Detroit's last vinyl pressing plant:
Thanks to Maritza for pointing this one out.
Apr 30, 2009
Apr 29, 2009
Philip Melnick photography at the Ash Grove
From Wolfgang's Vault: Philip Melnick, born May 7, 1935 in Chicago, got his start in photography as a teenager in Los Angeles in the 1940s, winning awards for his work in high school and developing a marked passion for stage production and music, especially folk music. From 1958-9, Melnick helped conceptualize the Ash Grove cabaret, and was the first general manager of the club, whose lighting, stage, and sound systems he designed and installed. He continued to help at the Ash Grove as a stage manager, performance coach, and general consultant, also photographing many of the historic folk and blues concerts that took place there. Since the Ash Grove’s closure, Melnick continued to be involved in the recording industry through the mid-’70s as a photographer. From 1977 to 2000, he served as a professor at Northern Illinois University, taking his talents into the realm of landscape photography, which he continues to explore in his present-day home of New Mexico.
Listen to shows from the Ash Grove here.
The Chambers Brothers, 1967
Howlin' Wolf, 1968
Johnny (and Shuggie) Otis, 1968
The Kentucky Colonels, 1966
Lightnin' Hopkins, 1972
Lightnin' Hopkins at the Village Recorder, 1972
Apr 28, 2009
Another statistic
So here I am, another statistic. I got laid off last week from my third job in the last 5 or 6 years overall. March '07, February '08, and now April '08. Thats the music business for you, especially in bad times. So, anyway, I don't know exactly who looks at this blog, but if anyone has any suggestions or ideas, I'm open to hear 'em!
On a different note, I was in a record in upstate NY last weekend, and had a thought. The subject of declining physical sales in music is nothing new & just seems to be getting worse. One idea I haven't read much about is - how about LOWERING prices? My thinking was brought about by this: I was in this store that has lots of great used records at very reasonable prices. Prices so reasonable that, if I hadn't just been laid off, I would have taken a chance & just bought some. Because the PRICE WAS RIGHT and they interested me. It wasn't anything I really HAD TO HAVE, but I would have taken a chance.
I remember maybe about 10 years ago being in Tower Records on West 4th Street here in NYC, and noticing that most of the domestic CD's were being priced at $18.98 retail. Obviously thats when file sharing was getting under way. I know thats when I personally started to NOT take a chance on new releases simply because they cost too much. I wonder how many other folks had the same experience? Working at Etherea last year, when the latest piece of crap from REM came out, the vinyl version was priced at $30! Personally, I wouldn't pay $3 for it, but thats not the point. The point is what if I did love REM? I don't care how nice the package is, their latest album is not worth spending $30 on.
I could probably go on & on about this, and other folks have. I don't understand & probably never will. If the price was right, I bet a lot more people would take a chance, used or new. I know I would.
Apr 26, 2009
The Specials
For anyone, like me, who couldn't be there, the reports are in on the first of the Specials reunion shows in Newcastle. They are nothing short of stark, raving mad.
From the Guardian: The moment was ... well, yes, special. Twenty-nine minutes past nine on Wednesday night, the sticky floor of the Academy was sweating like nitroglycerine, heaving with hope and beer. There were many who hadn't been born when this lot last toured: many other fans, old friends, who took a few seconds to recognise one another, what with their hair having grown back in all those long years as whipsnake jeans, RAF parkas and Attitude morphed into man-boobs and mortgages. Continued here.
Performing "Gangsters" on Jools Holland:
Performing "A Message To Rudy" on Jools Holland:
Performing "The Man At C&A" on Jools Holland:
Interview from Jools Holland:
Apr 24, 2009
Weekend visits
Some links to check out over the weekend:
1. This Ain't The Summer of Love points the way to CBGB Video of the Week. It looks like it was started by Louise who booked CB's for years. She may, or may not, have something to do with the folks who currently own the rights to the CBGB name & all that includes. Should be interesting to see what she digs up & shares.
2. The Hound has another cool post (as usual)...this one on one of my favorite blues artists, Slim Harpo. I'm a king bee...wontcha ta be my queen.
3. WFMU tells about the recently launched Billboard Magazine archives via Google Book Search going all the way back to 1942. Yowza!
...buzz a while...
1. This Ain't The Summer of Love points the way to CBGB Video of the Week. It looks like it was started by Louise who booked CB's for years. She may, or may not, have something to do with the folks who currently own the rights to the CBGB name & all that includes. Should be interesting to see what she digs up & shares.
2. The Hound has another cool post (as usual)...this one on one of my favorite blues artists, Slim Harpo. I'm a king bee...wontcha ta be my queen.
3. WFMU tells about the recently launched Billboard Magazine archives via Google Book Search going all the way back to 1942. Yowza!
...buzz a while...
Apr 23, 2009
Telstar - the movie
Modculture.com brings us news of a Joe Meek biopic in the works, Telstar The Movie.
As they say over at Modculture: You really couldn't make up the story of maverick early 60s producer Joe Meek, so we expect his eventful life and career to make a pretty impressive flick when it hits the big screen as Telstar The Movie.
Yes, we expect the works - a rapid rise to fame, weird and wonderful 60s pop, London in its swinging infancy, madness, depression, bizarre studio equipment, heartbreak, paranoia, murder and suicide. We might even get some drug taking and a touch of the accult too.
A decent cast too, including Kevin Spacey, Con O'Neill, Pam Ferris, James Corden and Ralf Little, plus a top notch soundtrack obviously. Look out for it in cinemas from June 12th, enjoy the trailer below.
That'll be June 12th in the UK at least. Keep and eye for it. Looks like it might be fun.
As they say over at Modculture: You really couldn't make up the story of maverick early 60s producer Joe Meek, so we expect his eventful life and career to make a pretty impressive flick when it hits the big screen as Telstar The Movie.
Yes, we expect the works - a rapid rise to fame, weird and wonderful 60s pop, London in its swinging infancy, madness, depression, bizarre studio equipment, heartbreak, paranoia, murder and suicide. We might even get some drug taking and a touch of the accult too.
A decent cast too, including Kevin Spacey, Con O'Neill, Pam Ferris, James Corden and Ralf Little, plus a top notch soundtrack obviously. Look out for it in cinemas from June 12th, enjoy the trailer below.
That'll be June 12th in the UK at least. Keep and eye for it. Looks like it might be fun.
Apr 22, 2009
Ponderosa Stomp coming to NYC!
This just in and its pretty exciting news:
PONDEROSA STOMP @ LINCOLN CENTER (JULY 16, 17, 19)
“A party on its way to becoming an institution.” – The New York Times on the Annual Ponderosa Stomp concert
New Orleans boasts an unparalleled, prolific musical tradition, which is still alive and jumping. Ponderosa Stomp showcases the world’s most authentic, vibrant musicians of rockabilly, R&B, jazz, blues, soul, funk, and swamp pop.
