breakdown of each film. To see more posters, go to Der Spiegel and use Google Translate.
Oh, and here are a few I found amusing:
Flesh Gordon, 1972
More posters after the jump…
According to this ridiculous 70s ad, “Hear Muffs don’t look like headphones: they look more like a giant fuzzy doughnut with a bite missing.” They also make you look like a damn fool.
(via Das Kraftfuttermischwerk)
Here’s a great time-lapse video of a much seedier New York City shot back in 1983. Set to the sounds of Laurie Anderson’s “For Electronic Dogs,” it’s a wonderful portrait of what NYC was like in the early-80s.
(via KMFW)
Artist, Alex Holder posed with her boyfriend, Ross Neil, to recreate classic covers from Mills & Boon‘s romantic fiction novels. Alex is part of Oli + Alex the award-winning creatives behind ads for Amnesty International, Nike, McDonalds, and Brylcream.
Alex’s Mills and Boon project subverts the original cover paintings, and are tagged with barbed titles:
Sometimes we sit for hours staring at a seashell.
Other times he’ll hold me by the neck in front of the pyramids.
But there’s nothing we like more than nearly kissing each other near some horses.
I always try to look hot in front of him so he doesn’t leave me.
The photos were created as part of the W Project for International Women’s Day, and as Alex explained in the Daily Mail:
“It was my idea, I thought it would be funny. I painted the backdrops, and sourced the clothes myself.
They were shot in my studio at my flat in London with the help of my creative partner Oli Kellett and a lot of fake tan.”
Mills and Boon have been publishing racy romantic fiction for over one hundred years, and Oliver Rhodes, Head of Marketing, at the company welcomed the Alex’s homages, as he told the Guardian:
“Our covers have always captured contemporary fashions and styles from our classic 1960s book jackets to our newest range, Riva. It’s great to see that Mills & Boon’s iconic covers continue to inspire the art world.”
Legendary disco and soul vocalist Loleatta Holloway passed away last night in Chicago, after a short illness. She was 64.
While the title “Queen of Disco” may be hotly contended by Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor and even Sylvester, for many it is Loleatta Holloway who is rightfully wears the crown.
Holloway started her career in the early Seventies on the label Aware, working on gospel-tinged funk with her husband Fred Smith, before moving on to work extensively with Salsoul Records/MFSB producer Norman Harris and writer/producer Dan Hartman. She released a string of cult hits on the label, and provided vocals for the in-house Salsoul Orchestra. Though these were never big commercially at the time, they have since gone on to define their era and the disco genre itself. So much so that Holloway has become one of the most sampled artists of all time. Producers have been known to make entire tracks out of her throw-away yet distinctive ad libs, and some (like Black Box and Marky Mark) have turned these into huge global hits.
There is practically no studio quality footage of Holloway performing live on YouTube, though there are some mobile phone recordings of her recent live appearances. We’ll just have to settle for this - a fleeting appearance in a TV spot for a Salsoul 2LP set, mixed by the dj Walter Gibbons. Rest in peace Loleatta Holloway, one of the best voices in popular music!
Loleatta Holloway - “Dreaming”
Loleatta Holloway -“Catch Me On The Rebound” (Dimitiri From Paris Edit)
Loleatta Hollway - “Only A Fool”
Loleatta Holloway - “Hit And Run” (12” Mix)
Seminal post-punk disco-afro-funk act Pigbag have reformed for a special one-off gig on Saturday at London’s Jazz Café. Best known for their smash hit “Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag”, the band were signed to the seminal Y Records in the 80s, and had other minor hits with “Dr Heckle and Mr Jive” and “Sunny Day”. From the press release:
The new line-up features original members Chris Lee on trumpet (who’s also played with the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl), Ollie Moore on saxes (Neneh Cherry, The Abyssinians) and drummer Kofi Adu (Osibisa, Mulato Astatke). New converts are the renowned jazz trombonist Annie Whitehead (Dr John), bassist Mark Jay Smith (Hardware, Infinite Wheel) Jessica Lauren on keys (Tom Browne, Juliet Roberts), percussionist Godwin Awala (Kush, Nana Tsiboe) and guitarist Ed Riches (Omar). This talented new line-up has been writing fresh material that fuses joyful African sounds and charged funk beats with punchy hooklines and surreal arrangements.
