BuncombeShinola

Monday, December 18, 2017

WHO'S GONNA CRY WHEN OLD JOHN DIES

Two versions of JOHNNY CASH's THE CARETAKER at the opposite ends of his career.

JOHNNY CASH CARETAKER 1959

JOHNNY CASH CARETAKER RICK RUBIN VERSION

Friday, March 11, 2016

TRUCKSTOP'S 2016 SXSW SCHEDULE!!

Pic by MIKE FICKEL!

as always, as much for your sanity as mine, here is the list of my SXSW appearances this year! hope to see you all somewheres.....

SUNDAY 3/13/16
MONKEYSHINES kicks off the action at the AQUARIUM on 6th street at 5PM!

LUNCH BUDDY SXSW SHOWS

WEDNESDAY 3/16/16

The HICKOIDS headline an allstar lineup featuring CHURCHWOOD, CUNTO, the BEAUMONTS and more in tribute to CLARENCE REID aka BLOWFLY!!

COODY GOLD PRESENTS AN ALL STAR TRIBUTE TO BLOWFLY

Of course might be dropping by the AUSTIN MUSIC HALL OF FAME AWARDS SHOW earlier in the evening, if the bad devil's willing and the creeks do rise.. *wink*

THURSDAY ST. PADDY 3/17/16

MONKEYSHINES wraps up a great night of music at the '04 LOUNGE for the 13th annual WHOOPSIE PARTY!

13TH ANNUAL WHOOPSIE PARTY SOUTH

But earlier in the evening of course all will be chilling at the official SAUSTEX SHOWCASE!

Don't miss this great show, even if i AINT playing! Hah

SAUSTEX SXSW 2016 SHOWCASE

FRIDAY 3/18/16

NOTHING?? What the fuck. Give me a gig. Or get me drunk. Thanks.

SATURDAY 3/19/16

HICKOIDS at 5PM, headlining the early section of SAUSTEX artists and friends at the '04 LOUNGE, once again for the WHOOPSIE ANNIVERSARY PARTY SOUTH!

13TH ANNUAL WHOOPSIE PARTY SOUTH

And then after that wraps up, will be chilling sho' nuff at this awesome SAUSTEX affiliated show at ABGB!

TEXPOP PRESENTS THE SOUNDS OF SAN ANTONIO

And then finally SXSW 2016 activities wrap up with THE NARCOTX, appearing at DOZEN STREET at 1030PM! Event as soon as available!

Can't wait to see you somewhere, here is the most recent SAUSTEX newsletter. Other useful links follow! MUCHAS SMOOCHEZ, BEBBEHZ

SAUSTEX 2016 SXSW NEWSLETTER

HICKOIDS

SAUSTEX

MONKEYSHINES

NARCOTX

Cheers!

Saturday, March 14, 2015

TRUCKSTOP SXSW 2015 schedule!

As always, for my sanity and organization as much for yours. On top of shows with the HICKOIDS, PURPLE STICKPIN, NARCOTX and MONKEYSHINES i will also be sitting in with my friend Steve Phillips' band THE GRAWKS from ATHENS GA whenever possible.

FRIDAY 3/13 HIX & BOS get a head start at RILEYS in NEW BRAUNFELs!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1002553046440888/

SUNDAY 3/15 HIX up north in BEND

TUESDAY 3/17 MONKEYSHINES gets in a SXSW set on east sixth!

https://www.facebook.com/events/852733518125155/

WEDNESDAY 3/18 PURPLE STICKPIN drops by WHOOPSY earlyish then the HIX close out a great night at the WHITE HORSE

https://www.facebook.com/events/881961215189873/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1034538036575410/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1563356060617951/

THURSDAY 3/19 a day OFF? maybe i'll go try to catch the DAMNED or DANNY FIELDS docs somewhere, then catch this great SAUSTEX showcase..

https://www.facebook.com/events/693671734075611/

FRIDAY 3/20 i'm working in the day, but you'd do wise to catch CHEETAH CHROME downtown, the ROKY ERICKSON ICE CREAM SOCIAL, or this blast of SAUSTEX fun at ABGB which i will be sad to miss. i will BE there with the HIX & THE GRAWKS later that night in SAN MARCOS at the TRIPLE CROWN

https://www.facebook.com/events/718169998296460/

SATURDAY 3/21 ok here is the PSYCHO day. three HIX sets, three GRAWKS (i might miss one). downtown early, soco dinnertime, SAN ANTONIO at Rock time

HIX outdoors somewhere downtown at 2 for the ROCK FEST. no event yet.