Ponderosa Stomp @ Lincoln Center is a special three-night collaboration between Lincoln Center Festival and Midsummer Night Swing that follows the mission of the Stomp, showcasing living history and thriving art, exposing new talent, reviving careers, and praising the unsung heroes who planted the very roots of American music.
Ponderosa Stomp @ Lincoln Center Events
July 16: Midsummer Night Swing
The Get Down: Soul/R&B
July 17: Midsummer Night Swing
Best Dance in Town: Rockabilly
July 19: Lincoln Center Festival
A Tribute to Wardell Quezergue: Featuring Mac Rebennack (Dr. John), The Dixie Cups, Jean Knight, Robert Parker, Zigaboo Modeliste, Dorothy Moore, Tammy Lynn, Tony Owens, Michael Hurtt, and Wardell Quezergue.
Ponderosa Stomp @ Lincoln Center Package
Purchase an all-access pass and receive tickets to all three events (July 16, 17, and 19) for $50! To receive the discount, simply place all three events into your shopping cart.
Wayne Kramer wants to share
Some interesting thoughts from the MC5's Wayne Kramer on file sharing & getting paid posted recently on Huffington Post:
To Bono and John Mellencamp and all of my fellow musicians who moan about the sorry state of the music business: OK, enough already! You're missing the point. The solution is right under our noses.
That the recording industry is in the toilet is no surprise. I don't disagree with all the arguments about label greed and lack of vision, but this is an old story now and one that distracts from the real crisis and the solution. What kills me is these folks are supposed to be smart, industry professionals and they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off wondering what the "New Paradigm" will be. How is it that they don't see the solution?
Greg Sandoval reported in CNET Digital Media on March 24th 2009:
"AT&T, one of the nation's largest internet service providers, confirmed on Tuesday the company is working with the recording industry to combat illegal file sharing. At a digital music conference in Nashville, Jim Cicconi, a senior executive for AT&T told the audience that the ISP has begun issuing takedown notices to people accused of pirating music by the Recording Industry Association of America...."
Un-fucking-believable. The CEOs of the world's ISPs are brilliant. Making billions on our entertainment and not paying a dime for it, they bring new meaning to the word obfuscate. It's the perfect crime. This guy Cicconi is playing a shell game with the public and the future of the entertainment industry; a subterfuge of the highest order that consists of a diversion of attention from the real issue. The real issue is that content providers aren't getting paid for their work.
The artists, writers, publishers and producers of all that wonderful music and programming on the Internet are going broke. The word "shared" in this context is as fine a piece of language re-definition as I have heard in my life, a masterful bit of re-branding.
If this is the new definition of "sharing," then I and some of my fellow artists propose that November 27th, 2009, be the official Day of Sharing. Every single person all over the world -- no matter where you live, what you do for a living, what your hobbies are -- now has the right to acquire anything he/she wants from any store, restaurant, car dealership or similar commercial establishment without a single penny changing hands. You want to share, then let's really share.
There is now an entire generation that has grown into adulthood believing that art should be free on the Internet. I have no problem with this idea. Let everyone enjoy the fruits of our labor, but when someone is getting paid, and it's not the people who are actually doing the work, and instead it's the folks who own the delivery system, then this is a big problem. But I don't think the problem is insurmountable. Sure, the ISPs deserve a share, but as it stands now, they're getting it all. As in every industry, labor needs to be paid or eventually production comes to a grinding halt. Labor has the right to be paid, but suing consumers will never accomplish that. Since Internet subscribers are already paying a handsome sum for their monthly DSL/cable/phone bills, the money is already available to pay for the content.
Follow the money and you'll see it's going to the ISPs! Check this out:
With 91 million subscribers in the USA alone paying (for sake of argument and based on Pew Research figures from June, 2005) $38.00 a month for DSL service, here's a simple example to help grasp the enormity of the profit received by the ISPs.
91,000,000 subscribers X
$38.00 per month fees =
$3,458,000,000.
Multiply that number ($3,458,000,000) by 12 months and there has been $41,496,000,000 generated for the ISPs. That's a lot of money -- 41 and a half billion dollars -- and I didn't even factor in cell phone fees, which is where most music downloads travel to in ring tones for a separate price.
How much would need to be added to this bill to pay for the content? Two dollars? Five dollars? Then just go ahead and give it all away. Let folks download what ever they want. Everyone is anyway and you'll never get the toothpaste back in the tube. Go to the source. It's the ISPs. It's time to sort this mess out and this is the way to do it.
I'm not saying it will be easy. It won't be. It will take unprecedented action from the government. This will require new federal laws and regulations. AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cox, Dish Network, Bell Systems et al are international mega corporations with lobbying armies and huge war chests. They will not part with a share of the pie with out being forced to do so. But force them we must. There is no other way to resolve this problem. DRM and record company policing will never find a way out of this. That's a joke that's not really funny.
Artists and content providers must join together to man up in an unprecedented way if they want to survive. Congress will need to mandate fees that pay for these rights directly from ISP fees. There is no other way this will work. A formula can be devised to distribute according to usage. (The idea that the ISPs are going to help police illegal downloads is a surrealist version of the fox guarding the hen house.)
Our neighbors in Canada are way ahead of us on this effort. They have put together a well-considered solution that is now working its way through the Canadian courts and should be adopted as a model for us. Kudos to them.
Also from their web site:
"This is a pipe dream! It'll never happen. That's what many of his fellow writers told Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais (author of "The Barber of Seville" and "The Marriage of Figaro") before he wrested ownership of his plays from the hands of the theatre production companies. By finessing Author's Rights into law in France in 1793, Beaumarchais established the simple but profound principle that creators have inherent ownership and moral rights in their creations. This idea is at the very heart of copyright. Beaumarchais' "pipe dream" became reality around the world!"
To Bono and John Mellencamp and all of my fellow musicians who moan about the sorry state of the music business: OK, enough already! You're missing the point. The solution is right under our noses.
That the recording industry is in the toilet is no surprise. I don't disagree with all the arguments about label greed and lack of vision, but this is an old story now and one that distracts from the real crisis and the solution. What kills me is these folks are supposed to be smart, industry professionals and they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off wondering what the "New Paradigm" will be. How is it that they don't see the solution?
Greg Sandoval reported in CNET Digital Media on March 24th 2009:
"AT&T, one of the nation's largest internet service providers, confirmed on Tuesday the company is working with the recording industry to combat illegal file sharing. At a digital music conference in Nashville, Jim Cicconi, a senior executive for AT&T told the audience that the ISP has begun issuing takedown notices to people accused of pirating music by the Recording Industry Association of America...."
Un-fucking-believable. The CEOs of the world's ISPs are brilliant. Making billions on our entertainment and not paying a dime for it, they bring new meaning to the word obfuscate. It's the perfect crime. This guy Cicconi is playing a shell game with the public and the future of the entertainment industry; a subterfuge of the highest order that consists of a diversion of attention from the real issue. The real issue is that content providers aren't getting paid for their work.
