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A Momentary Lapse of Reason: When Dario Argento Interviewed Pink Floyd in 1987 


Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and director Dario Argento.
 
Let’s get a few fun facts out of the way before we take a look at the eight or so awkward minutes shared between Pink Floyd vocalist and guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and Italian horror master, Dario Argento. For Pink Floyd, 1987 was a new beginning without bassist Roger Waters—a founding member of the Floyd along with Nick Mason. After years of legal hassles, the Waterless version of Pink Floyd released A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The subsequent tour (which started before the album was completed), was full of challenges, legal and otherwise. When it was all said and done, the tour in support of A Momentary Lapse of Reason would be the most successful U.S. rock tour of 1987. And that’s saying something, as David Bowie’s Glass Spider tour played 44 U.S. dates that same year. When it comes to Dario Argento and his relationship with Pink Floyd, we go back to 1975 when Italy’s version of Alfred Hitchcock tried, unsuccessfully, to engage the band to record the soundtrack for Profondo Rosso (aka, Deep Red, and The Hatchet Murders) as they were deep in work on their ninth album, Wish You Were Here. This, of course, didn’t turn out to be a bad thing. It gave us all the gift that is Italian prog-rock pioneers, Goblin, who were engaged to rewrite the score composed by Giorgio Gaslini, who had previously composed the score for Argento’s 1973 film The Five Days. It would also leave room for Argento’s collaboration with Keith Emerson of ELP, who composed the insanely good soundtrack for Argento’s 1980 film Inferno

Now, let’s get back to the eight minutes of international time-delayed satellite video connection which had to be translated live in Italy and New York City. You might want to sit down because the combination of Dario Argento and members of Pink Floyd can make one quite dizzy. 

Dario Argento was perpetually busy in the 1970s and 1980s. But he still somehow found time to do a self-hosted television show in Italy called Gli incubi di Dario Argento (The Nightmares of Dario Argento). Only nine episodes of The Nightmares of Dario Argento were filmed as part of the television series Giallo. He was often joined by Italian actress Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni dolled up like Siouxsie Sioux. You may recall, Cataldi-Tassoni was the star of Argento’s 1987 film, Opera. Though it’s a little unclear exactly when this segment aired, Pink Floyd was noted to be in New York City at the time. Since the video shows both Gilmore and Mason staying at the Ritz Carlton’s Central Park location, that would probably put the filming of this magic mushroom moment sometime during their three-night stint at Madison Square Garden. At the beginning of the “interview” Argento praises A Momentary Lapse of Reason, calling the album “stupendous.” Then, Argento’s complex, esoteric questions seem to mystify both Gilmour and Mason—and the live translation, which at times is not accurate, does not help matters one bit. I don’t want to reveal any more of what goes down in this very strange video, but had Roger Waters seen it back in the day, it would have pissed off his already very pissed off self.
 

Dario Argento interviewing David Gilmour and Nick Mason of Pink Floyd in 1987 via satellite. What a world.
 

Another segment of ‘The Nightmares of Dario Argento.’

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Can’t look away: Go behind the scenes of films by Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper & more
Dario Argento’s horror classic ‘Suspiria’ and the most vicious murder scene ever filmed, 1977
First look at Waxwork’s expanded soundtracks for three Dario Argento classics
Stunning fluorescent stills from Dario Argento’s horror masterpiece ‘Suspiria’
The creeptastic ‘mad puppet’ in Dario Argento’s shocker ‘Deep Red’ will haunt your dreams
Watch Keith Emerson and Dario Argento work on the soundtrack to ‘Inferno’ in 1980
The original ending for Dario Argento’s 1971 thriller, ‘The Cat O’ Nine Tails’ (a DM premiere)
Illustrations of films by Dario Argento, David Cronenberg, Ridley Scott & more from Cinefantastique

Posted by Cherrybomb
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08.30.2021
11:41 am
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A super-cringey interview with Lemmy Kilmister & Sigmund Freud’s great-grandaughter in bed


The late Lemmy Kilmister hanging out in bed. Photo by Ray Palmer.
 
