Rammellzee RIP

Artist and rapper, Rammellzee, RIP. Visit his website here.

Blitz Benefit - the art of the t-shirt

BLITZ
Blondie * Contortions * Corpse Grinders * Criminals * Dead Boys * Derringer * Dictators * Dots * Erasers * Fleshtones * Ghosts * Glen Buxton * Helen Wheels * Jerry Nolan * John Belushi * Jo Nathan * Paley * Mumps * Richard Hell * Ramones * Rudies * Senders* Shrapnel * Sic Fucks * Spicy Bits * Slander Band * Steel Tips * Stilletto * Students Teachers * Stumblebum * Suicide * Bob Rudnick

For 4 nights in May, 1978 (the 4-7), the artists listed above gathered to play benefit shows at CBGB for Johnny Blitz of the Dead Boys. The t-shirt sold to aid the cause was designed by Ramones designer, Arturo Vega. Blitz needed help covering medical expenses he incurred after getting into a knife fight on Second Avenue in the East Village. T-shirt image courtesy of 98 Bowery.

Bill Aucoin RIP

Bill Aucoin - RIP

Chicks dig the boombox

Courtesy of UAPI.

James Hamilton: You Should Have Heard Just What I Seen

Thurston Moore's new book publishing arm of the growing Ecstatic Peace conglomerate will soon be offering "James Hamilton: You Should Have Heard Just What I Seen". From the looks of it, this is a wonderful & eclectic collection of music photography shot beginning in the New York music scene of the 1960's, and covers as wide a swathe of music as one could hope to see from one photographer.

James Hamilton’s portraits of music world luminaries, reveal a previously unearthed master photographer, with compelling and rarely seen images of visionaries and artists from Madonna and Nico to Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. This very first book devoted to James Hamilton’s music photography unveils a treasure trove of arresting images, previously unpublished, or available until now only fleetingly in print periodicals.

James Hamilton served as staff photographer for the seminal music magazine Crawdaddy! in the 1960s, before later serving on staff at The Herald, Harper’s Bazaar, the Village Voice, and The New York Observer in turn. During his tenure at these iconic publications he recorded the rock, punk, disco and hip-hop eras as they simmered in Manhattan . His images capture such emerging artists Suzanne Vega, and Run DMC posing with a young Russell Simmons to relaxed visions of Joan Jett, and poet/songstress Patti Smith with Television’s Tom Verlaine. James Hamilton’s work moves beyond the label of “photojournalism” and into the realm of art, bringing a rarely seen soulfulness to the oversaturated world of celebrity photography.

Enter the world of James Hamilton, and gain access to a secret stash of rarely seen and previously unpublished celebrity images, predating the age of the internet, and existing for years only in print archives. Peter Tosh, LL Cool J, John Zorn, James Brown, Yoko Ono, Jerry Garcia, Joey Ramone, Rick Rubin, Charles Mingus, Joni Mitchell, Sarah Vaughan are all captured with stunning sensitivity and clarity—in 300 delicate duotone images—granting the viewer unprecedented contact to subtleties of his subjects’ personalities. Hamilton visually embraces his subjects, capturing them in all of their glorious humanity, and presenting portraits of celebrity in a light that is more personality than persona.

Featuring rare and previously unpublished photographs of: Patti Smith * Count Basie * Debbie Harry * Iggy Pop * Sonic Youth * Nico * Glenn Branca * Carole King * Ronnie Spector * Yoko Ono * Tom Verlaine * James Brown * Rick Rubin * Beastie Boys * Run DMC & Russell Simmons * Pussy Galore * John Fogarty * Ray Davies * BB King * Joni Mitchell * Dolly Parton * Jerry Lee Lewis * Paul Weller * John Zorn * Joey Ramone * Liberace * Laurie Anderson * Madonna * Jerry Garcia * John Lurie * Stevie Wonder * Roberta Flack * Dusty Springfield * Dizzy Gillespie * David Johansen * Danny Fields * Joan Jett * Jimi Hendrix * Bono * Phillip Glass * Rod Stewart * Prince * Bing Crosby * Captain Beefheart * Frank Zappa * Bette Midler * Van Morrison * The Feelies * Sun Ra * Suzanne Vega * Sarah Vaughn * Sean Cassidy * Bob Marley * Bobby Womack * Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and more

Pre-order it from Amazon here.
Order direct from the publisher here.

Thanks to Ward for the word. While you're over at the Ecstatic Peace Library website, check out Party With Me Punker, which I mentioned back in March.