The artists, writers, publishers and producers of all that wonderful music and programming on the Internet are going broke. The word "shared" in this context is as fine a piece of language re-definition as I have heard in my life, a masterful bit of re-branding.
If this is the new definition of "sharing," then I and some of my fellow artists propose that November 27th, 2009, be the official Day of Sharing. Every single person all over the world -- no matter where you live, what you do for a living, what your hobbies are -- now has the right to acquire anything he/she wants from any store, restaurant, car dealership or similar commercial establishment without a single penny changing hands. You want to share, then let's really share.
There is now an entire generation that has grown into adulthood believing that art should be free on the Internet. I have no problem with this idea. Let everyone enjoy the fruits of our labor, but when someone is getting paid, and it's not the people who are actually doing the work, and instead it's the folks who own the delivery system, then this is a big problem. But I don't think the problem is insurmountable. Sure, the ISPs deserve a share, but as it stands now, they're getting it all. As in every industry, labor needs to be paid or eventually production comes to a grinding halt. Labor has the right to be paid, but suing consumers will never accomplish that. Since Internet subscribers are already paying a handsome sum for their monthly DSL/cable/phone bills, the money is already available to pay for the content.
Follow the money and you'll see it's going to the ISPs! Check this out:
With 91 million subscribers in the USA alone paying (for sake of argument and based on Pew Research figures from June, 2005) $38.00 a month for DSL service, here's a simple example to help grasp the enormity of the profit received by the ISPs.
91,000,000 subscribers X
$38.00 per month fees =
$3,458,000,000.
Multiply that number ($3,458,000,000) by 12 months and there has been $41,496,000,000 generated for the ISPs. That's a lot of money -- 41 and a half billion dollars -- and I didn't even factor in cell phone fees, which is where most music downloads travel to in ring tones for a separate price.
How much would need to be added to this bill to pay for the content? Two dollars? Five dollars? Then just go ahead and give it all away. Let folks download what ever they want. Everyone is anyway and you'll never get the toothpaste back in the tube. Go to the source. It's the ISPs. It's time to sort this mess out and this is the way to do it.
I'm not saying it will be easy. It won't be. It will take unprecedented action from the government. This will require new federal laws and regulations. AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cox, Dish Network, Bell Systems et al are international mega corporations with lobbying armies and huge war chests. They will not part with a share of the pie with out being forced to do so. But force them we must. There is no other way to resolve this problem. DRM and record company policing will never find a way out of this. That's a joke that's not really funny.
Artists and content providers must join together to man up in an unprecedented way if they want to survive. Congress will need to mandate fees that pay for these rights directly from ISP fees. There is no other way this will work. A formula can be devised to distribute according to usage. (The idea that the ISPs are going to help police illegal downloads is a surrealist version of the fox guarding the hen house.)
Our neighbors in Canada are way ahead of us on this effort. They have put together a well-considered solution that is now working its way through the Canadian courts and should be adopted as a model for us. Kudos to them.
Also from their web site:
"This is a pipe dream! It'll never happen. That's what many of his fellow writers told Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais (author of "The Barber of Seville" and "The Marriage of Figaro") before he wrested ownership of his plays from the hands of the theatre production companies. By finessing Author's Rights into law in France in 1793, Beaumarchais established the simple but profound principle that creators have inherent ownership and moral rights in their creations. This idea is at the very heart of copyright. Beaumarchais' "pipe dream" became reality around the world!"
Apr 21, 2009
Sable Starr update
A lot of folks are showing up here looking for news on Sable Starr. As soon as I see an "official" obit I'll run it. Until then, the closest thing seems to be the following, from Laist.com.
Sable Starr has Left the Scene 1958-2009
According to her friends Phillipe Marcade, Bebe Buell, and Legs McNeil, Sable Starr passed away in her sleep last Friday of cancer. She was 51 years old. Her death has not yet been confirmed by official sources, but those closest to her have been posting tributes to her since yesterday on the internet. Most people learned the sad news in a posting on Legs McNeil's Facebook, which was in response to an email sent to him from Phillippe Marcade. McNeil has given LAist permission to reprint the email, which said, "Hi Legs, Sweet Sable died of cancer, in her sleep, last friday night. I (sic) taledk to her boyfriend Bill this morning....We'll miss her dearly. Phil"
Sable Starr was born Sable Shields in Palos Verdes in 1958 (some sources say 1957). She has been known as a scenester and a socialite, but she is most often referred to as a supergroupie. Hanging out at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, she got to know musicians such as T-Rex and Mott The Hoople. It is rumored that she dated Keith Richards, Richard Hell, and Iggy Pop. Probably her most well-known romance was with Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls. She moved out to New York with Thunders in the 70s, but soon returned to Los Angeles. Their ill-fated love story is told in the Iggy Pop song, "Look Away".
Bebe Buell posted this tribute on Facebook;
She has several brain tumors- small ones. It was too late to do anything once she found out. She was not alone- she had her BF and her daughter. Her attitude was good and she went peacefully. Just went to sleep on Friday night- April 17th- and never woke up.
I will always remember this 15 year old girl running up to me at The Hyatt House in 1973 screaming "you are Godhead!!" I said "what's that?". Her reply was "Supreme Itness".
I'll never forget her. That whole time inspired the first song on my new album "When We Were Godhead"....I wish she was here to hear it.
According to her fan site, Sable Starr has been most recently living in Nevada with her two children. Starr has been quoted as saying, " It was so hard to talk about things. My life has been so normal for the last 20 years....its was fun. Although, when I left the scene, I left it for good."
Sable Starr has Left the Scene 1958-2009
According to her friends Phillipe Marcade, Bebe Buell, and Legs McNeil, Sable Starr passed away in her sleep last Friday of cancer. She was 51 years old. Her death has not yet been confirmed by official sources, but those closest to her have been posting tributes to her since yesterday on the internet. Most people learned the sad news in a posting on Legs McNeil's Facebook, which was in response to an email sent to him from Phillippe Marcade. McNeil has given LAist permission to reprint the email, which said, "Hi Legs, Sweet Sable died of cancer, in her sleep, last friday night. I (sic) taledk to her boyfriend Bill this morning....We'll miss her dearly. Phil"
Sable Starr was born Sable Shields in Palos Verdes in 1958 (some sources say 1957). She has been known as a scenester and a socialite, but she is most often referred to as a supergroupie. Hanging out at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, she got to know musicians such as T-Rex and Mott The Hoople. It is rumored that she dated Keith Richards, Richard Hell, and Iggy Pop. Probably her most well-known romance was with Johnny Thunders of The New York Dolls. She moved out to New York with Thunders in the 70s, but soon returned to Los Angeles. Their ill-fated love story is told in the Iggy Pop song, "Look Away".
Bebe Buell posted this tribute on Facebook;
She has several brain tumors- small ones. It was too late to do anything once she found out. She was not alone- she had her BF and her daughter. Her attitude was good and she went peacefully. Just went to sleep on Friday night- April 17th- and never woke up.
