TamTam Books are basically edited and produced with the soundtrack of Sparks in the office. So with that in mind here we are looking forward to the re-issue of one of their classics that never made it on to CD. It's called "Introducing Sparks," and it's actually their 7th album. Go figure!
The album comes in two sleeves. One can either have a Ron Mael sleeve or a Russell Mael sleeve. You decide!
Mishima in front of the movie poster from his film "Yukoku (Patriotism)"
Yukio Mishima is probably the first writer that struck me as being glamorous. I was introduced to his work by my Uncle who had a copy of a photo book by Eikoh Hosoe called “Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses.”
The book consisted of images of Mishima in various poses, including a famous image of Mishima posing as St. Sebastian. An image that caused the first erotic impulse in Mishima when he was a child.
As a teenager I read Mishima’s “Confessions of a Mask” and it made a huge impression on me. Partially due to the gay context, which to me was totally fascinating – due to its outsider status
Like one admiring Dali as a painter when young, Mishima was the first writer that said to me ‘hey this is an interesting field to be in.’
What became super fascinating is when Mishima became political in the 60’s. It was obvious to me that he wasn’t tied to the right wing due to its ideas, but more to the surface beauty of Fascism.
He even started up his own private army called The Shield Society
The photograh below of Yukio Mishima and Shintaro Ishihara who at the time was a young author who specialize in books regarding the Sun youth culture that took place in Japan during the 50’s. The film “Crazed Fruit” is based on one of his novels and it starred his brother Yujiro Ishihara, who was the James Dean of Japan. Ishihara is currently the Mayor of Tokyo.
One of the interesting books I have come upon in Japan is one on Mishima’s house. He lived very close to my wife’s grandmother in Tokyo. She mentioned to me that she has seen Mishima on the bus – which is quite remarkable to me. The book starts off in the front yard of his residence and then leads us into the front room, the upstairs, which consist of the bedroom, and the most fascinating of all – his office. One can look at his bookcase, which of course are books in Japanese – but one stood out due to its English title. It was a Gay guide to New York City.
What Mishima is famous for is his death. The author and four members of his The Shield Society were invited to see a member of the Military elite at a base. Mishima and his ‘army’ took over the office, tied up the General, and demanded that he will be allowed to make a speech to the Japanese soldiers.
Without a loudspeaker or amplification Mishima started to give out his speech on the top of the building to the soldiers down below. But once he realized that they couldn’t hear him, Mishima then went back to the office where the General was held.
He and another member of his troop committed suicide in a practice called seppuku.
news movie “The Death of Mishima Yukio” 1970
Nevertheless Mishima is probably one of the major writers of the 20th Century. I have always admired his work and his dandy-view of the world.
The following are actual footage of Mishima:
Yukio Mishima Interview in English (9 minutes)
Yukio Mishima rare interview in English (and in color) 4 min.
Yukio Mishima … Early Life and Career (IN ENGLISH)
The following film footage is an excerpt from a film directed and written by Mishima called “Yukoku (Patriotism)
Yukoku – Yukio Mishima’s Harakiri scene (beautiful, but very intense!)
Over the years there have been films based on Mishima’s work, but he actually starred in a film called Karakaze Yaro (Afraid to Die) directed by the great Yasuzo Masumura
Today I explored my office a bit. It's a small room but it's nice. I am surrounded by tons of books, cds, and DVD's. It is sort of my private world (hell). Also some of the images are blurry, due to my cell phone camera and that I usually see the world in that fashion.
Rosa and Julian gave me this mouse pad from London. I always think of them while using it.
There is no order on my table. It's basically Chaos at work.
I had this one photograph of Alain Delon for about ten or tweleve years now. It sort of reminds me to be always handsome.
Lovely practical chair. It is so clean looking. I do all my writing and blogging on this chair.
The mountain of death that is made up of various books, DVD's and a handful of cd's.
First of all watch this fantastic footage from 'READY STEADY GO' The essence of the Rolling Stones Andrew Loog Oldham era!
For those who read this blog, or my blog on Myspace, know I have a fixation on British Rock n' Roll managers. I think one of the reasons is that I identify with them as a publisher. One is basically a movie producer, with respect to getting the talent together and then giving it a vision of some sort. Andrew Loog Oldham, the record producer and manager of the 60's era Stones was and is a magnificent figure.
First of all there are the two memoirs by Oldham, which is a must for those who are interested in 60's era London and of course, The Stones.