2021 marks my seventh year here at Dangerous Minds. During my time here I’ve posted over 1200 articles on everything from satanic strippers, Axl Rose threatening to kill David Bowie, puppet porn, a fringe film featuring an adult baby, and on several occasions, the subject at hand today-Lemmy Kilmister. On September 12th, 1987, Motörhead released their eighth studio album, Rock ‘n’ Roll with Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor back behind the kit. Prior to the release of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Lemmy had played a meaty role in director Peter Richardson’s film Eat the Rich for which Motörhead configuration of Lemmy, Würzel, Phil Taylor, and Phil Campbell had written and recorded the film’s ripping theme tune (which also appears on Rock ‘n’ Roll), specifically for the film. The soundtrack itself is nearly exclusively comprised of Motörhead and if you’ve never seen it (a massive critical flop upon its release, it deserves the cult status it now holds), I highly recommend you add it to your “must view” queue.
 

A still from ‘Eat the Rich’ featuring Lemmy and actor Ronald Shiner.
 
Sadly, like Eat the Rich, Motörhead’s eighth record was also a bit of a letdown for their fans, and even Lemmy has reflected dimly on Rock ‘n’ Roll alluding that it was a “waste of time” (as noted in Lem’s 2002 autobiography White Line Fever). At any rate, regardless of this blip in the vast heavy metal continuum that is/was Motörhead, the point is this—with more than a few silver and one gold record (1980’s Ace of Spades), under their bullet belts, Motörhead were a force to be reckoned with. This was, of course, especially true of Lemmy Kilmister. We’re all familiar with the notion that “looks can be deceiving,” and one should “never judge a book by its cover.” Yet, this is what inevitably happens all the fucking time. Including the time Lemmy got into bed with Emma Freud, the host of the UK television show Pillow Talk, and the great-granddaughter of the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

And, as the title of this post states, things get really weird and super uncomfortable fast, and stay that way for nine excruciatingly long minutes. The majority of the awkwardness was caused by some of the dumb questions posed to Lemmy by Freud.

Usually, guests of Pillow Talk would wear their pajamas on the show, just like Freud. As I’m pretty sure Lemmy didn’t actually own any PJ’s, Lemmy showed up dressed as Lemmy, fingers full of his signature silver rings, and got under the covers. As the show begins we hear Freud musing about how she selects guests for her show. Such criteria included being “terribly attractive,” “very handsome,” and “extremely sexy.” For lots of people, Lemmy checks all those boxes and I’m not gonna be the one to say he doesn’t because he checks all those boxes for me as well. Unfortunately, the show rapidly becomes super uncomfortable thanks to Freud’s cringey questions. Perhaps she was merely trying to get a rise out of Kilmister or, respectfully, she just didn’t do her research on Kilmister and Motörhead – the latter being a point Lemmy politely takes Freud to task for. As one YouTube commenter noted of the exchange, Lemmy managed to “intellectually spank her while whacked out on speed,” over and over again. This nine minutes from the life of Lemmy Kilmister is one for the ages, folks.
 

 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
‘Eat the Rich’: Cult rock and roll comedy with Lemmy, Shane MacGowan, Paul McCartney, Angela Bowie
How many moles does Lemmy have? Play the Motörhead trivia board game and find out
Lemmy Kilmister gets ambushed by three of his ex’s on TV in the late 90s
Lemmy alone: Motorhead’s ‘Ace Of Spades’ vocals only
Well that sucks: That time Lemmy passed out after getting too many blowjobs in 1980
Oral: The mysterious all-girl heavy metal band and their (maybe) connection to Lemmy Kilmister

Posted by Cherrybomb
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04.02.2021
04:18 pm
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Grievous Bodily Harm: Punks armed with an ax & skateboards try to destroy a Seattle ferry in 1987
11.27.2019
03:54 am
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A flier for the GBH/Accüsed show at Natasha’s in Bremerton on October 3rd, 1987.
 
The “riot” that went down on the Washington State Ferry M/V Kitsap on Saturday, October 3rd, 1987, made its way to the pages of The New York Times. The paper published a short report on the incident (via the Associated Press), detailing how fans of local Seattle band The Accüsed and British punks GBH went bananas with an ax and skateboards, destroying defenseless tables and chairs during a ferry ride back to Seattle. According to the article, when asked for his thoughts on the destruction at the hands of his fans on the M/V Kitsap, GBH vocalist Jimmy Wren responded he was “quietly proud” of what went down.