I will always remember this 15 year old girl running up to me at The Hyatt House in 1973 screaming "you are Godhead!!" I said "what's that?". Her reply was "Supreme Itness".
I'll never forget her. That whole time inspired the first song on my new album "When We Were Godhead"....I wish she was here to hear it.
According to her fan site, Sable Starr has been most recently living in Nevada with her two children. Starr has been quoted as saying, " It was so hard to talk about things. My life has been so normal for the last 20 years....its was fun. Although, when I left the scene, I left it for good."
Happy birthday Iggy
Iggy turns 62 today...and I bet he's happy about it. It gives me an excuse to post this cool photo I recently saw of him that I've never seen before. I love it...wish I knew who the photographer is. It comes from here.
Apr 20, 2009
Stephanie Chernikowski show at Morrison Hotel Gallery
This just in...one of my favorite rock photographers, Stephanie Chernikowski, will be having a show at the Morrison Hotel Gallery. I won't be around for the opening but will be sure to get down there to see the sights. I know they'll be breathtaking! Here's the press release:
The Morrison Hotel Gallery is proud to present the photography of Stephanie Chernikowski: "Images from the Blank Generation"
It was serendipitous that Stephanie Chernikowski moved from her native Texas to New York City in 1975 to document the music and avante garde art scene that was exploding downtown. The epicenter of this scene was at the legendary CBGB club located at 315 Bowery. This year the Tribeca Film festival is showing a documentary on CBGB entitled "Burning Down the House". directed by Mandy Stein In the spirit of the documentary, Chernikowski's photography brilliantly captures the mood of this visceral era by challenging and deconstructing the status quo via several artistic mediums. She has photographed everyone from Richard Hell, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Marianne Faithful and beyond.
Her good friend Henry Rollins published her photo book "Dream Baby Dream Images from the Blank Generation". Chernikowski has had both solo and group shows around the world and has been published in "Rolling Stone", "The Village Voice", and the "New York Times."
Stephanie Chernikowski's images will fittingly be exhibited at the Morrison Hotel Gallery located at 313 Bowery, former home of the CBGB gallery.
Preview- Friday, April 24, 2009 from 6-9pm
Book signing- Saturday April 25, 2009
Exhibit will run through the middle of May 2009
Morrison Hotel Gallery Bowery
313 Bowery
New York, NY 10009
212 677 2253
www.morrisonhotelgallery.com
The Cramps, Live - I've always loved this photo. I've only ever known it from the back cover of the Cramps "Gravest Hits" cover. I wanted so badly to be in that crowd and would spend time looking closely to detect what was happening in that room - not only on stage but in the crowd and back stage. What a shot!
And of course, the Ramones at CBGB. Mouthwatering!
THE BURNETT GAZETTE: Record Store Day
Here's a great article on coming to terms with being part of the music business (working in a record store specifically), the state of the business these days and how to handle it. Its good timing too because I've been feeling a little nostalgic recently for a record store in Nanuet, NY, that was my first record store, as well as the first place I ever worked. It was called Tapeville USA. If you're out there Lenny drop me a line.
Thanks to my friend Andy Schwartz for sending along the article.
From the SonicBoomers website: THE BURNETT GAZETTE: Record Store Day
By Bucks Burnett
What can one say on Record Store Day? Another editorial on how and why it all went wrong? A hopeful essay based on reports of teenagers buying stacks of albums at small indie shops, in towns that still have them?
There's a lot to say, a lot to explain, and a lot to hope for. It's still not too late for the music business to somehow survive, in some revised manner. But I won't go on about all that. Someone at Billboard can go on about all that. At the moment I don't care about the survival of the music business or retail or how to get people to buy CDs instead of downloading MP3s. Because I am lost in thought, looking back to the rear of my skull, wondering how this all started, my stupid pathetic love of the record store. I can't tell you what year it was, but I will tell you I was not yet six feet tall.
"Do you have 'Ball Of Confusion?'" "Why, yes we do." I was peering into a box being slid toward me by a lady, in the music department of a store called Sanger Harris. I handed the lady about fifty cents and she handed me a Temptations single. I had heard the song on the radio and had to have it. Now it was in my hands, and for the first time, I was a record owner. My mom bought whatever she bought, came and found me, and took me home. I played the record a few hundred times just to make sure it worked.
That was thousands of records ago, and thousands of dollars and maybe years. Today, I bought the new digipak remaster of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes on CD. It's a beautiful looking thing, and I found it at Good Records, a few miles from my house in Dallas. i think I'll play it a few dozen times, just to make sure it works. It's the same feeling as the Temptations single; life is worth living, because I just bought a cool record. From Sanger Harris to Good Records; forty years of buying stuff at record stores, give or take a fortune. What does it all mean? How do I sum it all up?
I don't sum it all up. I don't know what it all means. All the questions about how to save the record stores are fading, and there is only the record store: the first real record store I ever went to in Dallas, the first one I fell in love with, and the first one I worked at. I am walking into Hit Records and Tapes on Hampton Road in Oak Cliff, the neighborhood where Stevie Ray learned how to play guitar. I am going into Hit Records, and you are going with me.
Hit Records is still alive in my mind. I can still see it perfectly. A tiny shop with diagonal slats of wood on the walls. Black record bins holding about 2,000 LP's, all in shrinkwrap and priced at $3.99. One simple display presents the twenty newest albums, on sale at $2.99. Pick one up; Blood On the Tracks by Bob Dylan. To the right, behind the counter, Charles Boulter, the friendliest guy in town, smiling a smartass grin. "Hello, Alice." Charles likes to call me Alice. Behind him on the wall are a few shelves, each holding matching sets of albums, cassettes and 8 tracks. Bright lime green 8 tracks if it's the new Robin Trower, because he's on Chrysalis, and all their tapes are green.
"Hey, Charles, can I have this Physical Graffiti window when you're through with it? "Sure, just come get it in about a month, I'll be through with it." Swan Song Records are pretty serious about promoting their first release. The cardboard window is three feet tall and two feet wide, and through it are printed all the images from the album cover. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
A few months earlier, I had stormed through the front door of the store, and thrown a baby doll to the floor before kicking it across the room. I was wearing mascera and a Dallas police officer's cap I had stolen at a Black Oak Arkansas concert. "I think we may have our winner!" A guy walked up and introduced himself and handed me a stack of Alice Cooper records. "I already have these -- can I pick out some others?" "Uh, sure. Here, try the new Doobie Brothers." I looked at this guy and realized he was from the record label, and was going to push Warner Bros. product on me. "If you don't mind, I'll pick out the records." "Uh, sure. And congratulations on winning our Alice Cooper Look Alike Contest!" I spent the next half hour picking out a stack of non-Warner LP's, much to the chagrin of the label rep. Charles was very proud of me, and from that day forward I will be Alice to him and his wife, Diana.