GRAWKS at 4 east 6th

Monday, March 2, 2015

THE LEONARD NIMOY/JIMI HENDRIX/MAD MAGAZINE TRIUMVIRATE!

Which VULCAN ear joke came first? In THE TROUBLE WITH THE TRIBBLES, which first aired December 29 1967, one occurs just after the 35:00 mark:

This excerpt from STAR BLECCH, by MORT DRUCKER & DICK DE BARTOLO, was published in issue #115 of MAD MAGAZINE from December 1967:

JIMI HENDRIX ends his band introductions at WOODSTOCK with ALFRED E. NEUMAN's catchphrase at roughly 4:45:

Jimi Hendrix Live At Woodstock - Monday, August 18, 1969 (Powerful Sound) from Alex Pap on Vimeo.

JIMI:

I SEE THAT WE MEET AGAIN HMMM. YEAH WELL, WELL, WELL. DIG,

DIG, I'D LIKE TO GET SOMETHING STRAIGHT, WE UMMM WE GOT TIRED

OF THE EXPERIENCE, AND EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE WE'RE BLOWING

OUR MINDS TOO MUCH, SO WE DECIDED TO CHANGE EVERYTHING AROUND.

AND UH CALL IT 'GYPSY SUNS AND RAINBOWS' FOR SHORT NOTHIN' BUT

A BAND OF GYPSIES. WE HAVE BILLY COX PLAYIN' BASS, AND UM FROM

NASHVILLE TENNESSEE WE HAVE LARRY LEE PLAYIN' GUITAR

OVER THERE, THE OTHER ME.

WE GOT JUMA PLAYIN' CONGOS OVER THERE,

JUMA, AND WE HAVE HEART, ERR UH GRANNYGOOSE,

OH I'M SORRY MITCH MITCHELL ON DRUMS OVER THERE,

AND WE GOT JERRY VELEZ ON CONGOS TOO. YOU GOT YOURS TRULY ON MEAT WHISTLE,

WHAT, ME WORRY?

(SOMEONE IN THE BACKGROUND)

"JIMI AREYOU HIGH?"

I HAVE MINE THANK YOU.

I HAVE MINE THANK YOU, BABY.

GIVES US ABOUT A MINUTE AND A HALF TO TUNE UP OK.

LIKE WE ONLY HAD ABOUT TWO REHEARSALS SO A WE'LL ONLY DO A PRIMARY

RHYTHM THING.I MEAN IT'S THE FIRST RAYS OF A NEW RISING SUN ANYWAY,

SO WE MIGHT AS WELL START FROM THE EARTH,

WHICH IS RHYTHM.

Here is the slowed down STAR TREK-inspired text for THIRD STONE FROM THE SUN from

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED:

Starfleet to scoutship, please give your position, Over.
I'm in orbit around the third planet from the star called
the sun. Over.
You mean its the earth? Over.
Positive. It is known to have some form of intelligent
species. Over.
I think we should take a look.

Strange beautiful grass of green,
With your majestic silver seas
Your mysterious mountains I wish to see closer
May I land my kinky machine

Strange beautiful grass of green,
With your majestic silver seas
Your mysterious mountains I wish to see closer
May I land my kinky machine

Although your world wonders me,
With your majestic and superior cackling hen
Your people I do not understand,
So to you I shall put an end
And you'll
Never hear
Surf music again

Secret
Oh, secret

Here it is sped back up, returning JIMI's vocals to their normal speed:

In this 2012 interview LEONARD NIMOY discusses meeting JIMI HENDRIX, starting at about the 10:00 mark:

And finally, here is NIMOY's cover of BOBBY HEBB's hit SUNNY, also utilized in the Oct. 1976 #186 MAD MAGAZINE musical parody KEEP ON TREKIN' by MORT DRUCKER and FRANK JACOBS:

********

LLAP

1931-2015

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

PUNK VS HEAVY METAL! THE RAMONES MEET BLACK SABBATH

Believe it or not, twice in the late 70s the RAMONES were the opening act for BLACK SABBATH. Before securing their status as headliners, the band were likely to accept any pairing, no matter how ill conceived the booking. One of the shows was even billed as PUNK VS HEAVY METAL, and the RAMONES had to halt their performance and flee the stage amidst a shower of debris after aborted attempts to start I'M AGAINST IT and SURFIN' BIRD. They did not return to complete their set.

