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FunHouse the cyberzine of degenerate pop culture vol. 1 no. 2
Dear FUNHOUSE! subscriber. Number two is finally done, I hope that you
enjoy it. Feel free to contact me with any comments or questions, and you
may distribute FUNHOUSE! intact as you wish.
Jeff
Get back to me if there were any transmission problems and I will try to fix
them.
FUNHOUSE!
The cyberzine of degenerate pop culture
vol. 1 - no. 2; July 22, 1993
Released on the day of George Clinton's 53'rd birthday.
editor: Jeff Dove (jeffdove@well.sf.ca.us)
<Note: written on a Macintosh text editor, line feeds are on. Display in
nine point font.>
FUNHOUSE! is dedicated to whatever happens to be on my mind at the time
that I'm writing. The focus will tend to be on those aspects of our
fun-filled world which aren't given the attention of the bland traditional
media, or which have been woefully misinterpreted or misdiagnosed by the
same. FUNHOUSE! is basically a happy place, and thus the only real
criteria I will try to meet is to refrain from rants, personal attacks,
and flames - and thus FUNHOUSE! is an apolitical place. Offbeat films,
music, literature, and experiences are largely covered, with the one
stipulation being that articles are attempted to be detailed and well
documented, although this is no guarantee of completeness or correctness,
so that the interested reader may further pursue something which may spark
her interest. Correspondence and contributions are thus encouraged, and
any letters will by printed in future issues. Please send a short message
to the above address, and arrangements will be made for the submission of
larger items. The only other item is that FUNHOUSE! is Free-Free-
Freeware! PLEASE copy and distribute as you wish, however please do not
alter any text. I will be happy to try to clarify anything contained
herein, and to provide additional information if I can, so don't hesitate
to contact me.
Table Of Contents:
* Letters, commentary, and other stuff you'll probably skip over
* Degenerate and anti-social behavior for the masses - the biker
genre of exploitation film
* How sleazy did sexploitation get? Harry K. Novak and Boxoffice
International on video
* Mutant rocker profiles: The Standells and The Flamin' Groovies
* Reviews: books, 'zines, and music (George Clinton and the P-Funk
Allstars and Neil Young with Booker T and the MG's reviewed live)
Letters, Commentary, and Other Stuff...
---------------------------------------
Thanks for the 'zine. It was a great read. I just had a couple things to
add (perhaps you knew this stuff already and didn't think it was important
enough to add, but if not, well then, you learn something new every
day...=)
*Roger Ebert's pseudonym for his Russ Meyer scripts was R. Hyde, I
think.
*Have you ever seen the CD+G graphics on the CD version of Lou Reed's _New
York_? I've heard that, along with lyrics to the songs, there's digitized
photos along the same vein as the cover art.
On a semi-related note, I've heard two different rap songs in the past
year (although one is several years old) that sample _Walk on the Wild
Side_:
*_Wildside_ by Marky Mark: To me, it's almost supposed to be some kind of
remake, except where Lou glorifies the local drag queens (that _is_ what
it's about, isn't it?), Marky tells sensationalist
good-people-get-ruined-by-drugs stories...sticks pretty close to the
original musically, at least compared to:
*_Can I Kick It_ by A Tribe Called Quest: Samples a brief part of _Walk_,
during the chorus, when Q-Tip shouts "Can I kick it?" and the chorus
replies "Yes, you can!". For some reason, I've heard critics say Quest
sampled _Walk_ to much better effect. I don't have much of an opinion
one way or the other, frankly.
Oh well, if you put in a letters column, feel free to use the above...
Looking forward to the next issue,
Brit
bwoodman@emunix.emich.edu
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Enjoyed FUNHOUSE! Apparently there were a lot of things I didn't know
about Russ Meyer. Great reviews too. How did you find the time to do
a the research? Yes, very well done.
Regarding the tree conundrum: I'll have to find fault with the TV broadcast
analogy. You equate a transmitter "broadcasting" to the existence of
a tree-produced sound (at least that's my take). But "broadcasting" is an
*action* whereas a "sound" is a *product of an action*. Thus your analogy
implies that, just as a lone transmitter "broadcasts," a lone tree "rever-
berates." The question of whether the tree makes a sound is more on par
with the question of whether that transmitter produces a *program*, or
whatever.
Don't these silly philosophical things make you want to go out and kill?
Later,
mike wooldridge
mwool@UX5.LBL.GOV
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As a dedicated and lifelong fan of Russ Meyer and his boob brigade, I must
say your FUNHOUSE! article did a good job. I would however like to point
out a couple of things:
1) With regards to WILD GALS OF THE NAKED WEST, there is indeed actual
dialog coming from a person on the screen, not just looped over narration.
This however only occurs during the narration scenes which are
interspersed throughout the film by the old drunk, played by Jack Moran
(also the star of COMMON LAW CABIN. There is also a bit of complete
toplessness, where you stated that there wasn't.
2) 20th Century Fox has set May 19, 1993 as the date for the new video
release of BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. It is being put out in tandem
with VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.
Well, off to watch SUPERVIXENS for the 34th time,
Paul Chinn
loomer@cs.ucsb.edu
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
More Russ Redux:
In her book "Invasion of the B-Girls" (Eclipse), Jewel Shepard interviews Haji.
Haji claims (apparently honestly) that her father was an alien. She talks
of dropping out of school to be an exotic dancer at age 14, claims that
she named the film GOODMORNING AND GOODBYE, has many good things to say
about Russ and John Cassevetes (whose film was her only non-Meyer role),
and is found to be an ardent animal rights activist. Haji recently
appeared with Russ and Roger Ebert at a screening of BEYOND THE VALLEY OF
THE DOLLS at UCLA, where she took questions from the audience. She'd also
like to act again.
And on the season finale of the TV series "Seinfeld", both the characters
Jerry and Elaine make reference to Russ. They're speaking of a situation
where all of the waitresses in a coffee shop are well endowed, and say
something to the effect of, "I haven't seen that many large breasts
outside of a Russ Meyer film". Meyer's notoriety is growing. Could wide-
spread respectability be around the corner? Elaine did however describe
him as "making really bad films in the seventies", Oh well...
And while I don't wish to bitch too much in the spirit of keeping
FUNHOUSE! rant-free (I promise to at least do so in the political sense),
there was an amazing juxtaposition on June 15 of people/organizations that
have exhibited obnoxious behavior that I can't resist commenting. On
that night Fox presented none other than the "cute one" himself, ex-Beatle
Paul McCartney and his warbling wife. I'm not going to go into the music
other than to say that Paul's singing was good but his band was very weak.
My gripe with him is the heavy-handed behavior bordering on fascism he's
now exhibiting. The story is that the vegetarian Mr. McCartney WILL NOT
ALLOW the vendors in the arenas in which he's playing to sell any meat
products. Meatless hot-dogs are however allowed. It doesn't end there.
The hired crew for the tour (taken on through a contract with a service
provider, they are not his regular employees) were required to sign a
contract that forbids them from eating meat, with the penalty of being
fired. Supposedly the granola patrol even searches wastebaskets for
evidence. There can be no gripe if the Eastman-McCartney's wish to modify
their own diets, but to attempt to control the eating of everyone
surrounding them, including their audience, is ridiculous. If John Lennon
were around I hope he'd kick some ass over this. The second, and far more
pernicious half of that nights duo of shame, is that right-wing sponsor of
football games and gigs by former Beatles, Blockbuster Video. BOYCOTT
BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO AT ALL TIMES! This is much more than the standard
complaint against larger corporate entities, like major record labels
etc., "just 'cause". This chain is guilty of evil behavior. They are the
worst form of censors and use their power as a huge purchaser to influence
what you the video viewer watch, regardless of whether or not you are
their patron. They are known to go to distributors preparing a film for
release and to demand changes of titles, box art, and worst of all editing
of the movie, based on their (fundamentalist Christian motivated) beliefs.
This is done under the threat of dropping the huge order for every one of
their stores. The end result is that not only does the Blockbuster patron
get shafted, but the independent video renter does also, as the
Blockbuster approved version is all that is available to her. It is
company policy that the stores will not stock Martin Scorcese's work of
art, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. If you must utilize one of these
outlets, ALWAYS ask about the availability of this title. It's also fun to
point out such "wholesome family" entertainment that they do carry, such
as I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE or PINK FLAMINGO'S, when they tell you that they
don't have the Scorcese film.
Degenerate and Anti-Social Behavior For the Masses - The Biker Genre Of
Exploitation Film
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
EASY RIDER IS NOT A BIKER FILM! That needed to be said before this
discussion got underway. The biker flick genre is made up of those movies
which portray the cyclists as degenerate outcasts from society, who are
depicted indulging in their every foul impulse for our voyeuristic
pleasure. Some of the early producers framed their showings of
anti-social shenanigans in the context of a portrayal of outcasts from
society who are victims of it's intolerance. (Or at least they pretended
to). Eventually the need for this phony moralizing gave way to simple
vehicles for showing the exploitation ticket buyers of the late sixties/
early seventies the sex, violence, and hooliganism that they wanted to
see. The paradigm for the cycle movie basically consisted of a gang of
scum bags rolling into Smalltown USA, some innocent young local yokel high
school girl getting aroused and interested, and then they do/don't
molest/have voluntary sex with her. The hometown rednecks get riled up
and go after the gang, which results in a big rumble in which the filth is
wiped out, or the town is leveled. Now this of course sounds pretty
meager and uninteresting. It is the need for the filmmakers to make the
basic sex and violence chrome opera a little more interesting that allows
us to get perverse kicks from these titles today. The creative twists put
into these epics involved bikers on drugs, bikers in 'Nam, women bikers,
black bikers, gay bikers, and even monster bikers. Motorcycle films
featured such later notables as Russ Tamblyn, Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda,
Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Nancy Sinatra, Harry Dean Stanton, Diane Ladd,
Casey Kasem, John Cassavetes, the first appearance of Tom Laughlin as
Billy Jack, and the REAL Hells Angels (San Berdoo chapter in THE WILD
ANGELS, and Oakland chapter in HELL'S ANGELS ON WHEELS and HELLS ANGELS
'69).
The starting point for this contemporarily ubiquitous celluloid series was
Roger Corman's classic for AIP, THE WILD ANGELS (1966). After the rising
notoriety of The Hell's Angels and other outlaw cyclists in the
mid-sixties through the publication of the famous Life magazine article
and Hunter Thompson's best selling HELL'S ANGLES: A STRANGE AND TERRIBLE
SAGA, the always exploitation conscious Corman saw some ripe material for
a film. Corman and screenwriter Charles Griffith set up an interview with
some of the local boys, and while Corman poured brews down their throats,
Griffith absorbed their tales of misbehavior and used them for the basis
of many of the events that would be acted out in the movie. This flick is
more than just the best movie of the genre, it is in fact a great movie in
it's own right. Peter Fonda is Heavenly Blues, the leader of the gang,
and Nancy Sinatra is his ol' lady Mike. Bruce Dern plays the whacked out
role of The Loser, while real life wife Diane Ladd is his main squeeze.
The Loser role was originally to be played by Fonda, but when Corman found
that original star George Chikaris couldn't ride a motorcycle, Fonda took
over the part on the condition that the character's name be changed from
Jack Black to the above mentioned morning glory seed reference. In the
course of the movie, the gang heads south of the border to take on a
Mexican gang who has stolen a bike. In the cop chase after the brawl, The
Loser is seriously injured in an incident in which a lawman is killed. He
thus is laid up in the hospital, healing and awaiting trial. The Angels
decide on a hospital break out, and in the middle of the night bust him
loose, stopping only for the brief molestation of a nurse. Under Angel
care back at the crash pad, The Loser kicks from his injuries. It is
decided to return him from which he came for his burial, and the gang thus
brings his body to his small home town in the mountains. The most bizarre
section of the movie then occurs, in which the gang invades a tiny church
and forces the pastor to perform the service under the threat of violence.
