Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Lun*na Menoh "COUTURE SALVAGE"

Eenie Meenie Records and Track 16 Gallery presents

LUN*NA MENOH
"Couture Salvage"

Saturday, October 11, 2008
8PM, doors open 7:30 PM
$10



LIVE FASHION SHOW
With original live music score by JEAN PAUL YAMAMOTO

at Track 16 Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA 90404

RSVP 16 Gallery: 310-264-4678 reception@track16.com

WHATEVER YOU SEE OR TOUCH, CAN BE RECYCLED AND WEARABLE!!!

-A vacuum cleaner becomes a jacket!
-A speaker becomes a skirt!!
-A golf bag becomes a necklace!!!
-A sofa becomes a coat!!!!

Lun*na Menoh's band "Jean Paul Yamamoto" will do an original special music piece for this event featuring fellow band members ex DEVO drummer Alan Myers and avant-guitarist Shin Kawasaki plus backup singers/dancers Ayako and Moeko.

ALL WORKS BY LUN*NA MENOH ARE FOR SALE AFTER THE PERFORMANCE.

"To consume is the ultimate act of recycling."

http://www.lunnamenoh.com
info@lunnamenoh.com
http://www.myspace.com/jeanpaulyamamoto
http://www.eeniemeenie.com
http://www.track16.com

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Wallace Berman Exhibition at the Camden Arts Centre in North London




Ah London, my spiritual home for the family! My late (and great) Dad Wallace Berman will have his first solo exhibition in London at the Camden Arts Centre. It's pretty much a retrospective of his entire career and there will be talks, film showings, events surrounding this particular exhibition.

Check out the website at: http://www.camdenartscentre.org/home/




The exhibition runs from September 26 to November 23. U.K. Citizens and Visitors, do go!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

TamTam Books' Tribute to Billy MacKenzie & his amazing band Associates

Billy MacKenzie throughout my adult life has been a soundtrack to me on a daily basis. Along with Russell Mael, Morrissey, Bowie and several others, have been a consistent voice that runs through my head. The closest description I can think of Billy's great songs and voice is that he's an European Soul Singer.

The following songs are not even his most famous work, but are songs that mean a lot to me. i've been thinking of him today due to the suicide death of author David Foster Wallace - because like him, billy also went down that route. So give a listen to his fantastic voice and his fantastic spirit - the one and truly THE ONLY Billy MacKenzie:



Associates (Billy MacKenzie) "Strausburg Square"


Interview with Billy MacKenzie


"Breakfast"


Billy MacKenzie performing Blondie's "Heart of Glass"


Billy MacKenzie performing "Wild is the Wind"


Billy MacKenzie performing "The Crying Game"


"White Car In Germany"

Saturday, September 13, 2008

TamTam Books' Tribute to Noel Coward




Noel Coward is sort of the people's Jean Cocteau. A very popular entertainer as well a great songwriter and playwright. I always found him to be stuffy, but that is because I am an American, and I think Coward's aesthetic is totally British, which makes him fascinating to me.

One can look up his writings (not big on his narrative fiction or short stories) and plays (superb) on the Internet, but here's some choice pickings of the legend. See you Around!


Noel Coward performing his "Mad Dogs and Englishmen (1955)


Noel Coward performing his "Nina (Together With Music)" 1955


Noel Coward & Mary Martin


Noel Coward's play "Private Lives" Part 1 Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence


Noel Coward in "Our Man in Havana" 1959

Sunday, September 7, 2008

TamTam Books' Tribute to Jobriath



Sometime around 1974, my Dad took me to the Troubadour in West Hollywood to see Jobriath. My memory of the show is quite strong, because he made an impression on me. I was totally into anything that was glam, and the opening act to the show that night was Zolar X. An legendary Los Angeles band who thought that they were actually from outer space and had their own language among themselves. I was totally ok with that, in fact I loved it.

Jobriath was a gay artist who never made it into the big world of showbiz due that he was over-hyped by his manager Jerry Brandt, and also he was coming on to the glam scene after it was sort of dying out. This was during Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" so even the king of glam was moving into a different direction. Jobriath on the other hand was totally into glam, and was actually gay. There was no second act for this guy. He made two albums that failed, and that was that.

Here's a tribute to Jobriath, but also to my Dad for exposing me to an interesting sub-culture. The two biggest fans of Jobriath it turns out is my Dad and Morrissey!


Jobriath "Rock of Ages"


jobriath "Im a Man"


short documentary on Jobriath


Jobriath and his Mom


Cole Berlin (aka Jobriath)

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Some Visual Thoughts about Sparks' "Big Beat"

This is sort of my thinking process at the moment while I work on the Sparks book. Right now working on the "Big Beat" chapter.










"Looks Aren't Everything" Sparks


"Nothing to Do" Sparks live in islington, London

The bonus cut on this blog:


Sparks on Jonathan Ross show in 2006


Tosh working on the 'Big Beat' Chapter.

Friday, September 5, 2008

TamTam Book's Tribute to British Writer Patrick Hamilton


Patrick Hamilton doing what he does best

About ten years ago a dear friend of mine Sarah turned me on to this British author Patrick Hamilton. Reading about his life, it sounds like it was a mixture of great success and personal failure. My favorite type of character!



Hamilton wrote two plays that are classics of that sort. “Rope,” which became a film by Alfred Hitchcock and “Gaslight,’ which also became a film by George Cukor.






"Gaslight"


But the real good stuff by Hamilton was in his novels. All of them basically dealt with the seedy drinking life of London during the World War 2 Blitz. A time where life can end suddenly, and yet the London citizens was also concerned about the affairs of the heart – and those who abuse that affair.





Various psychotics are in the Hamilton novels, and in many ways one can find the roots of Patricia Highsmith’s (who also shared the same initials as our Patrick) main character Tom Ripley.