Perhaps a bit overlooked in the annals of punk-funk (not as cool as Public Image or the Specials, sampled by some dodgy acts) they were excellent and had a very distinctive horn-and-percussion-driven sound and atmosphere. “Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag” still retains its power to pack a dance floor and inspire a wordless singalong almost 30 years later. Here’s the band performing their signature tune on Top Of The Pops at the dawn of 1983:
More PIgbag - “Sunny Day”:
Pigbag - “Getting Up”
Pigbag recently re-issued their back catalog on two CDs (Volume 1: Dr Heckle & Mr Jive and Volume 2: Lend An Ear + Pigbag Live) through Fire records. For more info on the March 26th Jazz Café gig, go here.
Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark played SXSW on March 19 with all four original members on stage and they sounded and looked extraordinarily good. Despite a serious accident involving a camera boom collapsing into the audience, OMD managed to take a bad situation and make it better (vibewise). While the folks injured by the falling boom were being rushed to the hospital, OMD played a brief engaged set in their honor.
OMD is one of a handful of bands that emerged at the beginning of the 80s playing melodic synthesizer-driven pop tunes that had some substance to them. Along with Spandau Ballet, ABC and Human League, OMD’s shimmering surfaces and electronic beats included transmissions of humor, social commentary, politics and satire without the dour heavyhandedness of PIL or the soft focus Vaseline smeared slickness of Duran Duran. OMD’s electronic pulsation is hardwired to something warm and organic. It has heart. Thirty years after the release of their debut album, they still scintillate.
On a night in which the band and audience had been through a somewhat harrowing experience and were looking for some catharsis, OMD had about 20 minutes to turn the vibe around. Within the first couple of minutes of hitting the stage they pulled it off.
Andy McCluskey – vocals, bass guitar, keyboards
Paul Humphreys – vocals, keyboards
Martin Cooper – keyboards, saxophone
Malcolm Holmes – drums, percussion
Shot in hi def and with good audio, this video is pretty damn sweet.
From youtube user Kutiman comes this very nice tune made from many disparate and unrelated individual performance clips. Ingenious, inspired, warm and fuzzy, even. I love the variety of room sounds captured mostly by cheap webcam mics and flip cameras. Even better, the composer provides links to every clip he used. It’s tempting to make another piece of music from the same group of clips !
this video is made of videos i found and really enjoyed watching ..
there is no intention to offend anyone this is truly from the love to
music..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGVBajZdv3E&feature=related Organ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiJR9_zry-g Rim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8sHfjyAuxs Rain stick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmk6oST2ehg Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCHwRc_SUA8 Brushes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzIbPuSQ3IQ Drums
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Df5oBCbXA Saxophon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eisGn-aFVY&feature=related Piano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cEPZcvdyCk Piano 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gB0y6EfDeg Piano 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KInzY7itSaA Frensh horn 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOHcVv-iPkk French horn 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwNNQcW3gnE French horn 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J8sSXO9VWk Vocal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KcT0kIlPPQ Triangle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2r7DG8VfGI Cello 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu1m780i1Bg Cello 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDHnkGeD8QQ Cello 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdbKwsK5O7w Micro synth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIb5X9X_tPk Korg MS-20 synth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87s5V1S9IGw Native american flute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4neudwAyvAg Flute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ay-s0QZh8 Guitar
with thanks to Josh Laner
Yep, this might be the grossest foodstuff I’ve ever heard of: “Virgin Eggs” or eggs boiled in the urine of young boys—yes, you read that right—are considered quite a delicacy in China’s Zhejiang Province. From Oddity Central:
In most places, Spring is all about the smell of blooming flowers, but in Chinese cities like Dongyang, the streets reek of urine. No, the smell doesn’t come from drunk people reliving themselves in dark corners and back alleys, but from the large pots of Virgin Eggs. Called tongzi dan (literally “boy egg) they are an old culinary tradition listed as part of the Dongyong cultural heritage, similar to tea eggs – hard boiled eggs soaked in soy sauce and vinegar. The only difference is Virgin Eggs are soaked in urine.
Vendors collect virgin boys’ urine from elementary schools around the city and use it as a main ingredient for their unusual street food. Plastic barrels are placed outside the classrooms and boys are reminded to pee in them, unless they are sick. The pee is then used to boil eggs, their shell cracked to allow the flavour to slip through, then soaked in urine and boiled again. The whole “cooking” process takes an entire day. I know it sounds disgusting, but some people say they “have the taste of Spring”, while others claim “they’re so delicious that I could eat 10 a day.”
The “Virgin Eggs” (I guess it’s a bit catchier than “eggs boiled in piss,” isn’t it?) sell for 1.5 yuan (US $0.22) each, and street vendors often sell out. Hell, this “delicacy” would be too much for Fear Factor. Who came up with this? It’s so perverse.
Thank you (I think) Shade Rupe of New York City!
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.