After that, it's party time in the chapel! The pastor is tied up, beers
are busted out, some of the scoundrels drop acid and even slip some to the
widow. In the boisterousness that follows, The Loser is replaced in his
casket with the conked out preacher. He is propped up with sunglasses on
and a joint in his mouth, causing his tripping and freaked out wife to
think that he's alive. She starts groping him until she is attacked by
the others in an (offscreen) gang rape. The local yokels eventually show
and the results are a melee in the graveyard outside. As the film closes
with the cyclers heading off on their iron horses fleeing the arriving
police, Blues hangs back, pensively muttering that "There's nowhere to
go". The confused leader has come to terms with the futility of it all.
Also seen in this film are Dick Miller, assistant director Peter
Bogdanovich, and The San Bernadino Hell's Angels. Many amusing stories
have been told surrounding the reactions of distributors to this movie at
the Venice Film Festival, the feelings of the public and critics at the
premier, the treatment of the Hell's Angel containing crew by the local
fuzz while filming, and the lawsuit and death threats against Corman by
those real life bikers who felt that they had been defamed in the final
product. Amongst the books with details are "How I Made a Hundred Movies
in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime" by Roger Corman (1990, Delta, ISBN:
0-385-30489-7), "The Films of Roger Corman" by Ed Naha (1982, Arco, ISBN:
0-668-05312-7), "Fast and Furious: The Story of American International
Picture" by Thomas McGee (1984, McFarland, ISBN: 0-89950-091-9), and
"Flying Through Hollywood by the Seat of My Pants" by Sam Arkoff (1992,
Birch Lane, ISBN: 1-55972-107-3). The fuzz guitar title track
instrumental, "Blue's Theme" by Davie Allan and the Arrows, was a minor
hit. Davie Allan's music and records will be covered in a future issue of
FUNHOUSE!.
THE WILD ANGLES was a cut above most of it's imitators which followed, and
due to it's huge boxoffice success there were many. AIP themselves were a
major producer of cycledelic cinema over the next five or so years, and
their first follow up was Daniel Haller's THE DEVIL'S ANGELS (1967).
Produced by Corman and again written by Griffith, this time John
Cassavetes is Cody, the leader of The Skulls. In this one the boys ramble
through a small desert town and draw the attentions of some local young
girls. After a false accusation of rape by the town hicks, the gang is
rescued by a fellow group of outlaws. In the course of trashing the
place, the hoods get the locals to admit that there were false
accusations. The gang's response is, "It looks like we got one coming!",
after which a sexual attack is initiated. In a plot move similar to it's
predecessor's, Cody is disturbed by the savagery and abandons his
followers. Cassavetes acted in this and other low budget fair against his
desires, but out of necessity to finance his own film projects. Davie
Allan again did the soundtrack, and again it was release on the Capitol
Records owned Tower label. Also from the studio that year was THE BORN
LOSERS (1967), which has the distinction of being the first "Billy Jack"
flick. Tom Laughlin directs under the pseudonym "T. C. Frank", and also
produced and co-wrote under still different names. Co-writer, co-star,
and stewardess Elizabeth James plays a neglected rich girl, who's off on
her motorcycle for spring break after being blown off by her father.
Riding down the road in a white bikini and go go boots, she is an obvious
target for the biker scum. Laughlin plays the expected role of a half
breed coming to her rescue, who due to prejudice becomes a target for both
the bikers and the sadistic cops. Bike flick regular Jeremy Slate is the
leader of a gang with members named "Crabs" and "Gangrene", and also look
for Jonathan Haze (star of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) and Russ Meyer regular
Stu Lancaster. Laughlin was rather nonplused, and attempted to sue, when
AIP brought this back out after the success of BILLY JACK (1971), a
project he was originally to have done for them. This one is a cut above
most. Also of interest from AIP that year is THE GLORY STOMPERS (1967).
In a tale of rival gangs from director Anthony M. Lanza, Dennis Hopper is
the leader of the evil Black Souls, while Jody McCrea is a member of the
not quite so evil Stompers. When Hopper's gang snatches McCrea's girl
with plans to sell her off to slavery in Mexico, McCrea teams up with an
old non-biker pal after the Hopper group. This one is a little thinner in
story than the above efforts, however Hopper as an amazing psycho and a
great party/orgy scene make it interesting. Casey Kasem is a member of
Hopper's Black Souls, and again the soundtrack features Davie Allan.
AIP wasn't done there. The next year THE MINI-SKIRT MOB (1968) again had
Jeremy Slate along with Harry Dean Stanton as sleaze balls terrorizing an
ex-member who now wishes to settle down with his new straight wife. THE
SAVAGE SEVEN (1968) is another of the better efforts, from the team of
producer Dick Clark and director Richard Rush (who also collaborated on
PSYCH-OUT with Jack Nicholoson, Bruce Dern, Dean Stockwell, and Susan
Strasberg that year). In this movie Adam Roarke is a biker who along with
his Indian girlfriend bring the cyclists and natives together against
evil. Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholoson continued along with HELL'S ANGELS
'69 (1969), in which director Lee Madden gives us Tom Stern and Jeremy
Slate playing two rich kids rather than the outlaws that they usually
were. The lowlifes in this story are played by the real Oakland Hell's
Angels, including Sonny Barger and Terry the Tramp (most recently spotted
on Morton Downey Jr.'s newest shoutshow), made (in)famous from Hunter
Thompson's book. This pair hoodwink the Angels into taking the fall for a
Las Vegas casino rip-off that they pull for kicks, and then suffer the
gang's revenge. HELL'S BELLES (aka GIRL IN THE LEATHER SUIT, 1969)
depicts gangleader Adam Roarke doing battle with good guy rancher Jeremy
Slate in the desert over a stolen bike. It was directed by Maury Dexter.
Director Bill Brame, also responsible for the incredible FREE GRASS with
Russ Tamblyn in his initial portrayal as an outlaw, made THE CYCLE SAVAGES
(1969). Bruce Dern is a whacked out psychopath who heads up a gang of
sicko two-wheelers who are in the business of kidnapping and dosing up
young girls before selling them off into slavery. Another guy who often
plays one of the grubs in these films, Scott Brady, is a cop. Producer
Casey Kasem can again be seen as one of the gang. American International
would carry on into the next decade by producing ANGEL UNCHAINED (1970),
directed by Lee Madden. In a unique plot twist Don Stroud is Angel from
the gang The Nomads, who is a cycler taking a break from gang life through
a solo road trip. He runs across hippy pacifist Tyne Daly, and hangs out
with her and the other flower children at their commune. When the local
rednecks start up trouble with the peace loving freaks, our biker hero
calls in his buddies for a confrontation of the hippies and outlaws verses
the hicks. In Burt Topper's THE HARD RIDE (1971), Robert Fuller returns
from 'Nam with the body of his buddy, who's last request was to be buried
with full biker honors. A run in with a rival gang leads to the need for a
funeral for Fuller as well. The noted sleazemeisters, producer Wes Bishop
and director Lee Frost, weighed in with CHROME AND HOT LEATHER (1971).
The story has a gang lead by William Smith being tracked down by a troupe
of Rambo-like green beret vets, in retaliation for the scumbag's brutal
attack and murder of one of the vet's girlfriend.
Of the original post-WILD ANGELS product, probably the best of the lot not
made by AIP was HELL'S ANGELS ON WHEELS (1967). Producer Joe Soloman put
this one together for US Films, and it was directed by the above mentioned
Richard Rush. Laszlo Kovacs was behind the camera. Jack Nicholoson stars
as "Poet", an introspective gas station attendant who starts hanging
around some Hell's Angels after they roll through for some fuel one day.
After a confrontation between Poet, Angel leader Adam Roarke, and a couple
other members of the gang with some sailors at an amusement park in which
one of the sailors is killed, Poet takes it on the lam with the gang. He
rolls with them, not ready to join but enjoying his position as an
accepted hanger. All hell breaks loose however when Poet takes up an
interest in the gang leader's abused and neglected woman. Things come to
a head at a party in which Roarke winds up going down in flames from a
cycle crash during a showdown with Nicholoson's character. We're left
with Poet contemplating what he's to do next with his life. Sonny Barger
and his Oakland Angels are featured in a cycle cavalcade, and Barger is
credited as "technical advisor". Everyone's favorite actor Bruno Ve Sota
can also be seen. The movie is made better than most by Nicholson's
greater than one dimensional performance, which is unusual for the hog
jockeys in most of these pics. This movie was the most successful of the
genre released that year, and exploitation veteran Soloman didn't hesitate
to continue making product. Next up for him was ANGELS FROM HELL (1968),
which was actually made in conjunction with American International
Pictures, and was directed by Bruce Kessler. Tom Stern is a hardassed
biker back from 'Nam who wants to funnel the warrior mentality he's
acquired over there into organizing a huge gang of outlaw bikers, headed
by him, to take on "the establishment". This is pretty shoddy in
comparison to it's predecessor, suffering not only from poorer acting and
direction, but also from a much greater general cheapness. Soloman has a
cameo as a movie producer who discusses a film deal out around his
backyard pool with Stern and the gang. In RUN ANGEL RUN (1969), Jack
Starret directs for Soloman and Fanfare the story of ex-Devil's Advocates
leader William Smith. When he leaves behind his old cronies, he sells out
to "Like" magazine who put his face on their cover and tell his story as
an expose inside. When the former cohorts find out what he's said, and
more importantly how much he was paid to say it, they set out after him.
Smith shaves and cuts his hair, shacks up with his girlfriend, and takes a
job as a farm hand in an attempt to lead the straight life. But when the
farm bosses young son exposes the new hand to the biker scum when they
roll through town, it sets up a confrontation with bad results along the
way for both the girlfriend and the bosses grown daughter. The Vietnam
fixation shown in several of these movies reaches it's nadir in the next
offering from the Soloman/Starrett/Fanfare team. In THE LOSERS (1970), a
CIA operative recruits his biker gang leader brother and four of his
fellow hooligans for a special operation behind enemy lines in Cambodia.
William Smith and Adam Roarke are back as two of the recruits. The group
is set up with dirt bikes fitted with armor and weapons, and are turned
loose in the jungle on a rescue mission. Before meeting their demise
during the attempt due to the traitorous pseudo-captive, one of the gang,
an apparent vet, stops in on his whorehouse he's left behind to see how
things are being managed.
Many independent producers attempted to cash in on the new trend as well.
Probably the first one out of the gate following Corman's ground breaker
was Florida director William Greffe's THE WILD REBELS (1967). Greffe, who
was to bring us THE HOOKED GENERATION next, delivered the cheap and shoddy
movie that you would expect. Here a car racer infiltrates The Satan's
Angels at the behest of the police as their driver in a bank robbery.
This film was used for parody on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Future
pornographer and former co-star as Boo Boo in Ray Dennis Steckler's RAT
PFINK A BOO BOO, Titus Moody, produced and directed OUTLAW MOTORCYCLES
(1967) for Gillman. Titus has claimed that he suggested the idea of a
motorcycle film to Roger Corman, and that this film was in production
before THE WILD ANGELS; I doubt it. OUTLAW MOTORCYCLES has been described
as a mondo style feature, and footage from it was recycled in the Moody
produced and David Hewitt directed (for Thunderbird International) HELL'S
CHOSEN FEW (1968). The later is another returning 'Nam vet drama, this
time with Joey Daniels as a guy coming back to free his falsely imprisoned
brother with the aid of the brother's cycle gang buddies. Hewitt's
previous foray into these waters was with THE GIRLS FROM THUNDER STRIP
(1966). This American General obscurity features Casey Kasem and Jody
McCrea in a tale of a motorcycle gang's involvement with moonshine running
and hillbilly battles. The team of Florida producer K. Gordon Murray and
director Joseph Prieto made SAVAGES FROM HELL (aka BIG ENOUGH AND OLD
ENOUGH, 1968) in which a naive young migrant farmworker girl falls prey to
gang leader "High Test", played by William P. Kelley. After getting
turned on when they go to the swamp buggy races together, the bad guy
abducts the girl and shoots her father, and her brother and his buddy are
forced to come to the rescue in a pursuit that includes air boats. This
pair made the much better SHANTY TRAMP the same year. The most amazing
entry in the early independent fare is Martin B. Cohen's THE REBEL ROUSERS
(1967) from Four Star Excelsior. Cameron Mitchell and pregnant wife Diane
Ladd (Does this mean that Laura Dern also deserves a screen credit?) run
into trouble when they encounter a gang of biker scum on a beach. The
leader of the gang is Bruce Dern, who turns out to be an old high school
buddy of Mitchell's. This at first appears as if this will spare the
couple from terror, until sadistic number two Jack Nicholson shows up and
has other ideas. Harry Dean Stanton is also amongst the chopper riders.