The art of heroin, part 2

As a follow up to last Wednesday's piece about the gallery show of heroin bags, friend of Stupefaction, Joly, eagle eye that he is, reminded me that longtime Lower East Side resident, writer, artist and historian, Clayton Patterson, has quite the collection of these items himself. He's been collecting them for more than 20 years, and back in 2006 the NY Times ran an article about him & his collection.

GENERATIONS of addicts have prowled the Lower East Side looking for a fix, and countless bags of heroin have changed hands there. The powder in those bags was quickly consumed; the empty bags tossed aside until most of them were blown away by the wind or washed away by the rain.

But some of them have found their way into a collection maintained by Clayton Patterson.

Mr. Patterson, 58, a photographer, has been collecting “dope bags” for 20 years. Some he found while walking the streets or visiting spots where addicts have congregated. Others were given to him by a revolving cast of characters who shared his fascination.

“This collection reflects a major part of the underground culture in this neighborhood,” Mr. Patterson said. “Dope dealing was one of the biggest parts of the neighborhood and one of the least documented.”

“We’re talking about relics from a Lower East Side street drug culture that is gone,” he said. “I think evidence of that time deserves to be preserved.” Continued here.

Pete Quaife RIP

Pete Quaife - RIP

Beat Jazz movie of the week - Charles Mingus: Weird Nightmare

Made in 1991 by Ray Davies (the same Ray Davies?!), Weird Nightmare contains footage of Mingus and interviews with artists making Hal Willner's tribute album of the same name, including Elvis Costello, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, and Vernon Reid. Here it is in it's entirety:

The art of heroin

The NY Times ran an interesting article today about an art show featuring some real ephemera - the small custom-stamped wax paper bags that heroin is sold in in New York City. Having lived on the Lower East Side starting in 1984, I've had some experience with these, and must admit to being somewhat fascinated by them - the names, the designs. They just might be the ultimate ephemera having no cache, or appeal beyond what they contain (or contained), or use to the people who needed what was inside.

The White Box Gallery is presenting a show based on these tiny items meant for something completely different. Below is all of the information you'll need. A portion of the sales of the pieces will benefit the Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center (http://www.leshrc.org/).



June 23rd - June 29th, 2010
Opening, Wednesday 6.23.10 7pm-10pm
Viewing Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-7pm, Sat-Sun 12-6pm

White Box
329 Broome Street, at the Bowery
New York, NY 10002 Phone: 212-714-2347
Web: www.whiteboxny.org
Admission: Free

"Collected from New York City streets over the course of the past five years, Heroin Stamp Project will present over 100 distinct stamped heroin packets. The exhibition is comprised of large-scale prints depicting these seductive, yet sinister symbols in startling detail. Blown up to monumental proportions, these images become confrontational, insinuating the complex nature of drug use, from the market dynamics of suppliers and dealers, to the motivation and histories behind individual users." Continued here.

Daily Travels - Downtown A

Detroit going blank

Readers in the Detroit area have an opportunity to see Ivan Kral's Blank Generation in July on the big screen. The flyer above has all of the info. Thanks to Kim for the tip. Advance tickets are available here.

Chicks dig vinyl

Megan Fox for Rolling Stone by Marc Seliger.

Daily Travels - Billy Paul

I'm happy to announce that today's installment of Daily Travels is by special guest, Godlis. He attended the BAM CinemaFest a few days ago, and took these snappy snaps of Philly soul legend, Billy Paul. Mr. Paul, if you don't know, has sung for many years, and is the power behind one of the definitive 70's soul smash hits, "Me & Mrs. Jones." Paul was appearing at BAM because they were premiering a new film about him entitled Am I Black Enough For You (trailer below). What did Godlis learn about Billy Paul? Paul got his start with Charlie Parker, was in the army with Elvis Presley, and was introduced to the woman who became his wife by Muhammad Ali. Top that!


Saphire (who wrote the book PUSH, which became the film "Precious") with Billy Paul.

1970 rollin' in sight

Writer Steven Rosen takes us back to June 13, 1970: His article, Pop Goes Cincinnati, marks the recent 40th anniversary of the famous Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival which was nationally televised, and included a crowd surfing, peanut butter shmearing Iggy Pop fronting the Stooges. Truly ahead of his time, this little act of breaking the fourth wall would go on to become rock legend...right up there with Ozzy's bat-biting antics, and Jim Morrison's crotch-bearing myth. Other bands that appeared that day included Mountain, Grand Funk Railroad, Alice Cooper, Traffic, Bob Seger, Mott The Hoople, Ten Years After, Bloodrock, and Brownsville Station.