Before we get to the story itself, it is necessary to be aware of how the Teen Dance Ordinance (or TDO) passed in 1985 in Seattle contributed to the angst of young music fans during the years it governed the underage music scene. The passage of the TDO required club owners to obtain a $1 million liability insurance policy for any all-ages event. Another requirement was all underage events were to be staffed by two off-duty SPD officers, a sure-fire buzzkill at any party. Nearly every club was unable to take on the insurance policy, so underage shows in Seattle city limits became a rare occasion. Also important to note is the fact the TDO was a response to some very, very bad things happening to kids hanging out at underage clubs. Specifically The Monastery, a club/church run by George Freeman, an accused predator of Seattle’s homeless youth. When the TDO became law, Freeman referred to it as the “George Freeman Law.”

Four months after the TDO went into effect, the SPD showed up at an all-ages gig at Gorilla Gardens after receiving reports of fire code violations. The club was packed and waiting for the Circle Jerks to take the stage. The fire marshall cut the power at the club, and the crowd flipped out. As they poured outside into a freak Seattle snowstorm, they started hurling bricks and Molotov cocktails at the cops. So it’s safe to say underage music fans, especially the punks, were not feeling fond of Seattle during the days of TDO. When GBH and hometown heroes The Accüsed came to Washington during the Panic in the Casket Tour, they opted to play the gig at Natasha’s (aka Perl’s) in Bremerton, where clubs were not subjected to the rules of the TDO. And what could go wrong when 150 or so drunk punk rockers board the 1:50 am ferry for Seattle following the show along with two off-duty Seattle police officers?

Fucking everything.

According to several accounts, it all started with some sort of disagreeable conversation, which led to a female passenger to start stripping her clothes off on top of a table. One of the punks on board then decided to whip his dick out urinating in a planter or on a bench. The rowdiness does not go unnoticed, dicks out in public normally don’t, and a worker on the ferry grabbed the territorial pisser and pulled him into a large utility closet and closed the door. The mood of the crowd changed in an instant, and people started yelling at the ferry worker to release their friend. One punk got close enough to the door to get pepper-sprayed by the ferry worker inside. By now, some of the more level-headed passengers are calling for help to free their friend. The off-duty cops arrived, and then things went completely to shit. Some of the punks began to spit at the cops. The situation continued to escalate rapidly. When someone got the idea to break the glass protecting the fire ax in the wall with a skateboard, the cops retreated to the closet where their friend was locked up with the ferry worker. While inside with their guns drawn, a guy with an ax went full, “Here’s Johnny!” on the door, while others screamed, “KILL THE COPS!!!” KILL! KILL! KILL!”
 

Turn it up, man! It’s FERRY ROCK!
 
Forty-five minutes later, as the M/V Kitsap pulled into Seattle, the rioters had done about $40,000 worth of damage to the inside of the ferry, destroying tables, chairs, and parts of the asbestos-filled ceiling. Word spread through the ferry that as many as a dozen police cars were waiting for the boat to dock in Seattle, aware of the current situation on board. This sent some of the punks scrambling to hide in the trunks of cars to evade arrest.

Continues after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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11.27.2019
03:54 am
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Burn baby, burn: Did David Bowie REALLY torch his 360-ton ‘Glass Spider’ stage prop in 1987?
09.10.2019
10:29 am
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David Bowie performing under one of the massive, glowing arachnids designed by Mark Ravitz for The Glass Spider Tour in 1987.
 

“I got up on it myself. Anything I design, if I can do it, they can do it. So one day I got up in the head of the spider. Sixty feet in the air. There’s a three-foot square you’re standing on, steel pipe welded to it with weight lifter straps. Foot pedal to make the wings open up. You gotta shit a brick when you’re up there…”

—artist and designer Mark Ravitz on the glass spider he designed from Marc Spitz’s book Bowie: A Biography.

David Bowie’s The Glass Spider Tour in 1987 was his most ambitious outing since the pricey Diamond Dogs Tour. At the cost of one million per week to stage, the set was designed by artist Mark Ravitz, with help from lighting expert Allen Branton and video director Christine Strand. A glowing 64-foot wide spider floated over the stage with its legs (made from vacuum tubes) dangling from its body. Every night, Bowie would descend from the spider and a platform sixty feet in the air (as described by Ravitz above), as long as weather conditions would permit.