Astonishingly, audio has turned up of this show:

RAMONES VS BLACK SABBATH 1

The other recording is even more unruly, especially at the end of PINHEAD and after the completion of the SEARCHERS' ballad NEEDLES & PINS (perhaps they might have skipped this one??) A disgusted JOEY refers to the crowd as 'turkeys' before launching into SURFIN' BIRD.

(The image is actually from another disastrous gig, opening for AEROSMITH at a festival in Toronto.)

Here is the regrettably incomplete audio:

RAMONES VS BLACK SABBATH 2

Here is MARKY recalling the shows (the link requires two steps, or click on the title):

MARKY RAMONE RECALLS RAMONES VS BLACK SABBATH

The band seemed to take the failed crossover performances in stride, and DEEDEE even briefly took to sporting a BLACK SABBATH tshirt (see above). Over time the schism between the exclusive HEAVY METAL and PUNK camps smoothed over, but a vintage photograph used by the OBLIVIANS for the cover of their classic album POPULAR FAVORITES captures the zeitgeist animosity of an older era perfectly...

(Note the fans wearing tshirts similar to DEEDEE's. Ah, those were the days.)

Looking for a photo credit on the DEEDEE pic, if anybody knows, please let me know.

Until then, feel free to check out my track by track RAMONES career overview blog at

RAMONES: HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

You can follow on FB and tumblr too.

GABBA GABBA HEY

Sunday, January 4, 2015

HICKOIDS 8/17/2012 WHITE HORSE AUSTIN TEXAS

The HICKOIDS performed at the WHITE HORSE in Austin Texas on August 17, 2012. On this occasion some high quality video was shot by RYAN FITZPATRICK, and later compiled with the aid of HIX drummer LANCE FARLEY. It's some of the best live footage shot of the band since i've joined, so i put together all of the youtube links here for my own (and everybody's) cornvenience.

The lineup this particular evening was JEFF SMITH vokes DAVY JONES lead widdilyin' RICE MOOREHEAD bass LANCE FARLEY drums SCOTT LUTZ on keys/extra git and myself TOM TRUSNOVIC on other geetar.

A memorably fun night, glad some of it was captured.

LOCO GRINGOS cover

HICKOIDS FRUIT FLY

YOU KNEE'D ME

HICKOIDS YOU KNEE'D ME

Doing CARL DOUGLAS proud

HICKOIDS CORN FOO FIGHTING

Part 3 of the HEEHAW medley

HICKOIDS BUTTFUCK JUNCTION

BENNIE & THE JETS

HICKOIDS BENNIE & THE JETS

Finally, BACK IN THE TRUCK & DONKEY LADY

HICKOIDS GET BACK IN THE TRUCK/DONKEY LADY

HIX LINX:

HICKOIDS FACEBOOK

HICKOIDS REVERBNATION

SAUSTEX-- HICKOIDS' LABEL HOMESITE

Thursday, January 1, 2015

ROKY ERICKSON & THE RESURRECTIONISTS LIVE!

The folks at TEXAS PSYCHEDELIC ROCK have struck again with the youtube upload of ROKY ERICKSON performing live in New Orleans 1982 with the sadly underrecorded RESURRECTIONISTS. This lineup featured CARL GIESECKE of the NERVEBREAKERS on drums, BRIAN S. CURLEY of LESTER BANG'S DELINQUENTS on bass and JIMMY JONES on lead guitar-- although these recordings feature ROKY taking solos of notable quality with striking frequency. ROKY's vocals are a shade less ferocious than his performance on the previously available BEAUTY & THE BEAST (captured earlier in 1982 with the same lineup), but the recording has good balance and features several tracks not appearing on that release. Two extremely rare cuts, ANGEL and HASN'T ANYONE TOLD YOU are also included.