On the bathroom ceiling is the biggest poster I have ever seen in my life -- a gigantic illustration of a smiling Captain Beefheart with a bright red background. It is about 5' x 4'. Have not seen one since. Will not see one again. Now it's on the ceiling of my skull.
Shift ahead a few months. After a quick prayer and a deep breath, I ask Charles Boulter for a job. "My dad can bring me here after school and come get me when you close." After a pause he looks at me and says, "Sure." Within a few days I would be successfully hustled by a con artist asking me to change a twenty and then a five and then a ten, and I would fail to summon the courage to ask out a girl who I still can't forget. She was a good looking blonde and she was buying Big Pink and Desire. A quick smile and she was gone, forever. Big Pink and Desire; if ever there was a set...
When Presence came out I sold an 8 track copy to a guy named Scampy who drove a white Camero. He was pretty cool about returning it the next day after it jammed up his deck. Another customer takes me to his house after work and gets me stoned, but kills the buzz by playing Rock Of The Westies by Elton John. Loser! About three months later, I am walking out the door, to go to my new job at Sound Town in Red Bird Mall, and you are going with me. Because Hit Records is closing for the day, and it is 2009, and Sound Town led to Peaches, which led to...a lifetime spent working and living at record stores. I eventually worked at Warner Bros. Records in L.A., and now own a tiny little shop in Dallas called Earotica. The Presence 8 track is $40, and the Robin Trower 8 tracks are still bright green, because they're on Chrysalis. I'm thinking of having an Alice Cooper Look Alike Contest. And I've got vinyl copies of Desire and Big Pink. The song remains the same, indeed.
I still have a business card from Hit Records and Tapes. It is a glossy black card with silver letters. In a small, average looking strip on Hampton Road in Oak Cliff, there is a small space that is still a business. Last time I checked, it was a nail salon. I can take you through that door, too, but the stories won't be the same. Because there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like walking through the door of a record store. A flying baby doll might hit you in the head.
Pundits predict the end of such things. Sales figures offer the proof, that music stores are on the way out. Dude, record stores have always been way out. I'm tired of everybody worrying about what's gonna happen to the music business. Why give up when you can get down? I'm doing every single thing I can to keep my part of it alive and interesting. If you do your part, too, everything is going to work out, in a way we can't predict. I refuse to live on a planet without cool music stores. Get busy, stay with it, use your imagination. Spend some money and put it in the hand of a real person. Stop whining and find a way to help keep this thing going. We all like to snag a bargain on amazon.com, and there's nothing like a cool MP3 in your email. But can you download a hot chick buying Dylan and The Band?
Thanks to my friend Andy Schwartz for sending along the article.
From the SonicBoomers website: THE BURNETT GAZETTE: Record Store Day
By Bucks Burnett
What can one say on Record Store Day? Another editorial on how and why it all went wrong? A hopeful essay based on reports of teenagers buying stacks of albums at small indie shops, in towns that still have them?
There's a lot to say, a lot to explain, and a lot to hope for. It's still not too late for the music business to somehow survive, in some revised manner. But I won't go on about all that. Someone at Billboard can go on about all that. At the moment I don't care about the survival of the music business or retail or how to get people to buy CDs instead of downloading MP3s. Because I am lost in thought, looking back to the rear of my skull, wondering how this all started, my stupid pathetic love of the record store. I can't tell you what year it was, but I will tell you I was not yet six feet tall.
"Do you have 'Ball Of Confusion?'" "Why, yes we do." I was peering into a box being slid toward me by a lady, in the music department of a store called Sanger Harris. I handed the lady about fifty cents and she handed me a Temptations single. I had heard the song on the radio and had to have it. Now it was in my hands, and for the first time, I was a record owner. My mom bought whatever she bought, came and found me, and took me home. I played the record a few hundred times just to make sure it worked.
That was thousands of records ago, and thousands of dollars and maybe years. Today, I bought the new digipak remaster of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes on CD. It's a beautiful looking thing, and I found it at Good Records, a few miles from my house in Dallas. i think I'll play it a few dozen times, just to make sure it works. It's the same feeling as the Temptations single; life is worth living, because I just bought a cool record. From Sanger Harris to Good Records; forty years of buying stuff at record stores, give or take a fortune. What does it all mean? How do I sum it all up?
I don't sum it all up. I don't know what it all means. All the questions about how to save the record stores are fading, and there is only the record store: the first real record store I ever went to in Dallas, the first one I fell in love with, and the first one I worked at. I am walking into Hit Records and Tapes on Hampton Road in Oak Cliff, the neighborhood where Stevie Ray learned how to play guitar. I am going into Hit Records, and you are going with me.
Hit Records is still alive in my mind. I can still see it perfectly. A tiny shop with diagonal slats of wood on the walls. Black record bins holding about 2,000 LP's, all in shrinkwrap and priced at $3.99. One simple display presents the twenty newest albums, on sale at $2.99. Pick one up; Blood On the Tracks by Bob Dylan. To the right, behind the counter, Charles Boulter, the friendliest guy in town, smiling a smartass grin. "Hello, Alice." Charles likes to call me Alice. Behind him on the wall are a few shelves, each holding matching sets of albums, cassettes and 8 tracks. Bright lime green 8 tracks if it's the new Robin Trower, because he's on Chrysalis, and all their tapes are green.
"Hey, Charles, can I have this Physical Graffiti window when you're through with it? "Sure, just come get it in about a month, I'll be through with it." Swan Song Records are pretty serious about promoting their first release. The cardboard window is three feet tall and two feet wide, and through it are printed all the images from the album cover. "Thanks, I appreciate it."
A few months earlier, I had stormed through the front door of the store, and thrown a baby doll to the floor before kicking it across the room. I was wearing mascera and a Dallas police officer's cap I had stolen at a Black Oak Arkansas concert. "I think we may have our winner!" A guy walked up and introduced himself and handed me a stack of Alice Cooper records. "I already have these -- can I pick out some others?" "Uh, sure. Here, try the new Doobie Brothers." I looked at this guy and realized he was from the record label, and was going to push Warner Bros. product on me. "If you don't mind, I'll pick out the records." "Uh, sure. And congratulations on winning our Alice Cooper Look Alike Contest!" I spent the next half hour picking out a stack of non-Warner LP's, much to the chagrin of the label rep. Charles was very proud of me, and from that day forward I will be Alice to him and his wife, Diana.
On the bathroom ceiling is the biggest poster I have ever seen in my life -- a gigantic illustration of a smiling Captain Beefheart with a bright red background. It is about 5' x 4'. Have not seen one since. Will not see one again. Now it's on the ceiling of my skull.
Shift ahead a few months. After a quick prayer and a deep breath, I ask Charles Boulter for a job. "My dad can bring me here after school and come get me when you close." After a pause he looks at me and says, "Sure." Within a few days I would be successfully hustled by a con artist asking me to change a twenty and then a five and then a ten, and I would fail to summon the courage to ask out a girl who I still can't forget. She was a good looking blonde and she was buying Big Pink and Desire. A quick smile and she was gone, forever. Big Pink and Desire; if ever there was a set...