Dern attempts to secretly steer his old buddies wife away from harm, but
is foiled when he loses a drag with Nicholson on the sand, where the
winner's prize is Diane Ladd. The day is saved however when a gang of
Mexican farmers with pitchforks arrive to the rescue. For some reason
this star studded spectacle wasn't given a theatrical release until 1970.
Eventually the straight format of biker thugs and their antisocial
lifestyles became a little old hat, and producers found it necessary to
introduce new wrinkles and gimmicks to maintain the genre. Some of these
are so outrageous that they produce wonderfully hysterical film watching
experiences, while others appear to be intentionally mocking themselves.
The first logical step was to tell us stories of roving bands of female
marauders. The value of including that sense of perverse sexuality
present when women are lashing out against Middle America wasn't lost on
exploitation filmmakers. Producer Anthony Cardoza, who had given us
possibly the worst film ever made in THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS, created THE
HELLCATS (1968) with director Robert F. Slatzer for Crown International.
This movie, which actually isn't all that bad, tells of Dee Duffy playing
an infiltrator into the gang, who are involved in drug trafficking and are
suspects in the murder of her policeman boyfriend. Tough girls rolling on
mattresses with their studs out in the forest and another soundtrack with
the great Davie Allan and the Arrows are high points. THE MINI-SKIRT MOB
featured both men and women gang members and was discussed previously.
The most far out example of chopper chicks is The Maneaters gang in The
Amazing Herschell Gordon Lewis' sleaze classic SHE-DEVIL ON WHEELS (1968).
H.G. produced and directed for his Mayflower company, and this was made in
Florida coincidentally, and with largely the same cast, as his JUST FOR
THE HELL OF IT. If you've seen an H.G. Lewis epic (BLOOD FEAST, TWO
THOUSAND MANIACS, SOMETHING WEIRD, SUBURBAN ROULETTE, THIS STUFF'LL KILL
YOU and many more), you know what to expect. If you haven't I don't know
if I can do justice to the experience with my description. I'll just say
that you get to see Harley riding women select drooling slobs from a
"stud-line", initiate a new member with motor oil and lesbianism, force
one member to drag her boyfriend on the ground behind her bike until he's
a bloody pulp, and decapitate a guy by stringing a piece of wire across
the road in the path of his motorcycle. The theme song "Get Off the Road"
is hysterical and can be heard in a cover version by The Cramps on the
back of their "Kizmiaz" 12" single. SISTERS IN LEATHER (1969) follows a
similar theme, but that's all I know of it. Shlock master Al Adamson (his
genre efforts are discussed below) also contributed with the late in the
cycle ANGELS' WILD WOMEN (1972). The movie shows four tough chicks
terrorizing any obnoxious males who dare to get in their way. If they
could put woman into the biker mold why not blacks? The result is THE
BLACK ANGELS (1970) by director Lawrence Merrick for Merrick
International. A black gang, The Choppers (played by a real biker gang of
that name), are rivals with the white Serpents. A light skinned Choppers
member infiltrates The Serpents for reasons of espionage, and the movie
concludes with the expected rumble. Someone even went so far as to
produce THE PINK ANGELS in which the bikers are indeed homosexual, but
this rarity is hard to track down these days. Things eventually went to
the level of horror/biker crossovers. Joe Soloman and Fanfare's last
cycle epic was WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS (1971), directed by Michel Levesque.
The gang here busts in on a satanic service in progress, and the results
are members changing into beasts and killing each other. The much slower
British release PSYCHOMANIA (aka THE DEATH WHEELERS, 1972) is Don Sharp's
story of a leader into the occult, who directs his followers into suicide
and an eventual rising from the grave.
All time worst director candidate Al Adamson was always willing to try his
hand at any form of exploitation which was currently selling. Al's first
attempt for his Independent International was HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS (aka
OPERATION M, aka THE FAKERS, 1967). Not released until 1970, Adamson
regulars Robert Dix and John Carradine are joined by Scott Brady,
Broderick Crawford, and Col. Sanders. The typically confusing plot has
something to do with the cycle maniacs teaming up with an ex-Nazi and The
Mafia in a battle with The FBI and Israeli intelligence. It's another
feature shot by the hard working Laszlo Kovacs. There's not very many
things which the evil Medved boys were correct about in their snide,
condescending little books, but one of them was the declaration of SATAN'S
SADISTS (1969) as The Worst All Time Biker Film. The Rugged Russ Tamblyn
fleshes out his roll as a biker, which would be repeated in Adamson's more
widely seen next film DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN. This movie is the first
actual release from Adamson's Independent International. Tamblyn is
"Anchor", the leader of a gang which also has Scott Brady and Robert Dix
as members. They spend their time roaming the dessert, tripping on acid,
and kidnapping, dosing, raping, and killing young women. With them is the
unforgettable Regina Adamson Carroll as "The Freak Out Girl". They meet
their match in a loner Vietnam vet after raping and killing a cop and his
wife. Tamblyn's speech to the camera in which he pleas for understanding
for being a misunderstood outcast is memorable, but what really sets this
one apart is an ad campaign designed to exploit the then current Manson
murders by pointing out the similarities between the real and celluloid
tales of LSD obsessed killers cruising the desert. The soundtrack song of
"Satan (Theme)" features the lines, "I was born mean. By the time I was
twelve I was killing, killing for Satan". Al wasn't done yet, with ANGELS
WILD WOMEN discussed above still to come.
There were plenty more features which attempted to prolong the format.
WILD WHEELS (1969) was another Fanfare release, this time produced by Budd
Dell and directed by Kent Osborne. Robert Dix is the leader of The
Roadrunners, who are the rivals of a dune buggy gang and take part in the
usual mayhem in this cheapie, which also featured Casey Kasem. Roger
Corman returned to production of biker fare with NAKED ANGELS (1969),
directed by David R. Dawdy for Crown International. In a fairly average
story, Michael Greene is the leader of The Angles who do battle with The
Hotdoggers in a typical desert setting. One of my favorites of the later
period projects is director Richard Compton's ANGELS DIE HARD! (aka THE
VIOLENT ANGELS, 1970), with old Corman actor Beach Dickerson producing for
New World. Tom Baker is the leader of The Angels in the story, and
William Smith is again one of the riders. It would be hard for me to
believe that this wasn't at least a veiled attempt at parody of the genre.
The thin story revolves around tensions with the local cops, and the
funeral which follows a comrade's fatal fall in a road accident. He is
killed when he accidentally runs into a sign while turning around to flip
the bird at a driver. The high jinx involve the molesting of a woman in a
bar which involves the dumping of spaghetti on her, an effeminate
undertaker who comes to ride with the boys on the back of one of the hogs
while wearing an old leather aviators helmet, and the ceremonial pissing
into the open grave of their dead friend as a method of paying last
respects before burial. Much comic dialog abounds as well. Scott Brady
and Robert Dix are seen in Kent Osborne's CAIN'S WAY (aka CAIN'S
CUTTHROATS aka THE BLOOD SEEKERS, 1970) from Fanfare, which also features
John Carradine in a violent revenge story set in the civil war. The
action is intercut with modern bikers on a rampage to prove some point.
Avco-Embassy gave us Joe Namath and Ann Margret doing battle with William
Smith's hoods in C.C. AND COMPANY (1970). In THE JESUS TRIP (1971),
Robert Porter is the leader of a gang of bikers framed for drug smuggling
who are being chased by an evil cop. They take refuge in a convent before
kidnapping the Sister who hid them. The plot of this Eve Meyer(?!)
production sounds like it has some vicious potential, but Steve Puchalski
describes it as "Tame, lame and strictly PG level". Roger Corman's New
World took two final stabs at the genre with ANGELS, HARD AS THEY COME
(aka THE SAVAGE ANGELS 1972), and BURY ME AN ANGEL (1973). The later is
the only known bike feature directed by a woman. Barbara Peters, who
later did HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP, gives us the story of Dixie Peabody as
the shot gun toting leader a gang out to avenge her brothers death. Beach
Dickerson is seen in front of the camera. Fanfare also tried again that
year with THE LONERS (1972). In this Sutton Roley directed effort, Dean
Stockwell is the leader of a hippy/biker gang which also has Scott Brady
as a member. They are on the run through the desert, while spouting hippy
platitudes, after accidentally offing a cop. The swan song for the genre
is a film which has a conclusion depicting the graphic murder of a whole
platoon of cycle riders at the hands of dirty cops and rural dweebs. THE
NORTHVILLE CEMETARY MASSACRE (1974) was directed by William Dear, and in
it we are treated to his story of a grubby group called The Spirits who
get hassled, locked up, and framed for rape by the crooked law in the town
of Northville. This gets the bumpkins riled, and the result is a
vigilante massacre of the gang which takes place in the local boneyard
(hence the title). The snuffing of the characters here can be looked at
as symbolic of the end of the cycle-cycle.
Many later movies would of course be made with nasty bike gangs featured,
but these were either parodies, lame attempts at using the visual image to
immediately connote hooliganism, or just sorry attempts to capture a style
from a cinematic era which no longer existed. With today's mega budgets
and narrow demographic focus, as well as the near disappearance of
drive-in fare, there isn't much place for the pure exploitation of the
biker film, nor for it's gratuitous depictions of rudeness, grubbiness,
and violence, along with the occasional attempt to deliver a message of
rugged individualism and of being misunderstood for a desire to live the
free life. Exactly defining what is to be called a "biker" film is,
needless to say, a bit of a fuzzy proposition. I chose to begin to
categorize the genre with the release of Corman's THE WILD ANGELS, as this
film pioneered the format and displays the bikers in the outlaw style
which I believe defines the form. It's success was additionally largely
responsible for a flood of mostly inferior product. Before this release
movies were made which featured motorcycle gangs, but they weren't of the
Hell's Angels/living on the fringes of society mentality which I believe
is necessary for inclusion. Likewise there were films which fell in the
1966-1974 boundaries which depicted some of the ugliest and meanest
leather clad chopper jockeys imaginable, but in which they weren't the
primary focus of the story. I've included an appendix of some of the
titles which fall into these categories. There was no attempt to make
these borderline film lists complete, but to supply some additional
information just for the hell of it. I've also included a list of titles
which (I believe) qualify for inclusion by my criteria, but about which my
information is spotty and thus they weren't mentioned in the body of the
article. Any help with these would be welcomed, as would any additions or
corrections to the above. The newly acquired data will be put into the
next issue of FUNHOUSE! (as will some comments on THE PEACEKILLERS, which
is sitting on the shelf of my video store but didn't find it's way into my
VCR before this was all put together). Stay free!