ROKY & THE RESURRECTIONISTS--TUPELO'S TAVERN

01 Bermuda 0:00
02 Hasn't Anyone Told You ? 03:32
03 Two Headed Dog 06:32
04 Cold Night For Alligators 11:02
05 Mine Mine Mind 15:43
06 White Faces 18:35
07 Don't Shake Me Lucifer 21:28
08 Angel 24:06
09 The Beast 29:16
10 I Walked With A Zombie 38:21
11 Heroin 44:38
12 I Think Of Demons 56:52
13 Bloody Hammer 1:01:50
14 Crazy Crazy Mama 1:10:42
15 Creature With The Atom Brain 1:14:43
16 Starry Eyes 1:19:39
17 Don't Slander Me 1:24:29
18 The Interpreter 1:28:19
19 Stand For The Fire Demon 1:31:16
20 Night Of The Vampire 1:37:38
21 Hasn't Anyone Told You ? 1:45:15
22 You're Gonna Miss Me 1:48:30

Here is a quick jump to the long out of print BEAUTY & THE BEAST on grooveshark. I had a hand in the production of the SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY release, and also wrote the liner note. The astonishing cover art (see top of page) was created by R.K. SLOANE.

ROKY & THE RESURRECTIONISTS-- BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Although a small amount of material with slightly inferior audio quality was minimally utilized (the cd features performances culled from two nights), I was pleased to be part of documenting such a strong performance of ROKY with one of his most underrated backing bands.

Here is the complete original recording that CD is culled from:

ROKY LIVE AT THE ISLAND

PS! Another Louisiana RESURRECTIONISTS show has turned up! Lousier audio, but a good performance.

ROKY & THE RESURRECTIONISTS BATON ROUGE 1982

Go here for more cool ROKY materials daily!

DEVIL'S INFINITY CHILDREN: ROKY ERICKSON FANPAGE

Sunday, December 7, 2014

ROKY ERICKSON-- THE EVIL ONE RARITIES!!

The folks over at TEXAS PSYCHEDELIC ROCK have been uploading some rather amazing ROKY ERICKSON archival material to youtube lately. Two different posts have revealed a startling amount of alternate takes and mixes from the EVIL ONE sessions. For convenience this blog will gather these recordings, and also some links to other related items.

With a few major exceptions (WHITE FACES, COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS) most of these outtakes are not too radically different in their arrangement, but there are MANY great different vocal takes, longer fades, and performance details now audible with different instruments more prominent in the mix. There are also some cool instrumental backing track takes.

2 hours of expanded EVIL ONE. Thanks to the uploaders of this precious motherlode. You can follow TEXAS PSYCHEDELIC ROCK's ROKY- related activities on Facebook here: 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS/ROKY ERICKSON.

Enjoy!

EVIL ONE ALTERNATE MIXES

01 It's a Cold Night for Alligators 0:00
02 Night of the Vampire (alternate mix) 03:14
03 Mine Mine Mind (alternate mix) 07:30
04 If You Have Ghosts (alternate mix) 11:04
05 Stand For The Fire Demon (alternate mix) 15:12
06 Two Headed Dog (Red Temple Prayer) (alternate mix) 21:08
07 I Think Of Demons (alternate take/mix ) 24:30
08 White Faces (alternate mix/doubled vocals) 27:19
09 I Walked with a Zombie (extended alternate mix/alternate backing vocals) 29:55
10 Creature with the Atom Brain (alternate take) 33:13
11 Don't Shake Me Lucifer (alternate take/mix) 37:30
12 The Wind and More (alternate mix) 40:20
13 Click Your Fingers Applauding the Play (alternate mix) 44:24
14 Cold Night For Alligators (alternate mix) 46:59
15 Alien I Creator (alternate take) 51:36