Once the 86-date tour hit the U.S. the decision was made to construct two additional identical stages, and a third smaller set for Madison Square Garden (which was too small to accommodate the original stage). This was necessary to avoid any complications that would prevent the set from not being ready at least three times a week. For the first date of the U.S. tour in Philadelphia, it took four days and nearly 300 members of Bowie’s crew to assemble the massive stage in time for the show at Veterans Stadium. The shows were non-stop marathons of entertainment including elaborate, rigorous dance numbers choreographed by Toni Basil. So intense were Basil’s dance numbers, a fan claims to have seen poor David vomit off the side of the stage after a particularly grueling groove session. After playing 44 shows in America, the tour headed to Australia for its last fifteen shows, the final gig set for Auckland, New Zealand on November 28th.

According to those close to Bowie, he was more than ready for the wildly successful, attendance-breaking tour to end and was planning something big to celebrate. His plan? Destroy The Glass Spider set and bury it somewhere in the desert in New Zealand.

Bowie’s story regarding the demise of The Glass Spider set has been documented in a few books including The Complete David Bowie by Nicholas Pegg (2000). The last few shows in Melbourne were plagued by terrible weather—the rain and high winds meant Bowie would not be descending from the spider, and many of the shows dance routines had to be scaled back or eliminated entirely. After the final show in Auckland, Bowie would tell the press what became of his giant spider:

“It was great to burn the spider in New Zealand at the end of the tour. We just put the thing in a field and set light to it. That was such a relief!”

 

One of the Glass Spider’s used for the Glass Spider Tour in 1987.
 
Bowie’s ceremonious burning of The Glass Spider set would become the stuff of legend, and on a certain level, it’s incredibly gratifying to think the Thin White Duke was able to exorcise his spidery demons just as you would expect him to. There are other stories associated with The Glass Spider set and its possible whereabouts, such as some of the remains being buried in a hole at the Auckland airport. Bowie bassist Erdal Kizilcay recalls asking Bowie about the set while they were traveling together from Auckland, to which Bowie responded, “They’re burning it.” At the time, Kizilcay found Bowie’s explanation a bit strange. Later, after getting confirmation from others close to the spider set situation, Kizilcay agreed Bowie’s story was probably true. This brings us to New Zealand promoter Peter Grumley—the man who claims to have recovered many parts of the Glass Spider set.

Grumley disputes the story of the set being buried at the airport in Auckland as well as Bowie’s version. In a 2015 interview Grumley asserted he purchased the set from “friends of his” working on the tour, and put it away in one of his warehouses. What he didn’t buy allegedly went to the dump. The only artifacts currently in Grumley’s possession are two staircases used on the set. Chris Davis, a guitar tech for Peter Frampton (who was a part of The Glass Spider Tour) also had some insight into what happened to the pricey stage set and backs up Grumley’s claim. Here’s Davis’ very specific “But wait! There’s more!” moment on this weird tale…

Continues after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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09.10.2019
10:29 am
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Rock is Hell: Meet GOD, the teenaged Australian punk rockers and their awesome one-hit wonder
05.17.2017
12:22 pm
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The back cover of Melbourne-based punk band GOD’s 1987 single ‘My Pal.’
 
First things first. Yes, a band actually had the balls to name themselves GOD. Although historically they are not the only band to ever do so in the name of punk or rock and roll, they weren’t calling themselves the Godz or something like that, but GOD. The difference might be subtle, but it’s there.

Aside from their cheeky name, the Melbourne-based group GOD had a short but impactful history in the Australian music scene. Though they are generally characterized as a punk band, some musical historians credit GOD for one of the earliest cultivations of grungy sounding grooves that did not originate from the Pacific Northwest area back in the late 80s.