Additional biker genre title:
THE PEACEKILLERS
ROAD OF DEATH
THE TAKERS
CHUBASCO (1968)
FIVE THE HARD WAY (1969)
THE PLAY PEN GIRLS (1967)
WHERE ANGELS GO...TROUBLE FOLLOWS! (1968)
WEEKEND WITH THE BABYSITTER (1970)
THE DIRT GANG (1972)
Featuring, but not focusing on primarily, biker gangs:
THE ANGRY BREED (1968)
FREE GRASS (1969)
MONDO DAYTONA (1968) re-worked as WEEKEND REBELLION (1970)
MONDO MOD (1967)
THE SWEET RIDE (1968)
RIDE HARD, RIDE WILD (1970)
SHANTY TRAMP (1967)
THE UNDERTAKER AND HIS PALS (1968)
HEX (1973)
SCORPIO RISING (196 )
Pre-genre:
MOTORPSYCHO! (1965)
THE WILD ONE (1953)
MOTORCYCLE GANG (1957)
DRAGSTRIP RIOT (1958)
More recent attempts at portraying roving gangs of two-wheeled maniacs,
such as the credible starring vehicle for "The Boz", aren't mentioned here
as they are out of this article's scope. One ridiculous effort that is
worth mentioning was a made for TV joke that comes tagged onto some tapes
of DEVIL'S ANGELS. In RETURN OF THE REBELS (1981), Jamie Farr and Barbara
Eden are amongst the members of an old gang of outlaws who return to
action in order to chase out souped-up van driving young punk
troublemakers from Barbara's campsite business. Laughable. And if you'd
like a taste of the real thing, don't forget the late-eighties documentary
HELL'S ANGELS FOREVER, produced by the club themselves.
How Sleazy Did Sexploitation Get? Harry K. Novak and Boxoffice
International On Video
----------------------------------------------------------------
Harry Novak and his company Box Office International were a prime producer
of sexploitation films in the 1960's. Movies from this period were the
first American films to be made and distributed "above ground" that
depicted nudity and elements of sexuality. With the pioneering work of
the great Russ Meyer (see FUNHOUSE! no. 1), screen nudity began to creep
into films shown in established theaters starting around 1959. While
people were able to shed their duds on the big screen, there were still
limits as to what could be depicted, although we can see that these are
being challenged continuously during this time. As a consequence of the
remaining legal questions as to how much actual sex was allowed to be
shown, filmmakers started to show sex or sexual situations in weirder and
stranger surroundings. This helped to keep the audiences interested,
titillated, and buying tickets as they became bored with just seeing
breasts and butts in a nudist camp or some other "wholesome" surrounding.
Contemporary observers tagged these styles with titles like
"nudie-cuties", "kinkies", and "roughies". Nudie-cuties usually involve,
or at least attempted to, elements of silly humor. Excuses for women to
get naked could be such things as guys with "see-through" devices, the
women being robots built by a "mad-doctor", or the setting being something
unreal or other-worldly where the nudity could just be a natural
occurrence in the world in which some lucky, hapless fellow finds himself.
Kinkies often tell of the more adventurous elements of sex which the
typical Mr. America might not experience in his safe suburban home.
Kinkies might depict, or at least suggest, such activities as lesbianism,
group sex, bondage, prostitution, or spouse swapping. In these films the
activities may be looked at moralistically or judgementally, but the
characters are usually acting voluntarily and for their own pleasure, even
if they are sometimes forced to pay for their sins in the end. Roughies
on the other hand can be down right seedy. They usually incorporate
elements of violence or coercion, and feature characters who fall prey to
creepy sleazoids who manipulate or abuse them. Women on the run or
otherwise in trouble, rape, torture, drugs, kidnapping, or murder can be
elements in the plot of a roughie.
The descriptions given above may trigger all sorts of unappetizing
depictions from their sounds. But while these films would certainly never
be labeled "wholesome", you must keep in mind that this is the film world
of the 1960's, not the 1990's. As was said above, it was still not yet
the post-DEEP THROAT era where it had finally been established that
anything could be put on film for public display. In order to get around
the limitations on on-screen sexual activity, the stories surrounding the
sex were taken to extremes of weirdness and bizarre behavior so as to keep
them enticing to the masses. Thus most of the sickness or kinkiness in
the narrative is implied, worked around, or off-screen, especially in the
earlier films. It is true that most of this material could not be
tolerated by the overly moralistic today, and is mostly still a bit too
strong for most broadcast TV situations. It is also the case however that
allot of the actual carrying out of the sex acts or dastardly deeds is
left for the viewer's own twisted mind to conjure up. There is rarely any
frontal below-the-waist nudity, and the farthest the sex gets is usually a
couple of people rolling around on each other, mostly filmed from the
waist up. There is however a definite sleazy quality that hangs over
these, and that is what makes them worthy of exploring today. The acting
is many times extremely overplayed, the plot lines are frequently
implausible, and the victims are often played as either utterly naive or
deserving of their situations. In our brave new world where anything can
be seen on video from a rental shop down the street, it is fun to watch
the limits of what a sex hungry public was allowed to see 25 years ago,
and to laugh at what was presented to excite before actual sex acts were
able to be shown. In addition many of the directors of these movies had
some strange, original, or funny ideas outside the realm of sexual
activity which they wished to incorporate into their art, and the culture
and style of the times is mirrored by what was considered then to be
provocative.
Box Office international was one of the major producers of this
entertainment fare. From 1964 until 1978 they distributed a huge number
of films for the sex circuit theaters. Unlike most of his contemporaries
who didn't foresee any sort of reflective or nostalgic interest in this
material, and who obviously weren't aware of the video boom, Harry Novak
maintained the ownership of all of his movies and kept a collection of
good quality copies. Luckily for us, and for him, this foresight has now
paid off. Mike Vraney and Something Weird Video have recently entered
into an exclusive deal with Novak to reproduce on video and distribute a
large number of these works. Something Weird is a fantastic supplier of
psychotronic fare which was thought lost, or is otherwise not available
elsewhere. Their illustrated catalog is well worth acquiring, is fun to
read, and includes a good selection of interesting films at reasonable
prices. Fans of Herschell Gordon Lewis should check it out for the
largest selection of films directed by him that I've seen from any source,
and people interested in Dave Freidman produced sexploiters and soft core
features should know that Something Weird also has an exclusive license
for his productions. The catalog is $3.00 from Something Weird Video,
Dept. F.U.N., PO Box 33664, Seattle, WA, 98155. .
The following lists productions of Box Office International, and films
that were distributed by Box Office International Film Distributors, Harry
Novak, Harry H. Novak, and Harry Novak and Associates. Additionally some
titles are referenced as being distributed by Harry Novak by Mike Vraney
in the Something Weird Video catalog, or by Charles Kilgore in his article
in Cult Movies And Video #6. "<SW>" following the entry indicates that it
is currently available from Something Weird Video.
The Touchables (1961) <SW>
The Ruined Bruin (1961)
Queens' Wild (1963)
Hawaiin Thigh ( )
Kiss Me Quick aka Dr. Breedlove (1964) <SW>
Artist's Studio Secrets (1964) <SW>
The Beautiful, the Bloody, and the Bare (1964) <SW>
My Tale is Hot (1964)
Raw Weekend (1964)
Nudes Inc. (1964) <SW> Beast That Killed Women (1965)
Crazy, Wild and Crazy (1965) <SW>
Nude Scrapbook (1965) <SW>
Flesh and Lace (1965)
The Wonderful World of Girls (1965) <SW>
Tales Of A Salesman (1965)
The Agony Of Love (1966) <SW>
Always on Saturday (1966)
Indiscreet Stairway (1966)
Naked Fog (1966)
Mondo Keyhole aka Rape, The Worst Crime Of All (1966)
Hot Hands of Love (1966)
Cool It, Baby (1967) <SW>
Diary of a Swinger (1967) <SW> Free Love Confidential (1967) <SW>
The Giith Hungry Eyes (1967) <SW>
Mini-Skirt Love (1967) <SW>
Pain and Pleasure (1967)
Venus in Furs (1967) <SW>
Mundo Depravados (1967)
My Body Hungers (1967)
Red Roses of Passion (1967)
Mondo Mod (1967)
Devil in Velvet (1968)
Four Kinds of Love (1968) <SW>
Kitten in the Cage (1968) <SW>
Mantis in Lace aka Lila (1968) <SW>
Suburban Pagans (1968) <SW>
Women of Desire (1968) <SW>
Acapulco Uncensored (1968) <SW>
The Love Clinic (1968)
Behind Locked Doors (1968)
Naked Pursuit (1969)
The Secret Sex Lives of Romeo and Juliette (1969)
Weekend Lover (1969)
The Concubines aka The Notorious Concubines (1969)
Dracula, The Dirty Old Man (1969) <SW>
Riverboat Mama aka Muddy Mama (1969) <SW>
Escapades in Mexico (1969) <SW>
Wanda (The Sadistic Hypnotist) (1969) <SW>
Erika's Hot Summer (1970) <SW> (with Erika "Vixen" Gavin)
Judy (1970)
Machismo-40 Graves for 40 Guns aka Revenge of the Wild Bunch (1970)
Substitution (1970)
2,000 Weeks (1970)
Wild, Free and Hungry (1970) <SW>
The Notorious Cleopatra (1970)
Tobacco Roody (1970)
Wilbur and the Baby Factory (1970)
Sandra, Making of a Woman (1970)
Overdose of Degradation (1970) <SW>
Roseland (1970)
Country Cuzzins (1971)
The Exotic Dreams of Casanova (1971)
The Toy Box (1971) <SW>
I Drink Your Blood (1971) <SW>
The Black Alley Cats (1971) <SW>
Below the Belt (1971)
The Takers (1971)
The Godson (1971)
Sweet Georgia (1971)
Please Don't Eat My Mother aka Glump! (1972)
The Pigkeepers Daughter (1972)
The Mad Butcher (1972)
A Scream in the Streets aka Girls in the Street ( )
Midnight Plowboy (1973)
The Dirty Mind of Young Sally (1973)
Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1973)
Just the Two of Us (1973)
Caged Virgins aka Dungeon of Terror ( )
The Sinful Dwarf (1974)
Booby Trap aka Ten Seconds to Murder (1975)
Behind Locked Doors aka Two Girls for a Madman aka Anybody, Anyway (1975)
The Rattlers (1976)
The Child aka Hide and Go Kill (1976)
Axe (1977)
Kidnaped Coed (1978)
Hitch Hike to Hell (1978)
Toys are Not for Children ( )
Most of the seventies (post-hardcore) titles are horror, action, thriller
etc., or something other than sexploitation. They are listed here just
for reference. All of the Something Weird releases fall into the
softcore/sleaze category. A number of the seventies titles have been put
out on video by other labels over the years.
With the recent excavation of this trashola by Something Weird, FUNHOUSE!
has undertaken the task of viewing a selection of titles and providing
synopses and commentary. Additionally, a "sleaze factor rating" is
presented (one to four "AO's" - that's as in "Adults Only!"). Note that
this rating is based on the seediness, creepiness, and weirdness of the
productions, not their quality or even overall entertainment level.