When Presence came out I sold an 8 track copy to a guy named Scampy who drove a white Camero. He was pretty cool about returning it the next day after it jammed up his deck. Another customer takes me to his house after work and gets me stoned, but kills the buzz by playing Rock Of The Westies by Elton John. Loser! About three months later, I am walking out the door, to go to my new job at Sound Town in Red Bird Mall, and you are going with me. Because Hit Records is closing for the day, and it is 2009, and Sound Town led to Peaches, which led to...a lifetime spent working and living at record stores. I eventually worked at Warner Bros. Records in L.A., and now own a tiny little shop in Dallas called Earotica. The Presence 8 track is $40, and the Robin Trower 8 tracks are still bright green, because they're on Chrysalis. I'm thinking of having an Alice Cooper Look Alike Contest. And I've got vinyl copies of Desire and Big Pink. The song remains the same, indeed.
I still have a business card from Hit Records and Tapes. It is a glossy black card with silver letters. In a small, average looking strip on Hampton Road in Oak Cliff, there is a small space that is still a business. Last time I checked, it was a nail salon. I can take you through that door, too, but the stories won't be the same. Because there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like walking through the door of a record store. A flying baby doll might hit you in the head.
Pundits predict the end of such things. Sales figures offer the proof, that music stores are on the way out. Dude, record stores have always been way out. I'm tired of everybody worrying about what's gonna happen to the music business. Why give up when you can get down? I'm doing every single thing I can to keep my part of it alive and interesting. If you do your part, too, everything is going to work out, in a way we can't predict. I refuse to live on a planet without cool music stores. Get busy, stay with it, use your imagination. Spend some money and put it in the hand of a real person. Stop whining and find a way to help keep this thing going. We all like to snag a bargain on amazon.com, and there's nothing like a cool MP3 in your email. But can you download a hot chick buying Dylan and The Band?
Throbbing Gristle in Brooklyn
Always at the "must see" events, my friend Randy has not one, but two sets of photos from this past weekend's Throbbing Gristle shows here in NYC. Here's the scoop:
"In a move that sent shockwaves (!) through their North American fanbase,
THROBBING GRISTLE performed their first stateside dates this month since
originally breaking up in 1981. The group still includes the original
four members who coalesced in 1976: Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni
Tutti, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson and Chris Carter. These photos
were taken at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Thursday, April 16th.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldofrandsom/sets/72157617052855610/
Shortly after 8:00 PM, TG took the stage and performed their new
soundtrack to the experimental Derek Jarman 1974 film, "In The Shadow of
the Sun." Following the performance, the band did an extremely rare
autograph signing for the massive crowd. The night concluded with an
intoxicating set that included "Very Friendly," "Endless Not," "Almost a
Kiss," "Hamburger Lady," "What a Day," and the closing pounder,
"Discipline," among others.
In addition to gigs in Brooklyn and Manhattan, TG is also playing
Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the Coachella Festival in
Indio, CA.
I also shot them the following night at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldofrandsom/sets/72157617053461194/"
As always, thanks for sharing Randy!
Apr 19, 2009
Record Store Day booty
I'm not sure why, but everyone seems to like to list what they bought on Record Store Day. Not including the MC5 7" (thanks Gary), the Stooges 7" (thanks Lindsay), and the Sharon Jones 7" (thanks Rich) that I have yet to receive, here's what I bought:
- Tom Waits - Live 7" (Record Store Day release)
- Bruce Springsteen - What Love Can Do 7" (Record Store Day release)
- Bechet-Spanier 10"
- Carmen McCrae 10" (Bethlehem)
- Sandy Denny - Like An Old Fashioned Waltz LP
- Sandy Denny - Rendezvous LP
- PiL - Flowers of Romance 12"
- The Smoke - My Friend Jack LP (dbl. comp)
- Kid Ory & Red Allen - We Got Rhythm LP (Verve)
- Timi Yuro - The Amazing LP
- Flamin' Groovies - Now LP
- Black Uhuru - Brutal LP
- The Dials - It's Monkey Time LP
- Lonnie Mack - The Wham of That Memphis Man! LP
- Undisputed Truth - Let's Go Down To the Disco 12"
- Pavement - Live Europaturnen 1997 LP (Record Store Day release)
- Lee Perry - Chicken Scratch LP
- The Upsetters - Return of the Super Ape LP
- Spoon - Kill the Moonlight LP
This post made possible by my wallet, and Rhino Records & Jack's Rhythms. Both located in New Paltz, NY.
- Tom Waits - Live 7" (Record Store Day release)
- Bruce Springsteen - What Love Can Do 7" (Record Store Day release)
- Bechet-Spanier 10"
- Carmen McCrae 10" (Bethlehem)
- Sandy Denny - Like An Old Fashioned Waltz LP
- Sandy Denny - Rendezvous LP
- PiL - Flowers of Romance 12"
- The Smoke - My Friend Jack LP (dbl. comp)
- Kid Ory & Red Allen - We Got Rhythm LP (Verve)
- Timi Yuro - The Amazing LP
- Flamin' Groovies - Now LP
- Black Uhuru - Brutal LP
- The Dials - It's Monkey Time LP
- Lonnie Mack - The Wham of That Memphis Man! LP
- Undisputed Truth - Let's Go Down To the Disco 12"
- Pavement - Live Europaturnen 1997 LP (Record Store Day release)
- Lee Perry - Chicken Scratch LP
- The Upsetters - Return of the Super Ape LP
- Spoon - Kill the Moonlight LP
This post made possible by my wallet, and Rhino Records & Jack's Rhythms. Both located in New Paltz, NY.
Apr 18, 2009
Record Store Day
As if you need reminding, today is Record Store Day. Get all of the info here (or click the image below) including a list of all participating shops. Unfortunately, I won't be in the city to hit all of my usual haunts. Fortunately, I'm upstate and will be hitting Rhino Records in New Paltz where they're having a sale on used records - 50% off!!!
Apr 17, 2009
CBGB's Blitzkrieg Bop - Documentary
Thanks to NYC Dreamin over at This Ain't the Summer of Love for pointing this out. Its some sort of doc on CBGB from who knows when, possibly produced for television broadcast. Anyway, who can ever have enough of this stuff?
The Flirtations - Nothing But A Heartache
A little soul for your Friday morning. Click here to watch a rare video by the Flirtations performing their one & only hit, "Nothing But A Heartache." I would have put the video here but embedding is disabled.
Apr 16, 2009
When punk & indie film ruled NYC
Here's a nice piece on two film making their debut at this year's Tribeca Film Festival: “Burning Down the House: The Story of CBGB,” directed by Mandy Stein, and “Blank City,” directed by Celine Danhier. Besides the fact that both films are of cultural interest to me, some photographs by my friend Eugene Merinov are being used in the latter of the two films, many of which were shot at CBGB's. For showtimes & tickets visit TribecaFilm.com. See you at the movies!
