P.J. Soles is an actress who had many prominent roles in classic films of the late 1970s / early 1980s such as “Carrie,” “Halloween,” “Stripes,” “Private Benjamin,” and her greatest role … Riff Randell in “Rock n’ Roll High School.” Her career kind of faded in the mid-1980s, though she does pop up in things every now and then. From the extremely cool and heavy 2004 album “Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles?”
This theme song for Alex Cox’s demented 1984 punk rock science-fiction comedy was the first Iggy song I ever heard (aside from David Bowie’s cover of Iggy’s “China Girl”). I can only imagine what went through Iggy’s head when he wrote this, but I like it because it has very little to do with the movie it’s written for. The cool guitar work is courtesy of the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones. Favorite line: “I’ll turn you into a toadstool!”
“Pull My Strings” was only performed once by the Dead Kennedys and it was basically a prank they pulled when they were asked to perform at the 1980 Bay Area Music Awards (the “Bammies”). They started out playing their underground hit “California Uber Alles” wearing white button down shirts with “S”‘s on them. They suddenly stopped playing and announced “We’ve got to prove we’re adults here … We’re not a punk rock band, we’re a New Wave band!” and then pulled skinny ties around from the back so the “S”‘s became dollar signs. The skinny ties and white button down shirts were a direct knock on the Knack, who were then considered the most popular of all the New Wave bands. Anyway, the band launched into “Pull My Strings,” a song that critiqued the current state of rock at the time and was specifically directed at all the luminaries at the gathering. According to legend, Boz Scaggs was allegedly seen clawing his seat in anger. On the other hand, Eddie Money apparently told the Kennedys he liked it. In any case, it’s a funny and ingenious way to take the piss out of a group of fevered egos gathered together to pat themselves on the back. The song eventually appeared on the Kennedys’ compilation “Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.” At some point in the late 2000s, “Death” went Gold, meaning it had sold 500,000 copies, a remarkable achievement for a hardcore punk band from the early 1980s.
A terrific Beatles cover by Clarence Reid. Reid had the talent and chops to be as big as Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett, but he became more popular doing dirty parodies of soul hits (“S–ting off the Dock of the Bay,” “What a Difference a Lay Makes?”) with his XXX-rated alter-ego Blowfly. As much as the 3rd grader in me loves Blowfly, I’ve been rediscovering Reid’s straight soul recordings as of late and have been completely knocked out by how good Reid was … and also a little sad that Reid found more success with a gimmick than playing it straight.
It reminds me of seeing another Clarence … Clarence Giddens … back in 1993 at a restaurant / bar in Virginia Beach. Giddens was a terrific blues guitarist and singer that opened for a singer known as “Black Elvis.” Of course, “Black Elvis” was Giddens in an Elvis suit and I have to say as an Elvis impersonator, he was damn good. But it also filled me with regret because Giddens had the chops to be a major blues talent, but found bigger paychecks going down the Elvis tribute trail. Granted both Reid and Giddens had their reasons for going down the more lucrative path as Blowfly and Black Elvis, but it’s a sad commentary about how we … as audiences … myself included … are more suckers for a gimmick than the real deal.
A classic episode of “Geraldo” from the early 1990s featuring everyone’s favorite self-mutilating, poop-eating rock singer G.G. Allin. The episode is about “obscene art” and Geraldo Rivera is in classic form, condemning extreme art while also giving his audience multiple tastes of such art in a way that pushes the boundaries of what’s acceptable within the realms of early 1990s broadcast TV. It’s the classic “This is sick, folks. Take a look at how sick this stuff is! Don’t you agree? Let’s get a close-up folks, in case you don’t understand how sick this is” approach. OK, not work safe, but a fine example of pre-internet shock value … allowing an audience an acceptable way to engage in hideous behavior by keeping their hands clean by tsk-tsking the dirt off their hands.
A rare, but excellent 90 minute interview with the late rock critic Lester Bangs from May 1980 by Sue Mathews. Bangs was around 30 years old when this interview was conducted and has an insightful, but very dim view of where rock music was headed at the time. Sadly, it’s gotten much worse since then. To be fair though, part of that dissatisfaction could be due to “getting older.” That’s roughly around the time I started tuning out from the hit parade of hell.