THE EVIL ONE VOCAL TAKES & INSTRUMENTALS

01 It's a Cold Night for Alligators (Take 1) 0:00
02 It's a Cold Night for Alligators (Take 2) 03:14
03 It's a Cold Night for Alligators (Take 3) 06:28
04 If You Have Ghosts (Take 1) 09:41
05 If You Have Ghosts (Take 2) 13:42
06 If You Have Ghosts (Take 3) 17:17
07 The Wind and More (Take 1) 21:21
08 The Wind and More (Take 2) 25:45
09 White Faces (Take 1) 30:07
10 White Faces (Take 2) 32:52
11 White Faces (Take 3) 35:35
12 Click Your Fingers Applauding the Play (Take1) 38:16
13 Click Your Fingers Applauding the Play (Take 2) 40:38
14 Click Your Fingers Applauding the Play (Take 3) 43:14
15 Don't Shake Me Lucifer (Take 1) 45:49
16 Don't Shake Me Lucifer (Take 2) 48:48
17 Stand for the Fire Demon (Instrumental) 51:41
18 The Damned Thing (Instrumental 1) 57:52
19 The Damned Thing (Instrumental 2) 1:03:14
20 Night of the Vampire (Instrumental 1) 1:06:31
21 Night of the Vampire (Instrumental 2) 1:10:54

Musicians: Roky Erickson (vocals & guitar), Duane Aslaksen (guitar), Steven Burgess (bass), Fuzzy Furioso (drums), Andre Lewis (keyboards), Bill Miller (autoharp); Also: Brian Marnell, Scott Matthews, Link Davis Jr. and Stu Cook

Here's the complete original CD.

THE EVIL ONE

Here's a link to ROKY ERICKSON: THE EVILLER ONE, a collection of other versions of the EVIL ONE compositions I compiled for my blog BUNCOMBE SHINOLA:

ROKY ERICKSON: THE EVILLER ONE--AN ALTERNATE CLASSIC

And finally, here is a link to the Facebook fanpage where I post ROKY related materials daily:

DEVIL'S INFINITY CHILDREN: ROKY ERICKSON FANPAGE

Cheers

TOM WAITS & THE RAMONES

TOM WAITS and THE RAMONES. Two of my favorites, and some might think unlikely members of a mutual appreciation society- or interpreters of each others' material. However, over the years their common ground has cemented, and borne fruit. For Mr. WAITS' birthday (and convenience) I've gathered up all of their respective covers, and their original versions, Enjoy.

THE RETURN OF JACKIE & JUDY

I DON'T WANNA GROW UP

DANNY SAYS

PONY- CJ RAMONE

The originals:

THE RETURN OF JACKIE AND JUDY

I DON'T WANNA GROW UP

DANNY SAYS

PONY

How about some live action?

I DON'T WANNA GROW UP live

ALSO!

Feel free to check out my daily track by track RAMONES career overview blog at

RAMONES: HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

Photo by BRAD ELTERMAN

Monday, April 7, 2014

INDIANA JONES & THE FACES OF DEATH!!

INDIANA JONES & THE TEMPLE OF DOOM is such a lousy movie in so many ways. Several common sequel pitfalls are tripped over (the 'annoying kid sidekick' is a prevalent film followup cliche), and who can erase the shrill annoyance of KATE CAPSHAW's dreadful performance (the future Mrs. SPIELBERG, nudge nudge) from their memory. But the jarring shift from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK's exhilarating, imaginative violence to the charmless, blunt sadism of the sequel is easily the most glaring shortcoming-- and indeed, TEMPLE OF DOOM is noted as one of the films which triggered the 'PG13' rating. You see, for a big budget, major studio, family adventure picture, an 'R' rating would constitute a disastrous loss of revenue. How do you measure the combined weight of director STEVEN SPIELBERG's and producer GEORGE LUCAS's Hollywood sway in the 80's? Instead of being pressured to tone down the brutality of their latest offering, they received a convenient new rating designation, seemingly tailormade for their predicament. "R' level violence that the kids can attend.

SPIELBERG & LUCAS were both struggling through divorce/breakup difficulties before and during production, and in retrospect both acknowledge this shaded their creative outlook, with especially SPIELBERG proving surprisingly willing to dismiss TEMPLE OF DOOM outright.

But perhaps there was something else heightening their black mood, nudging their bleak funk, agitating their simmering tastelessness. Recently, while in the midst of a VHS mondo genre review, I was suddenly struck by how many of TEMPLE OF DOOM's noteworthy scenes were mirrored in the famous snuff documentary FACES OF DEATH, released significantly earlier. FACES is well known as the release that triggered the death video compilation avalanche in rental stores nationwide during the early 80s- the MONDO CANE of the VHS age. (That so much of the 'documentary' is transparently staged, and narrated with insultingly smug phoniness, seems to have mattered little.)