KISS ME QUICK aka DR. BREEDLOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE
(1964), dir: Seymour Tuchas aka Peter Perry, color, 67 min.
sleaze factor rating = AO
This is basically a nudie-cutie, but it's theme is so ridiculous that it
makes it much more fun to watch than the standard IMMORAL MR. TEAS rip-off
or nudist camp feature of the period. Cinematography here is by "Lester"
(aka Lazlo) Kovacs, and Russ Meyer IS NOT affiliated as is stated in the
Psychotronic Encyclopedia. The story is about a bumbler who is from the
"Buttless Universe" on the planet "Drouppeter", where there are no women,
being sent to earth to bring back a perfect specimen (the basic MARS NEEDS
WOMEN theme, although pre-dating that Larry Buchanan classic by two
years). He appears in the lab of "Dr. Breedlove", who is conducting
experiments to create the ideal woman. This would be one who is perfectly
endowed and completely serves and obeys men. The bumbler tries to talk
and act like Stan Laurel, while the doc attempts to talk like Bela Lugosi,
and the narrator speaks in a Peter Lorre voice. We proceed to watch the
doc try to provide this perfect woman, which involves looking at allot of
nude females. On occasion a vampire, a mummy, or the Frankenstein Monster
makes on appearance, and we are informed that these are "failed
experiments". A talking skull also throws it's two cents in from time to
time. Highlights are the "sex bombs" go going to some ripping surf tunes
by The Gall Stones, and a nude in the exercise room using one of those
vibrating belt machines. In the end the visitor, given his choice of all
of Doctor Breedlove's creations to take back with him, opts for a vending
machine. All the monster make-up is ridiculous, especially the doc's who
has drawn-on stitches on his face. This film was actually pretty racy for
the year 1964, showing a good deal more nudity than was contemporarily
conventional. It would make a great triple feature with HOUSE ON BARE
MOUNTAIN by Lee Frost, and ORGY OF THE DEAD by A.C. Stephens. William
Rotsler (see THE AGONY OF LOVE and MANTIS IN LACE) was a still man on this
movie. This is considered a great find for Something Weird by some fans,
as allot of people have known about it and been anxious to see it for some
time. This notoriety is probably due to a G-rated spread which was
printed in "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" at the time of it's release.
THE AGONY OF LOVE (1966), dir: William Rotsler, black and white, 83 min.
sleaze factor rating = AO AO
Boxoffice's first diversion from nudie-cuties, this black and white kinky
is raised above it's peers by the relative talents of it's creator,
William Rotsler. Rotsler, a writer for Adam Film World, wrote, produced,
edited, and directed it. Also greatly benefiting the film is the starring
role of Pat Barrington, who was recruited after being spotted in the A.C.
Stephens/Ed Wood classic ORGY OF THE DEAD. She has a great build, and is
FAR more attractive than the typical starlets of films of this sort.
Barrington is "Barbara" by day, and "Brandy" by night. Rotsler gives us a
psychological study, told through Barrington's visits to her shrink (who
has Groucho greasepaint eyebrows). She talks of feeling unwanted and
unloved by the men in her life: her moralistic father and her workaholic
husband. Her neurosis leads her to a night life of prostitution where the
customer's pay her for her time and love - she thus feels useful and
wanted. While wearing shades she confesses her escapades to her
psychiatrist. In one she meets with a fat sweaty guy, another has a slob
watch her strip while he stuffs his face with food, and there's an
encounter with political conventioneers from Utah who speak with
>southern< accents. She herself pays to be with a bearded artist, as she
is buying attention. With him she has a roll involving another woman,
foot fetishism, and he slaps her around because, as she says to her
doctor, "I need to be punished". Every paid encounter begins with her
saying, "Now that you've bought me, what do you want to do?" At another
point she looks in her mirror and says, "Whore!". A great scene has her
describing her nightmare, where we go to that "fuzzy camera of dreamland"
effect, and see strings of dollar bills come at and wrap around her as
voices say, "Barbara - Brandy - Barbara - Brandy". The whole sordid tale
comes to an end when her husband sets up a liaison for a client in from
Houston. When the client says, "get yourself one", he reluctantly agrees.
Well you can guess what happens is that he goes into a room and finds his
wife rolling around with one of these guys. When they see each other she
dresses and runs out of the room with him chasing. We then watch her
running down Hollywood Boulevard, which is the same scene that opens the
film, and we have that old "wrap-around" effect. The movie closes as she
jumps in front of a car and dies. This film is similar to others in that
most of the actual sex act are implied or off camera. The extent of the
on camera action is almost always a topless women in her underwear rolling
around on a bed with a guy in HIS underwear, or just as commonly, in his
long pants - that's it, they're done! Like others the sets are sparse and
the extras few here, but Rotsler's direction and editing makes some sense,
and the camerawork is competent.
COOL IT, BABY (1967), dir: Lou Campa, black and white, 75 min.
sleaze factor rating = AO AO AO
Lou Campa makes William Rotsler look like Russ Meyer. This seedy little
roughie oozes from the very beginning. It's almost all done in medium
shots or close-up to save on the need for sets or extras. It opens with a
woman, Eleanor, being shown a loop of herself engaged in a sexual
encounter. The villainous Monica (Beverly Baum), and her sidekick Herman,
are using the film to blackmail Eleanor into "joining our club", else her
husband be shown the evidence. In silhouette the evil Monica states,
"Cooperate - You have no choice". After the titles we are in a courtroom
where the woman is testifying. All we see is a desk shoved into a corner
next to a file cabinet with a judge sitting at it. The witness is sitting
at the side of the desk and the prosecutor crowds into the scene. The
rest of the film is made up of footage shown over the words of the various
witnesses giving incriminating evidence against Monica. The woman of the
opening scene is an aspiring actress who was picked up in a bar by Herman,
with the promise of introducing her to a producer at a party. Once there
she is drugged and drunked up, and then is enticed to strip in order to
show her figure for some potential "beach scenes". When the drugs take
effect she winds up rolling around semi-nude with a guy with "spare tires"
and tattoos. From Herman's testimony we learn of the strange,
controlling, sexual power that Monica has over him. They were arrested
for taking nudie pictures, during which a flashback shows Monica becoming
over excited and taking a belt to the model. A crooked Asst. DA sets up a
deal with them where he drops charges and they manage his house of ill
repute. The next testimony comes from a 17 year old orphan who was
arrested for shoplifting, just so that she could eat after becoming broke
from the expense of burying her parents. The dirty Asst. DA sends her to
live with "foster parents" Monica and Herman. She is shown smoking, "...a
strange cigarette, it was a marijuana". Monica punishes her by towel
wrapped soap, and then she is prepared for "the ritual". This
satanic-like weirdness, for some reason, gets the girls ready to "work" in
the house. The teen then testifies that some of the sex was "not normal",
and we see close-ups of a plug being inserted in and out of a socket,
after which the victimUs head and shoulders are shown to contort. We are
additionally treated to the spectacle of Monica and Herman catching an
undercover policewoman from the Asst. DA's tip. While she is chained up
by her hands Monica gets too rough and kills her. The final witness is
the cop who busted the place. He says that everyone was so zonked out
that they thought it was a game. He recalls the really bizarre things he
found, the dead policewoman and the woman on the alter, who was ... his
wife! Yes the blackmailed woman from the beginning of the film is this
cop's spouse. Things get wrapped up as sentencing is passed down. The
Asst. DA is said to have committed suicide but Monica is still on the
loose. We close with her reclining on her bed in full body tight lingerie
and plotting her revenge. The end credits say, "The End (Or is It?)".
Again there are only slight bits of toplessness, and mostly women in their
underwear. All of the real strange stuff is described or off screen. This
one still is a pretty lurid affair.
FREE LOVE CONFIDENTIAL (1967), dir: Gordon Heller, black and white, 70 min.
sleaze factor rating = AO AO
This mild roughie opens with two mod looking girls cruising through
Hollywood in a convertible. They buy a copy of the LA Free Press from a
hippy on the street, and then the credits role. Kaye (Karen Miller) is in
bed sharing a common experience with many of the female characters in
these movies; sheUs a sexy woman who wants to have some fun, but is
rejected by her husband whose mind is on other things. He pushes her away
and says, "Save it for the weekend". As Kaye and her husband sunbathe by
their pool, he reads The Wall Street Journal and she reads her Free Press,
her French friend Gieselle (Yvette Corday) drops by. After the husband
leaves, Gieselle talks Kaye into answering an ad in the paper to pose for
a "hip" photographer. Kaye becomes a little apprehensive, and Gieselle
tells her, "Why can't we have some kicks - don't be a square". When they
get there the photographer (John Warner as Robin) asks them if they "turn
on", and after putting some tunes on tells them that "this music and a
little grass and we'll wailS. He tells Gieselle that his grass is "250
Special" (whatever that is!). As you can imagine, this leads to the three
of them having a roll on the bed. As the fun winds down, the girls take
turns photographing the other undressed with Robin. When they leave they
think that they have the film, but when it's developed the roll they took
is found to be blank. Gieselle calls the studio but finds that Robin is
out of town. The person she talks to tells her to come down the next day
to work it out. The girls meet up with Mickey, a "guy" in a loose fitting
suit, leather gloves, sunglasses, and an unlit cigar. Kaye and Gieselle
are told that they can buy the film for $500, but if they don't have the
cash they can earn it. They're blackmailed with the threat of the photos
being printed in a sex mag. As Mickey cracks the whip, literally, the
women are told, "Daddy needs a kiss". It doesn't take long before the hat
comes off, and what was obvious to all of us becomes known to Kaye and
Gieselle; Mickey is a woman. They opt to get the $500 another way. In a
panic it is decided that they will break into Kaye's husband's office to
steal the dough - a caper at which they succeed. Kaye is able to score
some more coin from her man when, for some reason, he gets an urge for
her. She offers to sell herself for $500! When she inquires what he
wants to do with her now that she is bought, the response is, "something I
read about in a magazine and always wanted to try". Now set with the
money, Mickey arranges to meet the girls in a go go club called The Mojo.
A real freak scene is going down at this psyche-out joint. A Leary type
roams with his flock and there is fluorescent body pain
ting. The "Leary"
gives the girls some electric kool-aid, or as he calls it some "love
cosmology". Just as the trip is getting underway, Mickey takes the stage
with big leather boots and whip. Through the fuzzy camera acid blur
effect we watch her performance backed by wild guitar. At this point Kaye
freaks out and attacks Mickey yelling, "Die you bitch, damn it die!".
Mickey falls to the stage with blood oozing from her mouth. We flash
forward to the morning after, where the club is littered with crashed
burn-outs. Kaye wakes screaming to Gieselle, "I bashed her head in like a
melon". But no, it was all just a hallucination. As they trip out the
front door, Robin pulls up, just back in town with the film want. He
gives it over and the ordeal is done. "I'd give anything to be just a
bored housewife again" comments Kaye, and at story's end it looks like
she'll get her wish. This is a not too bad of an effort as far as these
flicks go. You've got acid, sex, blackmail, hipsters, a go go club, and a
little blood - everything you could want! The direction isn't terrible
either.
MINISKIRT LOVE (1967), dir: Lou Campa, black and white, 74 min.
sleaze factor rating = AO AO AO
I don't know where this title comes from, as there isn't a miniskirt
(miiiiny skiirt Jerrwy) in sight. Another Lou Campa cheapo, but this one
is more incompetent than COOL IT BABY. It opens with the standard husband
ignoring the wife scenario. As she criticizes his lack of attention, he
states that he's got allot on his mind thinking of a business deal. We
then flashback to his pulling into a motel with a girl he is setting up
for his client, who winds up seducing him. The girl is black, which is a
rarity in movies from this period of this sort. When we return to the
present, the 15 year old son Billy (who looks to be about 25) comes into
the room. He's a bit simpleminded. He shows his pop the pictures he's
taken that day, and when pop sees a certain set he slaps the kid and sends
him to his room. As the mother consoles him upstairs and wonders why this
happened, Billy's reply is, "All I did was show him the pictures of you
and Mr. Johnson playing in bed today". We go to the husband throwing down
shots and staring at the pictures. As his wife kneels before him and begs
forgiveness he slaps her and pushes her away. This is the intro! We are
now flashed about five seconds of credits - Cam-Scope presents Miniskirt
Love starring Miss Marie Brent - and then back to the action. We find
that the woman has stabbed her husband in the chest, and Billy is snapping
photos of the mother and the bloody body. The main story gets underway
with Aunt Janet coming to take care of Billy, after his mom is locked away
in the psychiatric ward. Aunt Janet first appears with spinster style
clothes and hair, but after her initial encounters with the authorities
she goes to a mod look which she sports throughout the rest of the movie.
