The first track from Zevon’s stunning self-titled album from 1976, produced by Jackson Browne. Roy Orbison allegedly was going to cover the song at some point in the 1970s. The opening piano melody is also repeated during the album’s last song “Desperados Under the Eaves,” a nice way to bring continuity to a brilliant song cycle about people living desperate lives.
“The Last American Virgin” was Cannon Studio’s attempt to cash in on the monster success of “Porky’s” which came out in the Spring of 1982. Despite a few amusing moments, the film isn’t particularly good or memorable … except for the ending. The ending is what most people remember about the film and it’s what made the film a standout. If you don’t like spoilers or have the intent to see the movie, stop reading.
Among lots of de rigueur crude shenanigans, there is a main story. The lead character Gary has a crush on Karen, who subsequently hooks up with his friend Rick. Rick gets her pregnant and then dumps her. Gary sells all of his possessions and even borrows money from his boss to help her pay for an abortion. He expresses his love for her and she invites him to her birthday party. He buys her a locket and then arrives at the birthday party … to discover that Karen is back in Rick’s arms. As James Ingram’s “Just Once” plays (“I did my best … but I guess my best wasn’t good enough”), Gary leaves the party, quietly crying while driving away. End credits roll.
OK, this plot is not the most original ever written, but for a generation who watched this on cable or on VHS at an impressionable age, it was a major buzzkill of an ending (for an otherwise lighthearted film) and lingers to this day as one of those moments where you hang your head and quietly say “Damn.”
What many people don’t know is that “Virgin” is an American remake of a 1978 Israeli film called “Eskimo Limon” (aka”Lemon Popsicle”), which was also written and directed by “Virgin” director Davidson. “Limon” has the exact same plot as “Virgin,” but takes place in Israel during the 1950s and has a killer 1950s soundtrack. “Limon” was a huge box office hit in Israel and did well in Europe and Japan. It was also nominated for Best Foreign Film at that year’s Golden Globe awards (it lost to Ingmar Bergman’s “Autumn Sonata”). It also features an early performance by Johnathan Sagall, who went to act as Poldek Pfefferberg in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List.” “Limon” is available on Netflix Instant (though, I believe it’s listed as “Lemon Popsicle”) and the English dubbed version has been posted in its entirety on YouTube if you’re feeling particularly ambitious.
Probably the closest thing to a hit that Philly’s The Dead Milkmen ever had, 1989’s “Punk Rock Girl” is one of those songs that seems to have been created with the Dr. Demento show in mind. However, despite the self-conscious “wackiness,” it’s still a lot of fun even almost (gulp!) 25 years later. Gotta love those Philly accents that ooze through every pore of this song like Cheez Whiz on an authentic cheese steak.
During Martin Scorsese’s notorious “lost weekend” period when he had a serious cocaine problem, he still managed to produce a lot of interesting films. With the exception of the big-budget musical “New York, New York,” the documentary about the Band’s last concert, “The Last Waltz,” is probably the most famous and highly regarded. However, the least known (and arguably, best) film from this period is Scorsese’s documentary “American Boy: A Profile of Steve Prince.”
Prince is probably most famous as the scary gun salesman in “Taxi Driver,” but prior to that he was Neil Diamond’s road manager (among other jobs) and was a heroin addict. During one moment in the film, Prince relates a tale about reviving a woman who overdosed with a medical dictionary, a shot of adrenaline, and a magic marker that’s … um … very similar to a scene in the Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film “Pulp Fiction.”
The film is a fascinating look at the life of someone on the edge … a life that Scorsese obviously identified with considering his drug-intake and near-death at the time. Not only did Scorsese survive (and subsequently make many classic films), but so did Prince, who was the subject of a sequel in 2009 called “American Prince” directed by Tommy Pallotta.
Arguably, the first “gangsta” song to reach #1 on the Billboard pop charts … way back in 1959. “Stagger Lee” is an adaptation of a popular blues/folk song whose first published version came in 1911, but apparently had been around since 1897 in a version called “Stack-a-Lee” by “Prof. Charlie Lee, the piano thumper”. It’s based on a true story of the murder of William “Billy” Lyons by Stagger Lee Shelton in St. Louis in 1895.