Stoned
2Stoned
But it's a story filtered through the eyes of a young man who tasted the excitement of street fashion, the love of hustling, and music. And yet cinematic images are part of the mix as well.
"Sweet Smell of Success"
"Expresso Bongo"
The Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra recordings are probably one of my favorite sounds. Here are two of his masterpieces:
Vince Taylor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vince Taylor (born Brian Maurice Holden on July 14, 1939 in London, England; died August 28, 1991) was a British rock and roll singer. As the frontman for The Playboys, Taylor was successful primarily in the UK and Europe during the late 1950s and early 1960s, afterwards falling into obscurity amidst personal problems and drug abuse.
Taylor's early life was in Isleworth, Middlesex. When he was seven years old, the Holdens emigrated to America and settled in New Jersey where his father took work in a coal mine. Around 1955, his sister married Joe Barbera, of Hanna-Barbera productions, a successful animated cartoon company. As a result of the marriage, the family moved to California where Brian attended Hollywood High.
At age 18, impressed by the music of Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley, Taylor began to sing, mostly at amateur gigs. Joe Barbera, his brother-in-law, became his manager. When Barbera went to London on business he asked Taylor to join him to check out the music scene. At that time, rock was experiencing phenomenal international growth amongst teenagers, and American rockers were high in demand in the UK. Concerts starring Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley & His Comets (referred to collectively as the "American Invasion"), played to crowds of UK teenagers in sold out halls. In London, Taylor went to a coffee bar on Old Compton Street in Soho, called “The 2 I’s” where rocker Tommy Steele was playing. There he met drummer Tony Meehan (later of The Shadows) and bass player Tex Makins (born Anthony Paul Makins, 3.7.1940, in Wembley, Middlesex). They formed a band called The Playboys. Whilst looking at a packet of Pall Mall cigarettes he noticed the phrase, “In hoc Vince’s”, thus giving rise to his new stage name of Vince Taylor.
His first singles for Parlophone, “I Like Love” and “Right Behind You Baby”, were released in 1958, followed several months later by “Pledgin' My Love” b/w “Brand New Cadillac”. Parlophone wasn’t satisfied with the immediate results and broke the contract. Vince moved to Palette Records and recorded “I’ll Be Your Hero” b/w “Jet Black Machine”, which was released on August 19, 1960.
However, his unpredictable personality, although dynamic on stage, caused several arguments within the band, and The Playboys fired Vince Taylor and changed their name to "The Bobbie Clarke Noise". "The "Noise" was contracted to play at the prestigious Olympia in Paris in July, 1961. The top of the bill was Wee Willie Harris. Despite his sacking Taylor remained friendly with the band and he asked if he could come to Paris too. Here he dressed up for the occasion in his black leather gear and added a chain around his neck with a Joan of Arc medallion which he had bought on arrival at Calais. He gave such an extraordinary performance at the sound check that even the band was amazed, and the organizers decided to put Vince at the top of the bill for both shows. As a result of his performance at those two shows, Eddie Barclay signed him to a six-year record deal on the Barclay label.
During 1961 and 1962, Vince Taylor toured Europe including The French Riviera, Brussels, Belgium, Spain, and The Netherlands, with Bobbie Clarke's band, once again called Vince Taylor and his Playboys (in French this was translated as "Vince Taylor et ses Play-Boys").
By the end of 1962, Vince Taylor and The Playboys were the top of the bill at the prestigious Olympia, in Paris. Despite an on-stage rapport with The Playboys, the off-stage relationship faltered: as a result, the band once more broke up. Taylor left for La Côte d'Azur with his new love, top model Helene April and Bobbie Clarke became the drummer for Johnny Hallyday and the Golden Stars backed up by Joey and the Showmen, resulting in three EPs released in 1963. Meanwhile, Taylor played engagements backed by the English band "The Dragons" (who backed Gene Vincent whenever he played the UK), but he still presented the band as The Playboys.
Shortly thereafter, the band grew in size for an upcoming gig, by adding two new musicians, Ivan Jullien (trumpet) and Bob Garcia (saxophone). However, several days before the concert Vince and Stash went back to London for a gig where they met Bob Dylan, Nico and a few other people from the Acid Rock scene. A mixture of acid, amphetamines and alcohol proved fatal to his mind and in front of a full house, on the brink of becoming a huge international star, he had a break down - coming on stage and trying to evangelize the audience, he claimed to be the prophet Matthew, and he preached until the band agreed with everything he was saying. The audience pretended not to understand, thinking that it was part of the show. But after 15 minutes and a few poorly executed songs, he began to wreck the whole stage like The Who, but this was before the set was even played.