When Janet first sees Billy he's asleep, and she pulls some pictures out
of his pocket. She takes these and later looks at them while in bed, but
we never have any idea what's going on with them. The next section
depicts Janet's meeting Billy as he comes home from school by rolling on
the lawn with him, some totally irrelevant and unexplainable footage of a
bunch of squares dancing to a clean cut rock combo wearing ties, and
Janet's eventual climbing into bed with Billy while naked. All of a
sudden across the screen comes - 5 Years Later -. Janet is seeing "Bill"
off to work, with him wearing a goofy plaid jacket and tie. After a
cosmetic sales girl shows up and seduces Janet, while Bill returns, finds
them, and winds up taking photos and then joining in, news comes that
Bill's Mom is returning from the mental ward. There's some concern
between Janet and Bill that the return will mess up their situation, and
Bill agrees to "put her up in my old room to keep her out of the way". It
turns out that the mother is still a little loopy, and at one point talks
about the father being away in Boston for the weekend. Mom wakes up from
a rough sleep, in the nude, and starts moaning "Peter I want you" while
staring out the window, to the sounds of strange loud noises. There is
then another unexplained insert of silent footage of her rolling in bed
with a guy we've never seen before. Back in reality she rushes downstairs
and pulls the milkman into the house. As she rips his clothes off and
they squirm on the kitchen floor, Bill emerges and starts snapping
pictures. Janet follows, watches, cracks a big smile, and - The End - is
flashed. This movie is pretty poorly made, with lots of sloppy edits and
inserted footage that make no sense. The extra scenes were probably used
to try to pad this thing out, as in the version I saw it seemed to run
about ten minutes short of the stated time. The sex scenes are entirely
the standard as has already been described, but here the men drop their
drawers a couple of times, however never while rolling with a woman, and
nothing frontal is seen.
MANTIS IN LACE aka LILA (1968), dir: William Rotsler, color, 73 min.
sleaze factor rating = AO AO
MANTIS IN LACE is one of the most well known of all of the Something Weird
releases. This movie was originally put out under the MANTIS title in an
R-rated version for drive-in type situations, and in an unrated version
titled LILA with more nudity and blood for release on the
exploitation/grind house circuit. The version that had been previously
put out on tape was the edited version, however Something Weird's is the
first ever video release of the more graphic one. The story is very
basic: go-go dancer (Susan Stewert as Lila) picks up goon, brings goon
home, takes acid, and stabs goon while having simultaneous sex and bad
trip (she never has a good trip, but keeps dropping the dope). But what a
way-out concept! This is basically along similar thematic lines as an
H.G. Lewis film; a weird thread with some sex and gore thrown in for good
measure (though I will say the direction [Rotsler] and cinematography
[Oscar winner Lazlo Kovacs] is MUCH better than in any of Herschell's
films). Good scenes are of the Sunset Strip were we see The Youngbloods,
Things To Come, and Procol Harum on the Whiskey A Go-Go mar and a sign advertiss
strange trips. In one she cuts into a sandwich, which changes to a knife
cutting through a bloody arm. Referring to this scene Rotsler notes, "The
lab lost a vital 400-foot roll and Peter Perry (of KISS ME QUICK) did a
magnificent job of editing without anything to edit." Other highlights
are Lila saying, "My law says groove baby, stay up and don't come down",
and the shocking scene of blood splattering on her bare chest as she
brings down the meat cleaver. It has been reported by some that it was
producer/writer Sandford White who desired more gore, but Rotsler himself
says, "It was not the producer's idea to add the extra blood to MANTIS IN
LACE, but that of a man in the Washington, DC area who had a number of
theatres -- HE wanted more blood. So we rented the same stage and used my
grandfather's meat-axe, and every time she chopped down two fat guys threw
paper cups full of blood on her." Rotsler employs a number of those
cheapo drug use effects, such as kaleidoscope lenses, spinning cameras,
colored lights, and visages of such items as bananas in place of a
victim's head. One of the victims is Stu Lancaster, star of many a Russ
Meyer epic. While the bodies continue to disappear the bumbling cops
begin to investigate. This allows us to follow them into various topless
bars and sunset strip type psychedelic go go clubs, which gives us the
opportunity to watch a number of other topless dancers. Among those
featured is Pat Barrington (see AGONY OF LOVE). It isn't the cops who
solve the crime, but a real estate agent who comes to show the thought to
be unoccupied warehouse in which Lila is staying, and stumbles across the
mayhem. That's about it, but the general shallowness of the development
of the plot is more than made up for by the crazy combination of topless
go go dancing, acid tripping, and bloody murder. The movie is still
however more of a nudie flick than a gore flick, with an ample showing of
female breasts, and the displayed violence being actually minimal. With
the budget he had to work with, Rotsler turned out a film a step above
others of it's type in quality.
SUBURBAN PAGANS (1968); dir: Shannon Carse, black and white, 75 min.
sleaze factor rating = AO AO AO
The operative word with this kinky is CHEAP. It is one of the emptiest in
story and shoddiest in production value of any films of this sort that I
have yet experienced. We start with a TV reporter (James Brad), with the
seemingly obligatory fake mustache, interviewing Lt. Art Grennell about
the latest case he's wrapped, an evil group of San Fernando Valley
swingers. The headlines scream, "EXTRA - VALLEY WIFE SWAP CLUB EXPOSED".
We are never really informed about just why it is illegal for a group of
consenting married adults to get together and trade spouses, but the Lt.
does give us a bit of his moralizing as to the cause. He describes "a
lower standard of morality because of tensions over war and our religion
proving to be inadequate". He philosophizes that we are "going back to
the hedonism of Greece and Rome". When he states that, "Man being then
kind of animal he is, there are undoubtedly othis
functioning at this moment", we cut to the action. After a sweep of the
city, we see a group picking each other's house keys from a wastebasket to
determine the current pairings. The featured actresses are Cara Peters,
Kathleen Williams, Christine Thomas, and Carole Sanders. The rest of the
plot is mostly taken up with the featured couples going through a variety
of the swinger motions. The film is incredibly badly made. There is
voiced over dialog when the actors supposedly saying it aren't actually
talking on screen. The men are particularly scummy, being mostly hairy
and overweight. As is the convention, most of the sex involves women
stripped down to their underwear, and guys that usually don't get out of
their long pants. Half the time their shirts are only unbuttoned - such
hedonism! This film does show more female nudity, and does so for more
extended periods of time, than many others. It also at least partially
depicts activities such as group sex and lesbianism. The only diversions
from the devious group activities are depictions of how the wives lure a
new woman into the group, the attempted blackmail of one member (even
though his wife also participates) by a guy with a camera stuck through a
picture hanging on the wall, and a strip poker game where the men bet
their wives clothes, and the wives. This film qualifies as a
three-sleazer mostly by the fact that it's so shoddy. The direction is
horrible, there's no continuity, the overdubbing is atrocious, and the
dialog and story line are comical. Along with the relatively greater
explicitness of the sexual situations, this ultra cheapness knocks it up a
sleaze level. H.G. Lewis did this story better, however without any
nudity, in his SUBURBAN ROULETTE (1968). The best part of the movie is
the overdubbed garage rock score. At one point, while Magical Mystery
Tour is shown spinning on the record player, the instrumental section of
The Leaves doing "Hey Joe" is heard on the soundtrack.
All of the films above, as well as many other Something Weird releases and
like titles from other distributors, are available for rent from Le Video,
at 1239 Ninth Ave (between Lincoln and Irving) in San Francisco.
Mutant Rocker Profiles: The Standells and The Flamin' Groovies
---------------------------------------------------------------
THE STANDELLS:
The Standells were one of the more productive, and one of the best, of the
California mid-sixties garage punk bands. Their three albums containing
original material for the Capitol Records Tower subsidiary contain some of
the growlingest, in your face, don't mess with me messages of youth angst
and rebellion from the period. The best songs always contain heavily
danceable tunes carried by loud, feedback punctuated guitar riffs, wild
organ wailings, and choruses which demand your participation. The
inspiration was definitely from the Rolling Stones, as it was for many of
their contemporaries of both good and poor quality. The Standells were
however able to add their own distinct mark to that base, and over about
three years created some standout material which still holds up today.
Their beginning wasn't so auspicious however. The original line-up of
Larry Tamblyn (brother of actor Russ Tamblyn, himself star of such films
as SATAN'S SADISTS, FREE GRASS, and THE FEMALE BUNCH [see Biker Films
article in this issue] as well as TWIN PEAKS) on keyboards and lead
vocals, Tony Valentino on guitar, Gary Lane on bass, and Gary Leeds on
drums formed in 1962, and existed as a working, clean cut, cover band,
playing the hits of the day. When in 1963 Dick Dodd, a former Mickey
Mouse Club member, replaced Leeds with the sticks, the first seeds were
sown for what was to come. It would still be a little while in arriving.
They were actually rather successful at their chosen occupation, making
appearances in the movie GET YOURSELF A COLLEGE GIRL (1964), and being
heard on the soundtracks of the films WHEN THE BOYS MEET THE GIRLS (1965),
and ZEBRA IN THE KITCHEN (1965). In addition the TV shows THE MUNSTERS,
BEN CASEY, THE LLOYD THAXTON SHOW, SHINDIG, AMERICAN BANDSTAND, and local
to Los Angeles SHEBANG, SHIVAREE, HOLLYWOOD A GO GO, and HOLLYWOOD
DISCOTHEQUE featured appearances. Here they were seen, and on the film
soundtracks heard, laying down standard cover version of such hits as
"Louie Louie" and "Boni Maroni". They even put out a couple of live
albums of like material recorded at trendy Hollywood go gos, from which
several unsuccessful singles were culled (see additional discography
section below). 1965 was rounded out by a brief stint at VeeJay records,
a label infamous for acquiring the rights to the Beatle's PLEASE PLEASE ME
album prior to American Beatlemania, and then subsequently re-issuing it
under four or five different titles. For this label they put out a pair
of seven inchers produced by Sonny Bono. The first, written by Mr. Cher,
was "The Boy Next Door" backed with the instrumental "BJ Quetzal". The
second Bono production was a cover of "Big Boss Man" backed with "Don't
Say Goodbye". Reportedly none of this is particularly noteworthy.
Things picked up however with the band's signing to the Tower label in
late 1965. There they hooked up with songwriter and producer Ed Cobb, who
himself had formally been a member of The Four Preps, and the punk rock
which makes this article worth writing was created. Cobb gave them a tune
he penned in homage to his hometown of Boston, and encouraged them to cut
loose and find their own more hard rocking style in the recording of it.
"Dirty Water" wasn't initially a hit, and there was even a brief period
when drummer Dodd left the band out of frustration to be replaced with
future Buffalo Springfield member Dewey Martin. Dodd's departure was
short lived however, and he returned in time to be part of "Dirty WaterUs
delayed take off in mid 1966 to #11 on the national charts. The tune is
still heard on AM "oldies" stations to this day. The uptempo beat, loud
guitar, sneering vocals, and attitude displayed on that hit track would
characterize the group's best material throughout the rest of their
career. Ed Cobb and his Green Grass productions would continue to handle
the production chores the rest of the way, and would supply them with many
of their better songs as a writer as well. The albums that follow are
similar to many LP's of the sixties, in which a single or two is
highlighted and the other material is second billed. Most groups would
fill out the rest of their twelve inch records with limp cover tunes or
filler that wasn't given much thought to in it's composition. While there
is a little of that here, what causes The Standells to stand out is the
large number of quality songs that take up a great deal of the space on
these records. That same edge which was unveiled in the first Tower
single was carried on throughout many of their subsequent recordings. Ed
Cobb also produced the great Chocolate Watchband for the Tower label at
this time, and their recordings are likewise strongly recommended. If
you're curious as to what a "Standell" is, so am I. The source of the
name was something the band always refused to name when they were
together, and I have yet to hear it defined.