Johnny & Joey of The Ramones at CBGB by Eugene Merinov
Original story at the Downtown Express
Two tales recall long bygone era of East Village edge
BY RANIA RICHARDSON
The East Village had edge then — so it’s not surprising that two new documentaries, set to world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, take on the punk subculture of the late 70s/early 80s East Village arts scene.
The era had a mythic allure for two filmmakers who were in diapers at the time. “Burning Down the House: The Story of CBGB,” directed by 34-year-old Mandy Stein, follows of the history of the club that launched the careers of Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, and Patti Smith. “Blank City,” directed by 30-year-old Celine Danhier, looks at the underground moviemakers of the period such as Jim Jarmusch, John Waters, Amos Poe, and Eric Mitchell (as well as the performers in their milieu).
“The Ramones and The Talking Heads were my lullaby music,” says Stein on the phone from her home in Los Angeles. “They were what my parents were listening to, what was playing at my house all the time.” Stein practically grew up in CBGB’s, where her father signed bands to his record label, Sire. Her mother was also a regular on the scene, as co-manager of The Ramones. CBGB’s owner, Hilly Kristal, became a family friend. He founded the club in 1973 and named it for the country, blue grass, and blues music he originally featured.
“I remember being there, and being really young, and Johnny Ramone was scolding my Mom and saying, ‘What the fuck did you bring your kid to?’” says Stein, recalling her early memories at the gritty venue. “There is so much flavor in the East Village; but when I was a younger, it was scary. There was a sense that you had to be aware and watch where you were going,” she says.
The family lived on the Upper West Side and Stein left to study art history at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Film production work kept her on the west coast until she got word that CBGB’s was in jeopardy because of a rent dispute.
“Oh, my God, can you believe what’s going on?” Arturo Vega, a member of The Ramones’ entourage, emailed Stein in early 2005. At that point she flew back to New York to document the battle for the landmark club. She collected clippings of all the news reports. She filmed every live performance in CBGB’s waning days, until it closed on Halloween, 2006 — with a performance by Patti Smith.
Stein was heartened by the many generous supporters of the club, including Deborah Harry, her lifelong fashion icon. “She showed up for every rally and was there on the last night,” she says. “Making the film has been a lot of pressure because a lot of people are so passionate about the legacy, including me. I’m a fan. I’m an Über fan.”
Stein (currently putting the finishing touches on her new film) describes the style of her CBGB project as a “hodgepodge” that includes live footage, interviews, and archival photography. “It’s a total collage. The throughline is that the club is in a precarious situation and we watch all these efforts to try to save it,” she says. “We have to reflect on the past and its great history because that’s why we care enough to save it.”
After CBGB’s closed, the space remained empty for a year before John Varvatos moved in with a men’s apparel shop in 2008. He preserved as much of the original club as possible, with walls covered in graffiti and flyers, and rock memorabilia all around. “Thank GOD for John it’s not a Duane Reade,” Stein says.
From across the Atlantic Ocean, “Blank City” director Celine Danhier was forming her own vision of New York, long before her move here in 2006. “I first discovered New York when I saw Martin Scorsese’s ‘After Hours,’ when I was a kid, living in Paris. The city seemed so strange and so dark and also so attractive,” she says via email from her apartment in downtown Brooklyn.
Danhier went to law school at the Sorbonne with the intention of becoming an entertainment lawyer. Before she graduated, her focus turned to filmmaking. “I realized I didn’t want to assist a director or be a struggling actress. I wanted to direct a film,” she says. “Blank City” is her debut feature.
Danhier had long been familiar with punk rock and the atonal “no wave” bands that were formed in response to the more pop oriented “new wave” bands of the era, so she sought out underground movies that exemplified the style. A chance screening in Paris of work by Jarmusch, Poe, and Mitchell whet her appetite for more. “The films captured the time so well; the music, the spirit and the attitude. They had such a brutal sincerity that I loved,” she says.
According to Danhier, her film reveals the emergence of New York underground filmmaking from 1977 to 1987. She interviewed over thirty people and went on a hunt for artistic examples that represented the times. “What was so unique about these films and the music is that even though there might have been a shared aesthetic or a do it yourself / lack of technique, they were all very different,” she says.
“I met a lot of people from that time, who were generous to share with me their stories and each person would lead me to the next. Sometimes I would interview somebody, and they’d say, ‘Hey, you should talk to Bette Gordon or James Nares,’ and then they’d give me a phone number or email address. I let the documentary unfold in that way, kind of organically,” she says.
“We had one American Express card and a lot of determination while also working full time jobs during the week,” Danhier continues. “We kept to the film’s philosophy as much as we possibly could to make our movie, doing everything very collaboratively and on the fly with no money. Now, though, the ‘Do It Yourself’ sensibility is completely tied up with the economic factors of living in New York, so filmmaking is much more of a struggle.”
In Danhier’s view, the East Village today is, “Construction, construction, construction. It feels strange because a lot of the new constructions don’t seem to fit with the landscape. I do think it’s very tame now. That feeling of being on the edge of something is gone. But, then you find other parts of New York to go to — areas of Brooklyn or a new place in Manhattan will open up — and you’ll feel that energy once again. It just is always shifting around,” she says.
Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators & friend by Godlis
Johnny & Joey of The Ramones at CBGB by Eugene Merinov
Original story at the Downtown Express
Two tales recall long bygone era of East Village edge
BY RANIA RICHARDSON
The East Village had edge then — so it’s not surprising that two new documentaries, set to world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, take on the punk subculture of the late 70s/early 80s East Village arts scene.
The era had a mythic allure for two filmmakers who were in diapers at the time. “Burning Down the House: The Story of CBGB,” directed by 34-year-old Mandy Stein, follows of the history of the club that launched the careers of Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, and Patti Smith. “Blank City,” directed by 30-year-old Celine Danhier, looks at the underground moviemakers of the period such as Jim Jarmusch, John Waters, Amos Poe, and Eric Mitchell (as well as the performers in their milieu).
“The Ramones and The Talking Heads were my lullaby music,” says Stein on the phone from her home in Los Angeles. “They were what my parents were listening to, what was playing at my house all the time.” Stein practically grew up in CBGB’s, where her father signed bands to his record label, Sire. Her mother was also a regular on the scene, as co-manager of The Ramones. CBGB’s owner, Hilly Kristal, became a family friend. He founded the club in 1973 and named it for the country, blue grass, and blues music he originally featured.
“I remember being there, and being really young, and Johnny Ramone was scolding my Mom and saying, ‘What the fuck did you bring your kid to?’” says Stein, recalling her early memories at the gritty venue. “There is so much flavor in the East Village; but when I was a younger, it was scary. There was a sense that you had to be aware and watch where you were going,” she says.
The family lived on the Upper West Side and Stein left to study art history at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Film production work kept her on the west coast until she got word that CBGB’s was in jeopardy because of a rent dispute.