The band disbanded and Taylor joined a religious movement. Danks left to play guitar with Three Dog Night, and later Tom Jones, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Stash, a close friend of The Rolling Stones, would later produce The Dirty Strangers album featuring Keith Richards and Ron Wood. Bobbie Clark went on to replace drummer Don Conka for several studio sessions with the original line up of the band Love. He also played with Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, and the first incarnation of Deep Purple before forming a group, Bodast, with Steve Howe and Dave Curtis. In 1968, Bodast recorded an LP for MGM Records, opened for The Who, and were the backing band for Chuck Berry at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Meanwhile, Clarke was involved in one last comeback for his friend Taylor, a small one-month tour across France, billed as "Vince Taylor and Bobbie Clarke backed by Les Rockers". After the first show, Vince stopped singing and moving; the band started a song and he sang the first verse of another. However, occasionally Taylor came out of his state, suddenly singing 5 or 6 songs correctly, and then without any apparent reason left the stage without a word. The finish of the tour was at Le Cadran at Colombes, a large bar with a room, seating 500 people. That year they booked The Animals, The Spencer Davis Group, and Jimi Hendrix & the Experience, before they played The Olympia as the opening act for Johnny Hallyday. Just before going on stage, Taylor is reported to have said, “I can't sing. There is a bad spell here. If I start to sing, everything will blow up. I feel it.” “Don’t be stupid,” said the band, “We've got to go on stage.” “I can't. I can't. It's all gonna explode… everything...”.
The crowd started to get impatient and shout, and the owner came into the dressing room and forced the band on stage. They played the instrumental version of Memphis Tennessee, and then began the intro of 'Trouble' from the film King Creole. As soon as Vince began to sing, the sound system and the amplifiers went down, and all the lights in the club blew out. There was no sound apart from Taylor who shouted uselessly into the microphone, “ I said so. I said so, and now look. I said so..."
In autumn 1969, the magazines 'Bonjour les Amis' and 'Disco-Revue' started a support campaign for Taylor asking its readers to write in to Barclay's Record Company saying how much they would love to see the rock star make another record. Eddie Barclay, finally convinced, gave a new chance to Vince who recorded again and performed intermittently throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, until his death in 1991.
During his career, Taylor wrote and recorded many songs, among them his hit in Europe, "Brand New Cadillac" which has been covered by many other artists, such as The Clash. According to David Bowie, Taylor was the main inspiration for Bowie’s song Ziggy Stardust.
During his last years, Vince Taylor lived in Switzerland where he took work as an airplane mechanic. He said it was the happiest time of his life.
Here are some examples of Vince's remarkable work:
The Musuem of Moving Image in New York City are showing an Andy Warhol retrospective, and one of the (many) gems they are showing is a film with my father, Wallace Berman and his son (yours truly) Tosh Berman called "Tarzan and Jane Regained, Sort Of..." Made in 1964.
The film also stars Taylor Mead (as Tarzan) and Dennis Hopper
And Naomi Levine as Jane
My Dad plays the heavy, and fights with Tarzan (Mead). And I am Tarzan's son "Boy." And like all child actors, my life is now in ruins! Nevertheless a part of the film was shot at our house in Beverly Glenn.
The film is playing with the legendary "Blow Job," a classic of big portions.
For over 15 years I have been a huge fan of Les Rita Mitsouko. It's kind of lonely being a fan of this band here in Los Angeles, but nevertheless locations don't exist anymore thanks to the Internet.
"Marcia Baila" This is the first Les Rita Mitsouko song I have ever heard. My friend Eric invited me to his studio and he was playing this song as I walked in. I was instantly hooked. Oh by the way, clothing by Jean Paul Gaultier.
"Le Petit Train"
Perhaps the greatest music video of all time. Les Rita Mitsouko Bollywood style. I love the dancing and what a fantastic tune.
"Y'a d'la haine"
Catherine Ringer gets attacked and Fred dances. It's beautiful.
"C'est Comme ça"
Nothing on TV as good as this.
"Singing in the Shower"
Sparks are truly one of the greats, and this is footage I have never seen before. Some European TV show?
"Hip Kit"
Like an old French film clip, Sparks and Les Rita Mitsouko do another classic.
"A Conversation between Catherine Ringer and Serge Gainsbourg"
For those in the know, Lun*na Menoh is very much part of my life. To say that I am a huge fan is an understatement from me. Also when you have the chance check out her band "Jean Paul Yamamoto" on MySpace:
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