While it is difficult to imagine SPIELBERG or LUCAS hanging out at their homes with a bowl of popcorn and shoving their clear-cased, loaner copy of FACES OF DEATH-- hosted by the ludicrously monikered FRANCIS B. GROSS (pictured above on the motorcycle)-- into their living room vcr for a viewing, the similarities are so strikingly clear, I was stunned to have not noticed them earlier. And make no mistake, as TEMPLE OF DOOM worked through conceptualization and pre-production, FACES OF DEATH had been wildly popular and well known in Video Shops for several YEARS.

Skeptical? Proceed. It'll pass.

1. BEATING HEART
      One of TEMPLE OF DOOM's most notorious scenes, in fact, perhaps one of the very reasons PG13 exists, involves a ritual sacrifice in which a still beating heart is yanked from the chest of a helpless victim. The very opening scene of FACES OF DEATH features a look at some open heart surgery, and lingers for several seconds as the heart pumps away with the chest cavity open and exposed. The credits are then followed by autopsy footage where a heart, and other organs are removed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk2E1CoGe98

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN59Tx1s5qM

2. GATOR BAIT
     As TEMPLE OF DOOM draws to a climax, action shifts to a chasm bridged by a shaky rope contraption, and several henchmen tumble to their deaths into the crocodile infested waters below. This recalls one of FACES OF DEATH's sequences, in which a representative of law enforcement, unwisely attempting to lasso an alligator in a pond, is yanked into the drink and mauled.Of course, it's even MORE similar to the FACES OF DEATH 3 segment in which a windblown parachutist lands into a Florida allogator (crocodile? whatever) pit. However, the third installment in the FACES OF DEATH series saw relase a year after TEMPLE OF DOOM hit the theaters. It's still quite striking how similarly the feeding frenzies are edited-- perhaps FRANCIS B. GROSS and co. felt it was time for some payback. After all, turnabout is fair play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKOeLVsmkLQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROD4A0jr0Lw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13jWeF8iM_Y

3. MONKEY BRAINS
     Lastly, the clincher. The 'comedic' highlight of the second INDIANA JONES flick involves a long gross out dinner scene in a foreign country where, amongst other revolting offerings, monkey brains are on the menu. If there is SOME way one can claim this idea wasn't stolen outright from this world-famous FACES OF DEATH sequence, PLEASE, explain to me HOW. (While this scene is truly disturbing, one can rest easy that it is also one of the 'documentary's most obviously staged schticks.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MgyRO3c870

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjRdxuByd2g

INDIANA Jonesin' for death?? How could he B. so Gross?

Sorry for the low quality clips on some of these, copyright holders seem to be working hard to keep some of these scenes offline.

Monday, January 20, 2014

HIX do DIX!

As part of ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO's UNITED SOUNDS OF AUSTIN concert on January 11, 2014 the HICKOIDS were invited to perform DEAD IN A MOTEL ROOM by Austin's beloved punk icons THE DICKS. Other artists appearing at this 'Journey Through 60 Years of Austin Music' included JOE ELY, LUCINDA WILLIAMS, ROKY ERICKSON, BUTCH HANCOCK, TERRY ALLEN & ROSIE FLORES.

All photos by TODD V WOLFSON. More of his great pix from this event can be found here:

The United Sounds of Austin / ACL Live at the Moody Theater .

Nobody got the whole song on video, but between these two clips it's almost all of it. The introduction is courtesy the lovely MARGARET MOSER.

HICKOIDS DEAD IN A MOTEL ROOM pt 1

HICKOIDS DEAD IN A MOTEL ROOM pt 2

HICKOIDS were honored to be invited, and had a great time. Thanx everybody

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO: TOP TEN WEIRDNESS!!

I am not a fan of modern film. Nor am I a fan of normal film. The laughable standard of 'star quality' currently dribbling from the hackneyed Hollywood lowest-common-denominator drip, the infuriating passivity and homogenized din of unconvincing action dominant in the post-internet era mindrot, the co-opting of the art cinema fare by the dullest romantic devices of the mainstream, and the inevitable extinction of the independent grindhouse, ALL leave me utterly DRY.