“Oh, my God, can you believe what’s going on?” Arturo Vega, a member of The Ramones’ entourage, emailed Stein in early 2005. At that point she flew back to New York to document the battle for the landmark club. She collected clippings of all the news reports. She filmed every live performance in CBGB’s waning days, until it closed on Halloween, 2006 — with a performance by Patti Smith.
Stein was heartened by the many generous supporters of the club, including Deborah Harry, her lifelong fashion icon. “She showed up for every rally and was there on the last night,” she says. “Making the film has been a lot of pressure because a lot of people are so passionate about the legacy, including me. I’m a fan. I’m an Über fan.”
Stein (currently putting the finishing touches on her new film) describes the style of her CBGB project as a “hodgepodge” that includes live footage, interviews, and archival photography. “It’s a total collage. The throughline is that the club is in a precarious situation and we watch all these efforts to try to save it,” she says. “We have to reflect on the past and its great history because that’s why we care enough to save it.”
After CBGB’s closed, the space remained empty for a year before John Varvatos moved in with a men’s apparel shop in 2008. He preserved as much of the original club as possible, with walls covered in graffiti and flyers, and rock memorabilia all around. “Thank GOD for John it’s not a Duane Reade,” Stein says.
From across the Atlantic Ocean, “Blank City” director Celine Danhier was forming her own vision of New York, long before her move here in 2006. “I first discovered New York when I saw Martin Scorsese’s ‘After Hours,’ when I was a kid, living in Paris. The city seemed so strange and so dark and also so attractive,” she says via email from her apartment in downtown Brooklyn.
Danhier went to law school at the Sorbonne with the intention of becoming an entertainment lawyer. Before she graduated, her focus turned to filmmaking. “I realized I didn’t want to assist a director or be a struggling actress. I wanted to direct a film,” she says. “Blank City” is her debut feature.
Danhier had long been familiar with punk rock and the atonal “no wave” bands that were formed in response to the more pop oriented “new wave” bands of the era, so she sought out underground movies that exemplified the style. A chance screening in Paris of work by Jarmusch, Poe, and Mitchell whet her appetite for more. “The films captured the time so well; the music, the spirit and the attitude. They had such a brutal sincerity that I loved,” she says.
According to Danhier, her film reveals the emergence of New York underground filmmaking from 1977 to 1987. She interviewed over thirty people and went on a hunt for artistic examples that represented the times. “What was so unique about these films and the music is that even though there might have been a shared aesthetic or a do it yourself / lack of technique, they were all very different,” she says.
“I met a lot of people from that time, who were generous to share with me their stories and each person would lead me to the next. Sometimes I would interview somebody, and they’d say, ‘Hey, you should talk to Bette Gordon or James Nares,’ and then they’d give me a phone number or email address. I let the documentary unfold in that way, kind of organically,” she says.
“We had one American Express card and a lot of determination while also working full time jobs during the week,” Danhier continues. “We kept to the film’s philosophy as much as we possibly could to make our movie, doing everything very collaboratively and on the fly with no money. Now, though, the ‘Do It Yourself’ sensibility is completely tied up with the economic factors of living in New York, so filmmaking is much more of a struggle.”
In Danhier’s view, the East Village today is, “Construction, construction, construction. It feels strange because a lot of the new constructions don’t seem to fit with the landscape. I do think it’s very tame now. That feeling of being on the edge of something is gone. But, then you find other parts of New York to go to — areas of Brooklyn or a new place in Manhattan will open up — and you’ll feel that energy once again. It just is always shifting around,” she says.
Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators & friend by Godlis
The Enormity of Small Things
Hot off the press...Issue #6 of Your Heart Out is here just in time for spring.
Your Heart Out presents: The Enormity of Small Things ... a special edition with The Flirtations dancing in the ruins of an abbey and Dexys coming to town. A soundtrack of lopsided soul and odd pop to accompany thoughts on how things fit together, and the consequences of intuition and influence.
Find it and download it for free in the archive at:
http://www.box.net/shared/0mh5t3tpvm
www.yrheartout.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/yrheartout
k0BJ5c9RrT7Q~~_1.jpg)
Apr 15, 2009
Apr 13, 2009
I'm calling it Shea t-shirts
I have no connection with the makers of this t-shirt but someone mentioned they'd buy one if they could, so here you go.
Apr 10, 2009
Apr 9, 2009
The Hacienda
Thanks to Cerysmatic Factory (hey JC, the Yanks are 0-2) for pointing this one out. Take an animated walk through tour of Manchester's Hacienda club:
Apr 8, 2009
Do it Yourself: The Story of Rough Trade
For those of you who didn't manage to locate a download link, you can watch the recent BBC4 documentary on Rough Trade Records on Google Video.
Watch it here:
Or Watch it here.
Apr 4, 2009
Tuxedomoon - No Tears
Thanks to a great piece on long time post punk band, Tuxedomoon, over on Boing Boing by Richard Metzger, I discovered this wonderful video by one of my all time favorite songs from the early 80's by them, No Tears, which I've never seen.
No Tears never fails to take me back to the days when radio really held a magical sway over me, and always transported me to other worlds - because of songs like this. Ah, bliss!
Apr 3, 2009
Eugene Merinov at Tribeca Film Festival
As mentioned last November, we're happy to announce that a feature length documentary called Blank City, which uses many of Eugene Merinov's photographs, will be making its premier at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.
Cast & Credits
Primary Cast: Jim Jarmusch, Steve Buscemi, Lydia Lunch, Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, John Waters
Director: Celine Danhier
Producer: Aviva Wishnow
Directors of Photography: Ryo Murakami, Peter Szollosi
Editor: Vanessa Roworth
Program Notes
New York City in the late 1970s. Underground filmmakers collaborated with experimental musicians and vanguard performance artists, all on a shoestring budget, to create the most daring work of their generation. In stark contrast to the poverty and crime that seemed rampant in the economically struggling city, a community of aggressive, confrontational, vibrant artists flourished: hole-in-the-wall screening rooms abounded, manifestos circulated, and Jim Jarmusch, Nick Zedd, and Amos Poe debuted early works to an audience of their peers. These short-lived but profoundly influential movements dubbed themselves "No Wave Cinema" and "Cinema of Transgression."
Director Celine Danhier brings energy and style to her encyclopedic documentary on the figures and history of this rich but gritty era. Blank City includes compelling interviews with such luminaries as Jarmusch, Zedd, Poe, John Waters, Steve Buscemi, Lydia Lunch, Lizzie Borden, Eric Mitchell, Thurston Moore, Debbie Harry, Bette Gordon, Glenn O'Brien, John Lurie, and anyone who was anyone in the late-'70s East Village art scene. Ample film clips from seminal works bring to life a time and a place lost to gentrification and commercialization in the '80s, but that lives on in a still-thriving tradition of avant-garde art.
Be sure to visit the festival website for dates, times & more information!
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