"Forty years ago this Sunday, Iggy Pop — 23-year-old front man of The Stooges, a defiantly loud and grungy Detroit band — created Rock & Roll mythology at the Cincinnati Summer Pop Festival.

Bare-chested, singing “T.V. Eye,” he scrambled from the outdoor stage at the home of the Cincinnati Reds, Crosley Field, and went into the crowd, climbing atop the shoulders of frenzied fans to stand above them, like Jesus on water, held up by their sea of hands as he pointed outward. The image, captured on video and still photography (above), has become iconic." Continued here.

Foxtrot Echo Lima Tango spells Felt

About ten days ago, I mentioned the limited publication in the UK of new fan-book about the band Felt. I received my copy over the weekend, and it far surpasses my expectations. Not so much a biography, but a remembrance by fans and (some) obsessives, it works precisely because that's how the band was - mysterious...On some levels very vague, but if you took the time to listen & look, very detailed and utterly fascinating.

Order it here.

It's about $20 (shipping included) for those of us here in the States, and I got it fast. Worth noting is the inclusion of pieces by longtime friends of Stupefaction, Kevin Pearce and Alistair Fitchett (small book image above courtesy of him).

For those who care, here's the first song by Felt that I fell in love with:


And a great track from their last album which was produced by the legendary Adrian Borland:

The Germs - Live At the Starwood

I've been meaning to mention this for a while now - the folks at Rhino Handmade have issued an interesting item for Germs fans. It's a boxed set (on CD) of the original band's final gig - just days before the death of singer/lyricist Darby Crash - on December 3, 1980, and includes:

* The legendary final concert with founding member Darby Crash, presented in its entirety for the first time ever
* Unique packaging in the vein of a punk fanzine, complete with a reproduction of the handwritten set list
* Includes an 8 1/2" x 11" replica of the original poster for the show
* 22 tracks
* Released on 06/14/2010

Click here for more info & recording samples.

Command V

Command V is a new band joining together Pat Irwin (Raybeats, 8 Eyed Spy), Cynthia Sley (Bush Tetras), and film maker Rachel Dengiz. Their debut is released on August 23 via This Is Not An Exit. Visit their website, download some free MP3's and sign up for their mailing list. They're also on myspace here.

Chicks dig vinyl

Via Unusual Adult Party Items.

Manute Bol RIP

Manute Bol - RIP

Friday Ephemera - The MC5 and Stooges in Queens 1969

Signed DC over at All the Streets You Crossed keeps obsessively bringing it by scouring the Village Voice archives on Google. Today she posted the two goodies here, vintage 1969 ads for the Stooges debut in NYC, and a different ad for the same MC5-headlined show with the Stooges supporting. Click thru to her site and see MUCH more...

Sebastian Horsley RIP

Sebastian Horsley - RIP. No wonder I sold my copy of Horsley's book, Dandy in the Underworld, yesterday.

Image courtesy of Duggie Fields.

At least my customer service works

I've heard from several readers & friends that the snapshot function I have installed on the blog is quite annoying, and I've listened. Unfortunately the folks over at snap.com have not (I've written to them to ask how to get it off the blog completely and they have not responded), and the function continues to work unless you do the following:

Go to the blog (if you're not here already), and hover your mouse over one of the links with snapshot. When the snapshot box opens look in the upper right corner and you'll see a little icon for preferences. Click that and make the selection to turn off snapshot. That should do it. Let me know how that works out.

On the other hand, if you like the snapshots (like Nazz Nomad), then just keep it as is.

Thanks, and as always, I appreciate your patronage. It means the world to me.

Garry Shider RIP

Garry Shider - RIP

Tom Waits - Video and TV Hits

With the event of Tom Waits guest editing Mojo issue #200, the good folks over at their website put together a nifty little post of Waits' best TV moments...I thought I'd borrow it to post here with an added bonus cut at the end. I hope you enjoy it.