On the other hand, I have always been thrilled by the anachronistic, the deviant, the absurd, the outsider, the rockin', and the raw. And that is what makes the recent passing of SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO's Mike Vraney such a personal heartbreak for me. This from a fan who never met the man, but was brought hours and hours of mind boggling, titillating and hilarious joy through his labours. For years, even decades.

SWV revelled in pre-porn smut, rock and roll delinquent potboilers, Z-grade sc-ifi & monster flicks, and all other realms exploitative or odd. They not only helped to shape my aesthetic-- my leanings toward the flavors of the bizarre and forgotten-- but they also validated that such tastes were part of an older, ever present, ever evolving, mindset- whose delirious ranks I had unwittingly joined.

In memoriam, and celebration, I humbly offer my TOP TEN Favorite SWV mind-melters. Cheers, Mr. Vraney, and Thank you for EVERYTHING.

Long Live SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO!

1957-2014

1. MANTIS IN LACE aka LILA
     Lovely exotic dancer LILA OD's on LSD and becomes prone to mid-coital flashbacks, which bring her to the point of homicidal psychedelic fury. Cinematographer LASZLO KOVACS (!) helped supply some of the violently hallucinatory imagery, and one of the victims is STUART LANCASTER from RUSS MEYER's FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL! KILL!- but there are too many whack performances to list, really. Although SWV dvds are noted for their amazing extras (all time creepiest School Scare film LSD: TRIP OR TRAP? is included), I recommend seeking this out on VHS. It is a far superior cut, although it is a badly damaged print. Still easy to enjoy under the influence, I can attest. More on this classic later. For now, here is the unforgettable theme song:

2. BLOOD FREAK
     Muscleman biker STEVE HAWKES takes a new job eating turkey injected with experimental drugs to help support his addiction to marijuana, which is also tainted. The combination transforms him into a bloodthirsty, rampaging, uhh, turkey beak guy, who terrorizes the neighborhood. Plenty of hippie hotties, drug parties, and crimson drenched gore. And praying. Oh, see, this is actually a jesus film! Turkeyman is saved through the efforts of his christian girlfriend, and he eventually drops to his knees to ask the almighty for aid. Incredible.

3. STREET OF A THOUSAND PLEASURES
     An unforgettable artifact of a lost time, STREET OF A THOUSAND PLEASURES is a nudie flick on the very threshold of the hardcore era. The thin plot involves an American being shown around an arab slave girl market, but what soon becomes apparent is that the filmmakers have stacked the production with EVERY single nude model or exotic dancer they could find who was willing to participate. So DOZENS of familiar faces (over 70!) from this period appear, including the well known USCHI DIGARD, JOYCE GIBSON and MICHELLE ANGELO. The POV camerawork is equally, and uniquely, exciting too. Many films have bragged the tagline "There's something in it for EVERYONE!", but for once, they weren't kidding. Not willing to post a link to the amazing trailer at some dubious porn site, you'll have to find it yourself. Or better yet, go buy that SOMETHING WEIRD SAMPLER dvd. Lotsa great clips & coming attractions.

4. WIZARD OF GORE
     I vacillated between including HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS' well known classic BLOOD FEAST or this less familiar freakout from further along in his career. Finally went with the latter because the confusing, fourth-wall shattering last reel has always reminded me of the climax to ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY's later film HOLY MOUNTAIN. Montag the Magician performs blood drenched illusions onstage, but later the hypnotised participants unexpectedly succumb to their (imagined?) tortures. LEWIS' final reel, leaping into the existential void, is one of his wilder accomplishments.

5. THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP
   Where to begin. It's Argentinian. It's a softcore porno, with orgies, lesbians and masturbators. It's a mad scientist film, with an evil antagonist taking orders from a brain in a jar and commanding an army of deformed (alien?) henchmen. It's a demented spoof of the prevalent sexual studies which were coming into vogue, via Masters & Johnson's HUMAN SEXUAL RESPONSE & others. And it's a rather well shot detective story, with earnest do gooders hot on the trail to solve the mystery before it is too late. It would almost seem like a movie pieced together from disparate sources (see SATAN'S BED below), but somehow this most schizophrenic of all the SWV offerings manages to hang together. You'll never be the same.