Even though Price’s version is relatively slick and is now considered one of those “safe” oldies relegated to Cousin Brucie-style radio shows, it still packs quite a wallop and if a similar song was released nowadays, would arguably be extremely controversial.
Artists typically fall into two categories: dreamers and doers. While it’s important to have a dream, it doesn’t mean anything if it just stays inside your head. Zachary Oberzan is a doer.
Oberzan saw the movie “First Blood” back in the early 1980s. “First Blood” is the Sylvester Stallone Rambo film most critics call “the good one.” Oberzan was such a fan of “First Blood,” he picked up the David Morrell novel on which the movie was based and was blown away even more. The novel, far more complex and nuanced from the resulting film, gave Oberzan the dream to one day make a more faithful adaptation of Morrell’s original book.
Unfortunately, since the Rambo series took on a much different tone with the second film (where Rambo rescues POWs from Vietnam), a tone that proved to be very popular with 1980s era audiences, there was not much hope someone would ever do a more faithful remake of the original book.
Normally someone with Oberzan’s dream would try to wrangle the rights away from the copyright holders, convince financiers to invest several millions of dollars, find bankable actors to carry the movie, find a distributor, and then release the film. Even when said process runs smoothly, it can take several years, and oftentimes the end result is a film that’s never released, let alone made.
Oberzan said “F–k all that!” and just did it himself … in his 220 square foot New York City apartment … with a home video camera … and a total budget of $96. Oberzan not only wrote, directed, shot, and edited his adaptation, but also performed all of the acting roles. The result is one of the most compelling films I’ve ever seen.
On first glance (especially from the trailer), Oberzan’s adaptation, called “Flooding with Love for the Kid,” seems completely insane and ridiculous, like Ed Wood directing the Max Fischer players from “Rushmore.” However, once you get over the shock over how the film looks and plays, you start to pay attention … and then you find yourself riveted.
This will likely never wind up on anyone’s list of greatest films ever made. But Oberzan, using tools most of us have access to … but would never use … even if some of us filmmaking dreams, made a completely fascinating and exciting feature length film. He does such a great job with what he had to work with, it makes you wonder what he could do with a bigger budget and better tools. Oberzan is not only someone to watch, but his story is an inspiration to artists everywhere.
If you’re interested, check out Oberzan’s website which provides more details on how you can order the film:
A sweet acoustic ballad that beautifully conveys the experience of love when you’re in middle school, you don’t have a license to drive, and your big social events with your significant other are walking each other home from school and going to the middle school dance. I don’t know how much of that has survived in these increasingly jaded times, but I feel sorry for anyone who leapfrogs over a stage like this.
This is an alternate version of the song that wound up on Big Star’s “#1 Record.” There’s some very nice and (I’m sure) extremely rare footage of Big Star in this clip. I know “Radio City” is the critic’s favorite in Big Star’s oeuvre, but I have to say I love “#1 Record” more. The song was recently heard on “That 70s Show” when it underscored the romance between Eric and Jackie.
I always liked Neneh Cherry and thought she was a severely underrated performer. Here is an absolutely electrifying cover of the classic punk reggae song by X-Ray Spex. This is the best quality I could find online, but if you stay with it, I swear you will be richly rewarded. Cherry punks out quite energetically on this one and with the drums and bass slamming incredibly hard, you will be dancing around the room if you have a pulse.
A terrific sludge metal cover of an early KISS classic, by Aberdeen, Washington’s The Melvins. I’ve never confirmed for sure if this track was produced by an obscure former Melvins roadie named Kurt Cobain, but this is some extremely heavy, artery-clogging s–t that makes Black Sabbath sound like Wham! If you could make music out of a quaalude, it would sound like this.
Before Van Morrison disappeared “into the mystic” (and as some fans would allege “up his own a–“), he was the leader of a nasty Irish garage punk / Rolling Stones-like band called Them. “Gloria” may be Them’s biggest claim to fame, but this sleazy little gem arguably should have that honor. Later covered quite well by the MC5.
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