The Piano Has Been Drinking + Interview (Fernwood Tonight 1977):


Glitter & Doom Press Conference (Tomwaits.com 2008):


Coffee And Cigarettes - Somewhere In California (dir: Jim Jarmusch 1993):


On The Nickel (Live, 1978):


Australian TV Interview (1979):


Tango Till They're Sore + Interview (The Late Show, 1986):


Shore Leave (Big Time, 1988):


All The World Is Green + Interview (The Late Show, 2002):


Eggs And Sausages + Interview (The Mike Douglas Show, November 19, 1976):


Tom Waits For No One (dir: John Lamb, 1979):


Tom Traubert's Blues (The Old Grey Whistle Test, 1977):


God's Away On Business (promo video, 2000):


Goin' Out West (promo video, 1992):


Interview (The Late Show, 2007)


Closing Time (US TV, 1979):


Added bonus - Waits reads Bukowski:

Daily Travels - Uptown A Train

I know this one is blurry but she was too cool looking not to include.

B-52's in 1978

Here's some fascinating early footage of the B-52's in action in 1978. The two in color were shot in a Georgia TV studio, in Athens I'm assuming, and there are links to a couple of black & white live videos. All of this must have been shot right around the time of their record deal with Warner Bros. and the release of their first album...They were playing places like Max's Kansas City at the time. I find it interesting to come across stuff like this, and imagine what was going for these kids (because they were kids at the time) right around this. They must have had a blast.





Also Devil In My Car and 52 Girls (live 1978) in black & white.

More free summer shows

Free shows - we got 'em. Here's a couple more taking place this Sunday (Central Park Summerstage), and Monday (Hiro Ballroom) partially sponsored by an organization I'm starting to get involved with. Click on each image to enlarge.

Ray Lowry tribute show in London

Friend of Stupefaction, Josh Cheuse, announces his participation in a tribute art show to UK artist, and long time Clash associate, Ray Lowry. Sadly, Ray left us in October of 2008. Click on the image below for all of the info you'll need. The show runs from June 18 thru July 4.

New Edwyn Collins

The Quietus also brings us news of the next album from Edwyn Collins. Thank god! If you follow Edwyn on twitter you'll already know about this.

Over the past couple of years it's been great to see Edwyn Colins making progress after the stroke he suffered in 2005. Now, the release date for his next solo album has been confirmed. Losing Sleep is the first record released by Collins since his illness, and features contributions from artists including Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand, The Cribs' Ryan Jarman, Johnny Marr and Roddy Frame, and will be released via Heavenly Recordings on September 13th, 2010. A statement reads: "In the middle of a November night 2008, the urge to write songs, which had deserted Edwyn since his illness, made an abrupt return. It happened that suddenly, to his great joy. Nowadays, he thinks about songs all the time, just like he used to before 2005." Edwyn Collins plays the London Queen Elizabeth's Hall on September 23rd

And the Vinyl Villian reminds us why we loved Edwyn's first solo records back in 1987 on Alan McGee's ill-fated & long forgotten Elevation label.

Edwyn Collins before:


Edwyn Collins after:

Remember the Ruts

John Robb rightly remembers Ruts' frontman, Malcolm Owen, as well as one THE great UK bands, in a new article over at the Quietus.

Can it really be three decades since Ruts frontman Malcolm Owen died?

In 1980, just weeks after Ian Curtis’s suicide, another key frontman was dead. And while Curtis has become iconic, Owen and his band - who were already influential at the time of his death - have somehow have been nimbly airbrushed from the annuls of history.

The Ruts, who burst onto the punk-rock battlefield in 1979, were the perfect synthesis of punk and reggae, moving it on from The Clash into a tougher yet powerfully melodic place. Their musicianship was spot on and imaginative, and Owen was briefly given the mantle of spokesman for the punk-rock generation. Continued here.

Eccentric Sleevenotes interviews Ruts' drummer Dave Ruffy in a career spanning style.

Dave Ruffy’s ‘CV’ reads like a ‘who’s who’ of left field pop over the past 30 years. It includes the Ruts, Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, Waterboys, Sinead O’Connor and Kirsty MacColl. Primarily a drummer, Dave’s credits also include song writing, production and Midi drum programming.

Dave Ruffy is a teller of vivid stories; recreating dialogue in the present tense, mimicking voices and inflections, and frequently ending the reported conversation with a question to give extra resonance. He admits to digressing a lot, “just to give you extra background”. The background begins with a head spinning journey back to a time when record retailers thrived and vinyl junkies weren’t constantly answering the two inseparable questions, ‘can you still get records/record players?’ Continued here.

And don't forget, my very own interview with Dave Ruffy & bassist Segs Jennings regarding the Ruts DC uber dub masterpiece collaboration with Mad Professor, Rhythm Collision. Read it over at Perfect Sound Forever.