This is Rare.......
I had no idea this was even around. This is Sid and Nancy on NYC TV... channel 78 or something. Its a UHF channel long before the age of digital cable. There seems to be no censorship issues and the cussing is just part of the charm.
They both look somehow upbeat in this interview. Thats Dead Boy Stiv Bators sitting next to Sid. The Pistols had already broken up when this aired. If you listen to the interview Nancy talks about the shows she lined up for Sid at Max's Kansas City and some gigs lined up in Philadelphia... her home town.
These gigs would prove to be the very last time Sid would ever hit the stage as a performer. Nancy would be murdered by junkies in the upcoming weeks and Sid would be carted off to Rikers Island.
Then the story gets even stranger. On a recent episode of Biography it was announced that Sids own mother Anne Beverly injected Sid with the fatal dose of Heroin that would take his life. It was further mentioned that she did this deliberately in an effort to kill him. This would spare him the pain of 20 years in prison and the agony of being without Nancy. If this statement is true then Vicious was killed... or even.. murdered by his own birth mother.
Anne Beverly would later die in 1996 of a heroin overdose in east London.
Its interesting to watch this interview unfold knowing that the trail leads to nowhere fast.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
REAL CONVERSATIONS - Sat. January 14th.
Yes these guys were out of their heads half of the time but when they had something to say - they'd say it. This interview was taken from "Some Products Carri On... ". Its been a while since I heard it but its pretty straight forward. The Pistols shoot their mouths off every chance they get. And its usually quite interesting when the verbage pours out.....
This CD is worth getting if you can find it. Sid and Johnny Rotten were pretty interesting all around. This entire CD is packed with radio spots, interviews, and snippets of advertisements for, "The Great Rock and Roll Swindle" movie... which i consider one of the most important documents from that time period. You can get a glimpse at the complete lunacy of the whole thing.
The demos they talk about in this clip are somewhat dubious. I am not aware of any song they created that slams God personally. I have no idea what they are referring to. There was some deliberate pot shots taken to the deep south. They also take some broad swings at New York City with the song, "New York" which is funny. Punk started in NYC -- that is if you ask one of the aging depressed violent angry angst ridden ex-junkies. There is some dispute on where punk really started. The NY punks didn't really see themselves as punk. In the 1970's it was just considered the rock music scene.
The real Punk Rock scene started up in London in 1976. That means - the ripped up t-shirts, spikey hair - and the overall cartoonish look of the entire thing. That certainly didn't come off from the streets of Manhatten in the Village. I looked at the New York scene as a homeade sound with a lot of drug freak culture that was left over from the 60's -- aimless, sloppy and somewhat revved up while incoherant. The full blown three chord teenage punk bands came from the dirty streets of London.
Sid Vicious has some pretty profound statements in this interview. His views on racism always sort of stuck with me for years. His views on people just seeing themselves as people and not being classified as this or that.... rings true even today in this horrible Post-911 world. These guys were ahead of their time for what they were about.
This is a great time piece. Radio of modern times doesn't come close to this type of insightful brutal honesty. You would never hear an interview of its type on the air today.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of WebCrush and http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
The Diggeable Sounds......
This is like groovy dance Clash.... Techno punk -- suave but a bit dangerous. Its likeable...
I like it for the simple fact that it sounds like something you hear on the BBC Radio 1 web site. This is like the tail end of something great you hear when you tune into the Chris Moyles Show.... But quite can't put your finger on.
They got a bit of a rave up in the NME. Which is a good thing.
I rather like these guys. The video is a bit off on this one. The mouth does one thing while the song does something else.
But all is forgiven.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
WHAT THE HELL
These guys only released a handful of songs, mainly this one in multiple remixes--- and were heralded an instant classic. Its like powdered soup.
If these guys were so prolific where are they now? Don't get me wrong, I adore, "I WANNA BE ADORED" but I would like to see more offerings from this "prolific wunderkind". These guys also have a page on Wikipedia which I find somewhat amusing. Oh great... just what I always wanted... their grammer school records.. WHO CARES.
This band only put out TWO studio albums... yep, count 'em... TWO. From those two albums the record companies put out no less than FIVE COMPILATIONS AND GREATEST HITS.. from two studio album releases which is absurd.
Somehow I want to care about that. I want to find meaning in that.
But I don't.
These guys had a great song, thats it, I let it go.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
"THE WORLD IS INDEED FLAT I SAID !!"
this is music.
....AHEM.... And amazing music at that. Echobelly - from the album, "Lustra" AKA.. GREAT RELEASE IF YOU CAN FIND IT. This came out a number of years back and its their last great poppy effort. The releases that followed were very dark and introspective. Echobelly was still MIGHTY in sound but kicking out a much different kind of sound.
The video is plain. I'll give you that. My own imaginings for what could be possible were more expressive and imaginative. Working off a small budget I doubt this label would have too much of a budget. In either case this band is their greatest special effect. This possibly explains why most of their videos are live performances of the band playing to the pubilc.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
"I DONT LOVE ANYONE"..... stands off as some kind of anthem. Its a subtle one at that but it works. Its almost TOO subtle when its played live. But what makes this work is not so much their live presence but in the details of the music. The keyboards in the middle take a tap dance on your raw nerve endings.
This is some very powerful stuff. This is from the album, "Tigermilk" which used to be somewhat of a rarity. Even though it was released in 1996 it soon became difficult to find. I had to find my copy in Manhattan -- even then it was an import and there was only one left.