The Tower LPUs are discussed individually below:
DIRTY WATER
Tower 5027, 1965
Medication / Little Sally Tease / There Is a Storm Coming / 19th Nervous
Breakdown / Dirty Water / Pride and Devotion / Sometimes Good Guys Don't
Wear White / Hey Joe, Where You Gonna Go? / Why Did You Hurt Me / Rari
This album was recorded and released with only the "Dirty Water" single
under their belt for Tower, and there is thus a wealth of material here
that could have been put out over a series of singles. The opening track,
which tells of the pleasures of woman as drug, lets you know right away
that these guys had completely given up on lyrics with safe themes in
their early cover band days. The track is also included in a more
psychedelic version on the Cobb produced Chocolate Watchband album "Inner
Mystique". Sexual tension carries over in the raging vocals and
mid-section rave-up of the self-evidently themed "Little Sally Tease". The
Cobb written "There Is a Storm Coming" won't let you sit down if you've
been dancing to the first two tracks. The weak spots on this record are
the covers of "19th Nervous Breakdown" from the Stones, and "Hey Joe"
which was done by just about every garage band from this period. It must
be said that with the relatively quick production time of this album, and
the common practice of utilizing cover tunes by most artists, the presence
of these is excusable, and they are in fact quite respectable versions.
The complaint is the standard one that these recordings don't at all
improve on those that were already out. You'll in no way be reaching for
the tone arm to skip over them however. The rest of the LP is mostly hard
rocking solid. The title track winds up the first side with it's sing
along chorus worthy of oi, while Larry Tamblyn's mid-tempo "Pride and
Devotion", a song that doesn't quite stand by itself, opens up the second.
Things get going hard and fast after that with my pick for the best
Standells song of them all, "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White".
Tamblyn growls through the Ed Cobb composition with conviction. It's a
defense of rebellious youth against clean cut trendy jock attitudes, where
such lyrics as "If you don't like this long hair get yourself a crewcut
baby", and "If you think those guys in the white collars are better than I
am baby, *flake* off!" are delivered to a woman over a monster guitar riff
and loud organ fill. Fans of hard core music may have heard the cover by
Minor Threat on their "Salad Days" EP. This was the next single and it
reached #43. "Hey Joe" follows, and is wild enough to carry you into the
final two hard edged winners. "Why Did You Hurt Me" picks up a theme of
angst over rejection that is common in Standells compositions, while
Cobb's "Rari", the B side of "Dirty Water", is equally solid. The boys
look extremely mod on the cover, decked out in attire such as plaid pants,
big belt buckles, a red turtleneck, and a burgundy denim jacket. With
mostly outstanding material and without a real stinker in the bunch, this
is the best of the original albums.
* note - If you're aware of a cover version of "Hey Joe" send in to
FUNHOUSE! the artist or group by email, and you'll be rewarded (if you
please) with a return listing of the entire output of American
International Pictures!
WHY PICK ON ME - SOMETIMES GOOD GUYS DON'T WEAR WHITE
Tower 5044, 1966
Why Pick On Me / Paint It Black / Mi Hai Fatto Innamorare / Black Hearted
Woman / Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White / The Girl and the Moon / Mr.
Nobody / My Little Red Book / Mainline / Have You Ever Spent the Night In
Jail
In the Summer of 1966 The Standells got the opening slot on The Rolling
Stones tour, and in the course of it bassist Lane quit and was replaced by
Dave Burke, who's heard on this album. The LP has some of the best songs
the group recorded, but coming so quickly after the previous one, some of
the filler tracks suffer from second albumitus. "Why Pick On Me", written
by Ed Cobb, was the next single and was promoted here as the title cut in
conjunction with the inclusion (again) of the next most recent single,
"Good Guys". "Why Pick On Me" is an excellent example of that anguish
over the lost woman theme, containing torture filled cries such as, "Do
you get your kicks when you see men cryyyyyyy!?" It went to #54 on the
charts. "Paint It Black" is another example on the non-improved on cover,
and "Mi Hai Fatto Innamorare" is a bone thrown to Italian guitarist
Valentino that doesn't really work. "Black Hearted Woman" is a
magnificent pick up from where "Why Pick On Me" left off, with a slow
feedback laced growl building to a rant about a woman making a fool out of
singer Tamblyn. Man these guys had bad luck with the dolls. Side one is
closed out with the previously discussed, and still amazing, "Good Guys".
Opening side two, "The Girl and the Moon" is a rather light pop song for
this band, but "Mr. Nobody" gets things back on the right track. Larry
Tamblyn's song tells of his proud triumph over his vanquished foe in their
competition for a girlUs attention, much in the braggart style of "Good
Guys". A wild guitar solo with vocals of "Mr. Nobody, that's who you are"
layered over it are a highlight. A decent enough cover of "My Little Red
Book", most well known from it's hit version interpretation by Love is
next, but the final two cuts end the record in the same spectacular
fashion as the last LP. "Mainline" is a fun and uptempo track concerning
the quest for a good time in a boring town, while Ed Cobb's "Have You Ever
Spent the Night In Jail" is a funny retelling of his bust in a protest, to
the tune of an almost country rock heavy beat. The top songs here are as
good, and maybe even better, than any other Standells material. But the
weaker material isn't up to the level of the lesser tracks on the other
two non-cover Tower LP's. On DIRTY WATER and TRY IT the secondary cuts
are still quite listenable and do just fine in the context of the rest of
the album, but some of the throwaways on WHY PICK ON ME are just as well
skipped. "Why Pick", "Black Hearted Woman", "Mr. Nobody", "Mainline", and
"Night In Jail" are however all essential.
THE HOT ONES!
Tower 5049, 1966
Last Train to Clarksville / Wild Thing / Sunshine Superman / Sunny
Afternoon / Lil' Red Riding Hood / Eleanor Rigby / Black Is Black / Summer
In the City / 19th Nervous Breakdown / Dirty Water
What did I say were the weak links in the above two albums? So what must
I think of this LP which is ALL covers of contemporary hit songs
(Including their own "Dirty Water")? The answer is that again their
version are competently done and don't sound bad at all, but the
performances are echoes of the originals and don't add to them in any way.
Skip to the next release.
TRY IT
Tower 5098, 1967
Can't Help But Love You / Ninety-Nine and a Half / Trip to Paradise / St.
James Infirmary / Try It / Barracuda / Did You Ever Have That Feeling /
All Fall Down / Poor Shell Of a Man / Riot On Sunset Strip
In between this album and the last The Standells put out the two singles
which tie for second place behind "Good Guys" in the ranking of their best
stuff. "Try It" is a call to a woman who looks like she wants some
action, and according to the vocalist, "action is my middle name!". As it
was beginning to catch on, radio programmers decided that this driving
rocker was a call for young innocent girls to give up their virginity and
it was axed from radio rotation. Angered that a potential hit was yanked
away, the group attempted to defend it in an infamous appearance of "The
Art Linkletter Show". When their case couldn't be made with either Art or
the radio censors, the answer was to record the Valentino composed single
"Don't Tell Me What to Do", which came out on the Tower label under the
name "Sllednats". It wasn't a hit, even without any censorship. With
that episode behind them the next move was to compose two tracks,
including the title song, for the AIP hippy exploitation film RIOT ON
SUNSET STRIP. The Sam Katzman production framed a story involving
Hollywood disco teen clubs and rebellious LSD and booze infested mod kids
around actual footage from the Sunset Strip riots of that year. The film
opens with The Standells performing their theme song live in one of the
hip spots. Possibly the loudest tune they recorded, this tale of teen
anger and defiance against "the man" features the great chorus, "It just
doesn't seem fair, to bug you 'cause you got long hair, even the parents
are beginning to scare, because of the sirens on our streets, they used to
be neat, but now it's just a place for black and white cars to race, it's
causing a riot!". Sirens wail over the words which lead into a guitar
solo. The group is also seen performing the Tamblyn composition "Get Away
>From Here" in the film, which features live performances by The Chocolate
Watchband as well. These singles and their B-sides made up a large chunk
of this final album. The "Try It" situation was used as a promotional
gimmick, with the word "Banned!" slapped across a cover depicting the
dudes in their corduroy, plaid trousers, and big belt buckles. The
sub-title states, "The most talked about record of the year!". The
remaining tracks feature the group expanding their sound just a bit,
bringing in some additional styles to their songs. "Can't Help But Love
You" goes for an uptempo soul sound, complete with horn refrains during
the verses. With Tamblyn's defiant voice fitting the composition it works
pretty well. The Wilson Pickett song "Ninety-Nine and Half" goes for an
hard edged R & B sound, also featuring a horn arrangement. These two
tracks made up the first single from the LP, which went up to #78 in late
1967. "Trip to Paradise" tries to follow in the same vein as the first
two cuts while also using a strong organ accompaniment, but it doesn't
quite click like they do. The heavy blues rock growl of the standard "St
James Infirmary" (essentially the same music as "House Of the Rising Sun")
follows, with some amazing power drumming and fuzz guitar, and then the
great "Try It" rounds out side one. Side two kicks off in fantastic
fashion with a blast back to the best sounds from the previous two albums
in Ed Cobbs "Barracuda", another great Standells uptempo rocker tale of
the wicked woman variety. While this record opened with a slew of tunes
with an R & B/soul edge, it slips now into the then hot sound of
psychedelia. "Did You Ever Have That Feeling" has sitars and a droning
background chorus, while in the Dick Dodd composition "All Fall Down",
which he sings, they use a spacy feedback sound and background harmonies.
"Poor Shell Of a Man" was the other half of the "Try It" single, and it is
a well written pop rock style tune which isn't bad but doesn't utilize
that great Standells sound. Unlike the "Why Pick On Me" album, the
secondary songs on "Try It" are not throwaways, and the covers that are
picked make a little more sense. These songs are definitely different in
style, and in the cases of "Can't Help But Love You", "Ninety-Nine and a
Half", and "St. James Infirmary" they works into some good material. "Try
It", "Riot on Sunset Strip", and "Barracuda" are top flight rockers in the
best Standells tradition, and should be acquired however possible.
Each of the above four albums have recently been re-issued on vinyl on the
French Eva label. Also now available are double CD's containing either
"Dirty Water" and "Why Pick On Me" or "The Hot Ones!" and "Try It" on a
single disc.
THE BEST OF THE STANDELLS
Rhino RNLP 107, 1983
Dirty Water / Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White / Why Pick On Me /
Little Sally Tease / Mr. Nobody / Mainline / Have You Ever Spent the Night
In Jail / Try It / Medication / Barracuda / Black Hearted Woman / Can't
Help But Love You / All Fall Down / Animal Girl
Rhino usually does a good job with their re-issue records in selecting
groups who have recorded some of the greatest music which has slipped out
of print in it's original form, and producing compilations of their very
best work. They keep up that tradition with this record, putting
together an absolutely solid (with one exception) collection of all the
very best and most essential Standells classics. "Animal Girl" was the
last record put out by the group, and it's a sappy, sitar laced ballad,
that appears to be a final shot at a hit single. According to liner
notes, "Riot On Sunset Strip" was left off of this edition due to
contractual problems. This explains it's absence, but I would have opted
for "Rari", "There Is a Storm Coming", or "Why Did You Hurt Me" over
"Animal Girl". Nevertheless, this easy to find comp album is the best
(and cheapest) way to get a hold of a great batch of classic garage rock.
GOLDEN ARCHIVE SERIES: STANDELLS
Rhino 70176, 198?
Riot On Sunset Strip / Dirty Water / Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White
/ Why Pick On Me / Mr. Nobody / Mainline / Have You Ever Spent the Night
In Jail / Try It / Medication / Barracuda / Rari / Can't Help But Love You
/ All Fall Down / Animal Girl
This is basically the same record as the previous Rhino comp, but it
substitutes that now available "Riot", plus "Rari", for "Little Sally
Tease" and "Black Hearted Woman". Why take off those great songs though?