So who exactly were this GOD? Well, they were kids, teenagers quite literally, when they got their first taste of success. Vocalist/guitarist Joel Silbersher was only fifteen when he penned “My Pal” and bass player/guitarist Sean Greenway was the oldest member of the band at the ripe old age of seventeen. In fact when it came time for GOD to sign with Au Go Go Records in Melbourne the details of the contract were negotiated by their parents on their behalf. When the single hit the stores it even included Silbersher’s home address which was noted to be the address to send fan letters to the “GOD Army” (pictured at the top of this post.) That probably made things very weird, and also pretty great back when “My Pal” was the go-to song for punk youth in Australia back in 1987. Because who doesn’t want a legion of female groupies and fans camping out on your lawn when you’re just fifteen? The answer to that question is no one, because everyone does. End of story.

GOD’s first album, Rock is Hell would come out a year later in 1988 and for some strange reason did not include “My Pal.” What it does include are a bunch of kooky-titled songs like “Tommy the Toilet” (remember these are teenage boys we’re talking about), “Worm Sweat,” and “Rok Zombi.” Despite the juvenile naming conventions I just mentioned, Rock is Hell is actually a pretty great, super fuzzy listen. There is also pretty much no doubt that the boys from down under were channeling the emerging grunge sounds of Seattle and the PNW that ring clear in the songs posted below. Sadly, they would disband shortly before the release of their second and final record, 1989’s For Lovers Only which, while different sounding from their debut, really isn’t half bad either. I’ve included fantastic live footage of the band performing “My Pal” and a few other songs from both albums, as well as an adorable interview with GOD from 1988 where they talk about adjusting to their new-found fame in which vocalist Joel Silbersher is still wearing his braces. Awww
 

GOD!

See GOD performing “My Pal” live (and much more) after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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05.17.2017
12:22 pm
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Horrible hair, animal remains & leather: Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction talk fashion in 1987


Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction back in the day.
 
In the April/May 1987 issue of Smash Hits magazine members of Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction did a rather strange spread for the glossy mag. But did they talk about their lust for creating flesh-pounding songs about sleazy chicks, breaking the law and screwing your best friend’s wife? No. There was also sadly no discussion about gay Nazi disco dancers or stories about vocalist Mark Manning’s acid-dropping days. Nope. What the two-page spread did enlighten us to was the bizarre (yet completely understandable) fashion choices made by each of the Love Reaction’s members at the time. Let’s begin with Zodiac Mindwarp himself, shall we?

Manning notes in his little bio in the magazine that his vision for the band was for everyone to look like “monsters from outer space” thanks to all the time he spent reading science fiction as a kid growing up. To Manning, the Love Reaction had to look like they just arrived from “Planet Freak Out.” Though everyone in the band was cultivating the “horrible hair” look, Manning went the extra mile by adding animal fur to his, and who knows what else. Because according to the then 28-year-old Manning if it “looks good” you should wear it. Manning’s jacket is covered in patches including a Sonic Youth one (nice) with a bit of fox fur on the shoulders. Topping off Zodiac’s look is a Nazi SS replica hat which Manning only dug because it was a “rather striking tifter” which is British slang for “hat.”

For Trash D. Garbage (bass player Alan P. Bailey) he actually one-upped Manning in the deceased animal department by affixing the paws of a dead cat to the shoulders of his leather jacket. Garbage notes that he obtained the paws during his days as a firefighter in Canada following a failed rescue of a cat stuck in a tree. Oof. On the back of Garbage’s jacket are the words “Sex Pig” and the reason his hair was shorter than usual for the shoot was because according to Trash someone stuck a huge wad of gum in his do at a party. It was then decided it made the most sense to pull his hair out by the roots along with the gum instead of cutting it out like a reasonable person. But this is Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction we’re talking about, not the fucking Brady Bunch. And rock stars deal with problems that involve gum differently than the rest of us.

Rounding out the sleazy fashion worn by the band are a few other notable things. Like drummer Slam Thunderhide and his “Sex Machine” belt buckle which was crafted from a Triumph motorcycle, Manning’s famous bullet belt, more Nazi symbolism (it was the 80s?), plenty of pentagrams, tons of leather, ripped clothing and more leather, because pretty much all of those things are quintessentially metal, like it or not. I’ve posted the photos from the band’s two-page layout in Smash Hits below for you to wonder at as well as the Love Reaction’s video from 1987 for “Backseat Education.” All hail the High Priest of Love, baby!
 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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05.02.2017
10:18 am
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