YouTube wanted to remind me that I once watched this, a performance of “Strangers” by Wye Oak for The A.V. Club’s Undercover series 13 years ago! Holy shit, time is flying. Anyway, it’s lovely and Jenn Wasner is a badass. Enjoy or don’t, you weekend-destined bastards.
My Robot Girlfriend
Customizable!
Emotional connection!
Digi Granny
I’ve been targeted by a couple clever scams. It’s nice to know that Daisy’s out there keeping us safe.
Zap!
Behold the greatest classical lp cover of all time.
The Brothers Smothers
I can’t imagine how these damn commies would offend anyone, but then I have a soft spot for irreverent bastards. You can watch the documentary Smothered and learn how they got canceled.
Also, the tune vaguely reminds me of “Wild One” by Those Darlins. I’m sure I posted this many moons ago on Ye Olde Blogge. I’m going to re-indulge this great performance by Nikki Darlin et al.
What Are They Dancing To?
Here’s a Scopitone of Brook Benton lip-syncing Mother Nature, Father Time while bikini girls apparently dance to something else.
If you’re unfamiliar with Scopitones, they were music video jukeboxes typically placed in lounges and similar adult-oriented locations. It seems that most Scopitones, like the later music-video format, were more about the girls than the songs. (I remember child-oriented ones, but their format and machines had a different name). The videos often had the hubba-hubba vibe of 50’s-60’s softcore men’s magazines (like here and here). Although Procol Harum did one, most rock acts snubbed Scopitones. I imagine they’d started looking dated, like something their dads watched for cheap thrills, down there with carnival peep-shows. One novelty was a live Billy Lee Riley one, unusual in that it’s not lip-synced.
For you film nerds: I can’t verify this, but I know I read somewhere that French (who invented them) Scopitones used Pathecolor, a very early film tinting process that used stenciling. Wikipedia claims that the last use of Pathecolor was the 1954 Mexican surrealist classic, Robinson Crusoe, but it’s often stated that it was used in that august cinematic masterpiece, Dr. Goldfoot & The Bikini Machine.
Like A Bee Needs A Buzz
I knew that Honeybus made me think of something: it was Honey Bees.
When I’m down to my last few neurons, my brain will still be running Gilligan’s Island.
I Am Everything
Hell yeah, I’m in! Anything more cringe than Pat motherfucking Boone singing “Tutti Frutti?”
Produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films, director Lisa Cortés’ Sundance opening night documentary LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. In interviews with family, musicians, and cutting-edge Black and queer scholars, the film reveals how Richard created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself. Throughout his life, Richard careened like a shiny cracked pinball between God, sex and rock n’ roll. The world tried to put him in a box, but Richard was an omni being who contained multitudes – he was unabashedly everything. Directed by Lisa Cortés, LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING is produced by Robert Friedman, Cortés, Liz Yale Marsh and Caryn Capotosto and Executive Produced by Dee Rees.
Here’s Your Chance
I know Monkeystador has been trying to attract Pussy Riot’s attention for awhile. Well, they’re playing in Tulsa!
You know it’s true because you read it in Pitchfork!
Pussy Riot will receive the Woody Guthrie Prize in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 6, and perform at the city’s Cain’s Ballroom that evening. The prize is given annually to an artist who “best exemplifies Guthrie’s spirit and work by speaking for the less fortunate through music, film, literature, dance or other art forms and serving as a positive force for social change.” The ceremony is part of the Woody Guthrie Center’s 10th anniversary celebration, which takes place from May 5 to 7.
Tulsa is a fun town. Surprisingly hip. We can go to the Dylan Archives while we’re there.
Bad Decisions
Red Hook.
Another band we have to see when Fat Elvis takes us to Australia.