There’s still great music out there, but you’re not going to find it on commercial radio. One of the better things technology and computers have brought us is easier access to really cool stuff. And you don’t have to hunt that far for it. For example, there’s a great internet radio station I found the other day called “Dave’s Strange Radio” which you can find at http://www.davesstrangeradio.com
My 9-year old son just announced this is his all-time favorite film and I can easily understand why. The movie is full of humor, great fight scenes, a terrific rock score, and a video game motif that my son dentifies with strongly. But it’s much more than that. It’s an extremely clever analysis of a particular phenomenon … the phenomenon of dealing with past significant others when you’re in a relationship. Many people in their 20s who haven’t had a lot of life experience or self-awareness ask questions they don’t want to hear the answers to … and suffer the consequences. Hopefully, as one gets older, a person realizes there are certain doors you don’t open for your own sanity … a pointless exercise especially if the person you’re with is awesome. Some people take a more perilous journey to such awesomeness than others, but if you focus on who that person is today and less on how they got there, you’ll be happier. The person you’re with will always have some knowledge or experience you haven’t had. But so have you. And you’ve likely made similar bad choices or worse on your life journey. This is a film you’ll either love or hate. I love it! So, enough with the Oprah s–t! Let’s boogie!
P.S. The fact that director Edgar Wright claimed the 1980 “Flash Gordon” film was an influence on the production design of this film is reason enough to put this in the “awesome” category.
The Gimmes (is that their nickname?) do a punk remake of the Turtles’ splendid “Elenore.” The cover starts off as a terrific homage to the Clash’s “London Calling” while still remaining faithful to the original, one of my all-time favorite AM-radio pop hits of the 1960s.
Today, John Milius is probably most famous for being the inspiration for John Goodman’s character Walter Sobchak in the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult classic “The Big Lebowski.” But Milius was arguably the first of the so-called “Hollywood Brats” of the 1970s to score big in Hollywood. Milius went to USC film school at the same time George Lucas (“Star Wars”) and Randall Kleiser (“Grease”) did and became one of the most in-demand screenwriters during the 1970s. His larger-than-life, gun-toting, right-leaning persona startled, but also fascinated many aspiring talents of the period, including Steven Spielberg, Paul Schrader, and Martin Scorsese. Milius has been credited for creating the “Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?” line from “Dirty Harry.” But he’s probably most famous for penning the script for Francis Ford Coppla’s legendary 1979 Vietnam epic “Apocalypse Now.”
Milius also became famous for directing the cult surfing film “Big Wednesday” as well as the box-office hits “Conan the Barbarian” and “Red Dawn.” However, despite the box-office success of “Red Dawn,” the film arguably also led to a reversal of fortune in Hollywood due to “Dawn’s” right-wing political leanings (the film’s political stigma alienated many in Hollywood). Coupled with an accountant friend who looted Milius’s vast earnings, Milius was eventually reduced to asking for a staff writing position on the HBO show “Deadwood” in order to pay for his son’s law school. “Deadwood” producer David Milch gave Milius the money and was shocked when Milius paid the entire amount back. Milius had a comeback of sorts creating the HBO series “Rome,” but then had another setback in 2010 when he suffered a stroke. Milius has fought valiantly back and was able to regain his mind and his writing abilities which he hopes to realize with his long-gestating “Genghis Khan” project.
Regardless of where you stand politically, “Milius” is one hell of a documentary about a true Hollywood character and survivor. The fact that so many famous people agreed to be interviewed for this documentary (including Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, Coppola, Schrader, Oliver Stone, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Charlie Sheen, George Hamilton, and many others) only demonstrates how much love and respect he has generated over the years. The one common denominator everyone praises is Milius’s gift for storytelling, which apparently hasn’t been destroyed by his stroke. Directors Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson do a splendid job of telling one of the most fascinating true Hollywood stories you’ll ever see. It’s now available for viewing on Amazon Prime.
You can also hear an interview with Figueroa on the excellent “Projection Booth” podcast:
I can’t think of a better performer to cover Dead or Alive’s trashy Hi-NRG disco classic from the mid-1980s than Mr. Manson. I realize some people think this cover may be sacrilege, but Manson is really just Pete Burns with some added 1990s nihilism thrown into the mix. Yes, this was recorded in 2009 when such throwback nihilism was considered to be as corny as parachute pants. But I’m a huge fan of that trend.
Dave's Strange World 