This clip is from a live television appearance.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
GREAT NAME -- GREAT BAND?
Depends on who you ask. I only heard a handful of songs and from what I heard I like them. There is something about the song Bondage that makes this band stand out. There is a sense of honesty in these lyrics and an urge of desperation.
In the film, "Sid and Nancy" this song is blaring in the background in a club. I really have no idea if Spex ever played in the same line up as the Sex Pistols. They probably did but there is no hint of honesty in its origin. Rotten himself said a lot of things you see in that film never happened. I do admire when the Pistols set the story straight in the film, The Filth and the Fury.
But what about X Ray Spex? What was THEIR story? They were definately there when all hell broke loose thats for damn sure. Kid singer Poly Styrene got the ball rolling by placing an ad in NME magazine that read.... 'YOUNG PUNX WHO WANT TO STICK IT TOGETHER'. The band members joined as a result and after just 6 sessions they were playing at the Roxy. Whats even more amazing is that they made a cut on the famous, "LIVE AT THE ROXY"... that album had the address printed right on the album cover. The inside sleeve shows a very sleepy eyed pre-heroin Sid Vicious sitting at a table near the bar.
"ROXY" is great for another reason. If you crank up the volume really loud like I do you can hear conversations inside the crowded room. You can actually hear someone say, "ISN'T THAT SID VICIOUS OVER THERE?".
Styrene became a Hindu after many nights of hedonistic living. Many of those kids from the original London scene died from drugs. The ones that didn't went bloody bonkers teetering on the edge of sanity. Something significant did happen near the end of the punk scene that was well documented in books and in the film, "24 Hour Party People".... a flying saucer appeared over south London. For some reason that event made some of these people re-evaluate their lives and ditch the punk scene forever..... you can read about its effect in the book by Jon Savage, LONDONS DREAMING.
The Poly shown in the film Sid and Nancy is in her late 20's and is a blonde. The real Poly is just a kid with really distinctive teeth. She was a dynamo. There is something sinister about the band too because as you can see -- these kids really mean what they say. They snarl, they have concrete and simple sentence structure. But the most interesting thing about this band is that they are articulate..... but just enough. Overall they are quite reckless in appearance. Compared to the cleaned up New Wave bands this band comes off a bit rough.
Some would say there is a reason to fear them. They were for real, This was no put on.
Record company dollars didn't matter to them. This was the real deal and for that reason they should be feared. They didn't care about acceptance or rejection. And that is how all good art is created. They spit in the face of society and challenge what should be expected.
------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
When X-Ray Spex did their thing in 1977 it was hard to conceive it. We had to rely on what the rock journalists were saying and that had to be good enough. Even then they were horribly obscured for about 20 years. Significant bands like X Ray Spex
were lost in time.
Fortunately in this age -- interesting bands have a chance to see some daylight. Last January 19, Ladyfuzz blasted their "dancerella" type sound at the Buffalo Bar in London and made some headway. They attracted the attention of NME Magazine.
Living in this age without John Peel is a bit difficult. With no sonic pop radar it is tough to figure out who is worth listening to. I am quite certain that if he were here today he would give this band a good whole hearty thumbs up -- as they are quite interesting.
------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
This video is posted because it is sort of rare. It was rare when it was "popular". In fact, MTV rarely showed it. They were too busy hawking Thomas Dolby and Dexys Midnight Runners. If you wanted to see A REAL rock video with a heavy sound you had to sit in front of MTV for a full 12 hours. Maybe then... in 1981... you may see one.... but then again... maybe not. In most cases not.
Seeing this clip gave us kids a real glimpse at what a big "Rock Show" looked like. It was like looking into a crystal ball. Most of the kids in my neighborhood were bullshit. They never went to a real rock and roll show in their entire lives including me. Hell, I was 13 years old and couldn't get near a car. In fact, none of the kids in my hood drove. So seeing this video was about as real as it was going to get for quite some time.
And it had to make do.... for the time being.
I finally saw these guys in Maryland during the famous 1984 tour. I was in the tenth row and this song came on -- as it was the first song they played for the night. Someone threw a t shirt at Eddie and it landed on his fret board screwing up his riffs.... he threw it on the floor and kept playing. It was incredible to get that close to all of them.
As far as I can tell, this video was shot live. Aside from this clip MTV had one for, "Pretty Woman" which was banned for some reason. The only glimpse we got of that was on the inside sleeve for, "Diver Down" when it was on vinyl.
This video had a midnight movie feel to it. It was rare. They don't even have midnight movies anymore -- real ones -- hodge podge pulp culture ones --- in this video --900 cable chanel internet age. Look at what you kids are missing out on.
------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and
New York City.
THE KLAXONS - ROUGH RAVE UP
The address in the article was distinct... and .. concrete -- and if you weren't there you somehow felt inadequate -- which is odd. It read... 333 Old Street, London. The kids in the audience were somehow photographed in mid-trance as the lead singer from the Klaxons stood among them belting out a soul sending belly-up offering.... They were participating in something significant.
This works visually as the song delivers upon many levels.
The Klaxons are a self absorbed blended mix of rave, acid, dance and day glo. Something interesting has emerged once again from the streets of London. This time its excitement and flamboyant non-conformative attitude. Its almost as if the smelly hippy era never existed.
You can't get that from seeing live photographs of the band playing. You also cannot get the audio sound from a printed page. There is something beautiful in its delivery.
------------------------------------
Ted Cantu is the creator of http://www.beautyloungestore.com he has contributed to several blogs and podcasts such as…..http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.