The Curious Dr. Humpp from El Baron Lagourde on Vimeo.

6. BASKET CASE
     Aside from HGL's BLOOD FEAST, perhaps the most widely known of SWV's releases. A likable recent arrival to Times Square (during its seediest heyday) works at exacting revenge against the physicians who performed the surgical removal of his deformed siamese twin as a boy. His astounding companion BELIAL, the basket's denizen, becomes one of cinema's most unlikely underdog antiheroes, and the film bulges with other surprising merits-- numerous likable amateur performances, an impossible to fake aura of NYC scuzziness, some imaginative splatter effects (enhanced by a brief stop-motion sequence!), and a level of irresistably black humor throughout. A low budget masterpiece from FRANK HENENLOTTER.

7. SATAN'S BED
A disorienting hodgepodge from MICHAEL FINDLAY, who would soon find infamy as a trailblazer in the field of violent pre-porn nudies known as 'roughies.' This film seems to be two works unconvincingly spliced together. One is rather standard FINDLAY fare as a co-ed gang of hooligans terrorize a succession of unfortunate females (including pretty brunette JUDY ADLER, who rarely appears in a movie without being manhandled). The other, however, is a brutal big city fable in which YOKO ONO makes an early, startling, starring appearance. I'm not kidding. No, she doesn't have a nude scene.

SATAN'S BED TRAILER

8. BLOODY PIT OF HORROR
Chiseled and oily MICKEY HARGITAY (that's Mr. JAYNE MANSFIELD to you, and yes, father of Law & Order: SVU's MARISKA HARGITAY) stars as The Crimson Executioner, a reincarnation of the MARQUIS DE SADE. His quiet solitude is shattered when a group of photographers and models descends upon his seemingly abandoned castle. Upon eyeballing the beauties, the compulsions take over and he eventually starts bringing the guests down to the torture dungeon... Oddly enough, I think this is supposed to kind of a comedy, but nobody seems to have told HARGITAY, who gives his maniacal all. Not that any of this explains the room with the spider the size of a large pizza and the web made of rope.

9. NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES
A glaring exception to the 'remakes are never as good as the originals' rule. Of course, it helps that RENE CARDOZA was remaking his own previous Female Wrestler vs. twisted monster effort: DOCTOR OF DOOM. A doctor transplants an ape's heart into his son's body, but this causes a hideous mutation, and the creature breaks loose. Of course, being shot in the early seventies instead of the early sixties means a lot of gratuitous nudity and gruesome violence- including, perhaps most appallingly, footage of actual open heart surgery. The law is powerless to stop the attacks, but thankfully they are dating a Girl Lucha Libre team, who are considerably more proactive. From SANTOS on down, the Mexican Wrestling Movie genre is a mystifying realm.

10. LOVE CAMP 7
Not JUST the precursor to an entire rash of women-in-prison movies in the 70s, LOVE CAMP 7 also kicked off the Nazi sexploitation film craze, which plumbed to the depths of depravity with ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS-- but also found a kind of general acceptance in the artier SALON KITTY and THE NIGHT PORTER. It seems rather difficult to comprehend in retrospect, for if there is any genre more difficult to explain away than this brief burst of Hitler porno chic, I'd certainly be hard pressed to name it. And certainly LOVE CAMP 7, where a group of allied agents goes undercover in a Nazi brothel, and is met with predictably harsh treatment, is true to form. It documents a time, years before actual pornography was legalized, when filmakers would go to ANY length to make their smut deviantly stand out from the crowd. So much of the vintage celluloid could almost seem quaint, if not for the brutal concepts and content-- all so strangely alluring in these PC days.

Well guys, there you have it. It's been a blast! Feel free to leave a comment below and tell me your faves.

And I'm certain there is still plenty of fun to come. For the awesome power and dominating influence of SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO is ominously all-pervasive....

Here's a link to the fabulous SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO website! There is also a link to their FB page this way. ORDER something NOW!!

SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO

And here's a link to MIKE VRANEY's Memorial FB page. A TON of great pictures and remembrances.

MIKE VRANEY MEMORIAL TRIBUTE

SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO gif via MONSTERMAN! Check out his tumblr!

If anybody needs a credit for anything, please let me know, and I will make adjustments. Thank you.