Why they didn't just remove "Animal Girl" I'd like to know.
RIOT ON SUNSET STRIP
Eva
Another eighties compilation, this time however tracks are included
from the pre-Tower albums. In my opinion this makes one of the above
two collections preferable.
Additional Standells discography:
singles -
Ooh Poo Pah Doo / Help Yourself (1964, Sunset 61000)
Peppermint Beatles / The Shake (1964, Liberty 55680)
Help Yourself / I'll Go Crazy (1964, Liberty 55722)
Linda Lou / So Fine (1964, Liberty 55743)
The Boy Next Door / B.J. Quezal (1965, Vee Jay, 643)
Don't Say Goodbye / Big Boss Man (1965, Vee Jay, 679)
Zebra in the Kitchen / Someday You'll Cry (1965, MGM 13350)
Dirty Water / Rari (1966, Tower 185)
Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White / Why Did You Hurt Me (1966, Tower
257)
Why Pick on Me / Mr. Nobody (1966, Tower 282)
Try It / Poor Shell Of a Man (1967, Tower 310)
Don't Tell Me What To Do / When I Was a Cowboy (1967, Tower 312) [as The
Sllednats - that's "Standells" backwards]
Riot on Sunset Strip / Black Hearted Woman (1967, Tower 314)
Ninety-Nine and Half / Can't Help But Love You (1967, Tower 348)
Animal Girl / Soul Drippin' (1968, Tower 398)
Albums -
Live in Person at PJ's (Liberty)
Live and Out of Sight (Sunset SUM-1136 [mono], SUS-5136 [stereo])
soundtracks:
Get Yourself a College Girl (MGM) - with "So Fine" and "Boni Maroni". It
has tracks by other sixties pop rock bands and has been re-issued on CD.
When the Boys Meet the Girls (MGM)
Zebra In the Kitchen (MGM)
Riot On Sunset Strip (Tower 5065) - with "Riot On Sunset Strip" and "Get
Away From Here". The Chocolate Watchband, The Mugwumps, and Mom's Boys
are also included.
Drummer Dick Dodd put out a couple of solo efforts just prior to the
splitting of The Standells. No other members are known to have
persued a subsequent musical career.
A good reference for Standells music and other like-styled bands is
"Voices Green and Purple: A Comprehensive Guide to California's Amazing
Garage and Freakbeat Bands Of the Sixties" by Beverly Patterson. It's a
self-published 67 page booklet so it may be hard to find. Check out your
local library. I may be able to find the author's address at the time of
publication, so email me if you're interested.
THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES:
What is the best rock band to emerge from the San Francisco scene of the
1960's? For that matter what is the best rock band to ever emerge from
that area? In the audacious opinion of FUNHOUSE! this honor is given to a
group that many have never heard of. The group in question is The Flaming
Groovies. Groovies' tunes have been being cranked out on record from 1968
up until last year, amongst several changes in style and in line-up.
Despite changes, a sound of regular quality has emerged covering styles
from hard edged rockabilly influenced R & B to guitar based pop rooted in
the sixties stylings of The Beatles and The Stones. At the helm
throughout all of these years has been guitarist and sometime singer Cyril
Jordan, with bass player George Alexander always in tow. In the early
years of the band Jordan was joined in songwriting and vocal duties by Roy
Loney, who left around 1972. It is the goal of FUNHOUSE! to give exposure
to artists of worth who many would be listeners may not as of yet had the
pleasure of discovering. As the Groovies have produced seven LP's and
several EP's of original and exciting material over the course of the last
25 years, and as these tunes are capable of rousing any brain dead slough
off their ass and into a guitar jam frenzy, FUNHOUSE! presents this
discography with the hopes of furthering our goal of rescuing rock music
fans from the bland corporate rehash which people in some quarters would
have you believe is the only option open to you.
A frequent observation of the Flaming Groovies by those who have taken the
time to do such is that they're usually recalling sounds from at least ten
years before their time - they're right! In the mid 1960's the band was
influenced by original singer and principal songwriter Roy Loney into a
sound recalling a sort of early Elvis/Jerry Lee roots based rock and roll.
Their early releases in fact contained a smattering of cover tunes from
that era to go along with the mostly Loney penned originals. Cyril Jordan
was however always there to keep a strong guitar based crunch in the mix,
and by their third and fourth albums in 1970-1971, a great balance had
emerged between styles as the two teamed up for most of the songwriting
chores. As a consequence the best material that the band was to produce
emerged. After the release of a final four song EP, which represents the
final efforts of the Loney-Jordan collaboration, the band split. They
would in fact re-emerge without Loney, and with Jordan now holding the
role of principle songwriter. A relocation to England for the later half
of the 1970's led to their hooking up with retro producer Dave Edmunds.
Covers of Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Byrds songs pop up on these albums,
along with some of the greatest rock guitar based pure pop music that has
been produced. With the circumstance of Jordan being the sole leader of
the band in the seventies, and of his calling upon his sixties based
influences, the rap of the Groovies always looking back to a previous era
was founded. While it could be said that the tunes here definitely are
derived from the previous decade, it could also be said that the
groundwork for the power pop explosion that was part of the new wave boom
a few years later was also being laid. This music is very much in line
with that of people like Graham Parker, the early Elvis Costello, and
Edmund's and Nick Lowe's Rockpile in England, as well as American groups
such as The Plimsouls, 20/20, and The Rubber City Rebels.
First Generation: Roy A. Loney (lead vocals), Cyril Jordan (lead and
rhythm guitar, vocals), Tim Lynch (rhythm and lead guitar, vocals), George
Alexander (bass, vocals), Danny Mihm (drums) [replacing Ron Greco prior to
this recording]
SNEAKERS
Snazz Records LSLP 4003, 1968
The Slide / I'm Drowning / Babes In The Sky / Love Time / My Yada / Golden
Clouds / Prelude In A Flat To Afternoon Of A Plaid
A self-produced 10 inch record which is half-way between LP and single in
structure as well as in size. Side one contains "The Slide" at 45 rpm,
while the rest of the songs are stuffed onto side two at 33 1/3 rpm. If
"The Slide" was meant to be showcased, it was a good choice as it's a
fantastic fuzzed out garage rock gem that is in many ways a slightly more
sophisticated offering of what many sixties punk bands had been putting
out. "I'm Drowning" and "Golden Clouds" are feedbacked rockers that are
similar to, and almost as good as, "The Slide". "Babes In The Sky" and
"My Yada" foreshadow the uptempo rockabilly beat that Loney would come to
heavily favor on their next record, while "Love Time" is a ballad that may
have been influenced by Buddy Holly. "Prelude In A Flat..." is the only
track that is not a Roy Loney original, and it is a short, goofy,
instrumental, complete with chicken squawking guitar, that is as strange
and disjointed as it's title. The jacket art reflects the self-produced
nature of the record, with the cover consisting of pen drawn band name and
title amongst pasted in pictures of the dudes. Originally selling a
reported 2000 copies (FUNHOUSE! recently saw one go for $60.00), this has
now been re-issued by the German Line label, so it can be found with a
little looking. Not near as developed in sound as some of the later
stuff, but the rockers here will make this enjoyable to fans of sixties
garage rock.
SUPERSNAZZ
Epic BN 26487, 1969
Love Have Mercy / The Girl Can't Help It /
Laurie Did It / A Part From That / Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie
Flu / The First One's Free / Pagan Rachel / Somethin' Else-Pistol Packin'
Mama / Brushfire / Bam Balaam / Around The Corner
produced by Stephen R. Goldman
The move to a major label brought about better production values. The
sound on this album is distinctly of the boogie-woogie nature, with
Loney's raunchy vocals backed up by tunes carried along with pianos,
saxophones, harmonicas, and Jordan's guitar, which is featured in some
great cranking solos midway through many of these tracks. The cover tunes
selected, "The Girl Can't Help It", "Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie
Woogie Flu", "Somethin' Else", and "Pistol Packin' Mama" are a good
indication of the direction taken here. Of the originals, highlights are
the uptempo "Love Have Mercy" and "Brushfire", which foreshadow the next
couple of records when a more distinct Groovies sound emerged. "Laurie"
Did It" is a pretty good slower song, while tracks like "The First One's
Free", "Bam Balaam", and "Around The Corner" are very similar in style to
the cover tunes included. Of the original compositions, "Love Have
Mercy", "Laurie Did It", "The First One's Free", and "Pagan Rachel" are by
Roy Loney, while the others are Loney-Jordan team efforts. SUPERSNAZZ is
a good album, but the best music that this band would make is contained in
the next few records, which would build on this style with a more hard
rocking original interpretation. If you're a fan of American roots music,
you'll definitely want to get a hold of this one. The Groovies are drawn
as hip and hairy Mickey Mouse derivatives on the cover, jammin' with a
pyrotechnic frenzy that includes lit sticks of dynamite for drumsticks and
a bucket of fire ready to be doused with gasoline. The cover was drawn by
Jordan, who now is a Disney illustrator, under the signature "Zoell". This
was re-released in 1986 on the European Edsel label.
FLAMINGO
Kama Sutra 2021, 1970
Gonna Rock Tonite / Comin After Me / Headin For The Texas Border / Sweet
Roll Me On Down / Keep A Knockin / Second Cousin / Childhood's End /
Jailbait / She's Falling Apart / Road House
produced by Richard Robinson
While in NY The Groovies hooked up with future Lou Reed producer Robinson,
who arranged for a contract with Kama Sutra and produced their next two
records, arguably the best of their catalog. The American roots music of
the 1950's is still a major influence, but with this first outing for the
new label the sound is more derivative of the hard edge rockabilly that
would later be mined by such new wave era bands as The Blasters, or of the
early black rock cross over artists like Little Richard, as is evidenced
by the covering of his "Keep A Knockin". "Gonna Rock Tonight" and "Sweet
Roll Me On Down" are the closest to the sound of SUPERSNAZZ. "Comin'
After Me" is also similar, but it is carried by a great, wild, guitar
hook. "Headin' For The Texas Border", "Second Cousin", and "Roadhouse"
are great uptempo rockers that'll keep you slammin' against the walls at
the party. "Texas" and "Roadhouse" approach a punk rock level of energy
and feature monster guitar riffs and rave-up solo's. "Childhood's End" is
close to straight country (of the Hank Williams Sr. variety), while
"Jailbait" takes a direction near pure blues. "She's Falling Apart" is a
ballad that is interesting in that it draws more from a sixties style,
which would be prevalent in later Jordan only releases. It thus has a
distinct sound for this record. Interestingly it is a Loney composition,
as are "Gonna Rock Tonight", "Second Cousin", "Childhood's End", and
"She's Falling Apart", while the rest with the exception of "Keep A
Knockin" are Loney-Jordan collaborations. The combination of Loney and
Jordan influences on the music is really beginning to emerge with this
record, as there is much more of a driving rock beat and loud guitar sound
emerging. The mixture of these with Loney's rootsy vocals and songwriting
produced a unique mix which had been hinted at on some of the previous
releases. One of their better record - recommended.
THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES IN TEENAGE HEAD
Kama Sutra 2031, 1971
High Flyin Baby / City Lights / Have You Seen My Baby? / Yesterday's
Numbers / Teenage Head / 32-02 / Evil Hearted Ada / Doctor Boogie /
Whiskey Woman
produced by Richard Robinson
The second Kama Sutra release is the best to carry the Flamin' Groovies
name. This record is presented as a sort of unified work, with the liner
notes reading like motion picture credits. While the individual songs
don't make up any sort of "concept-album" of the type that was common from
groups like The Kinks, The Who, or Pink Floyd at the time, it does present
the most unified style among the tracks of any of their records up to this
time. A Flamin' Groovies sound emerges which goes beyond the previous
raving interpretations of retro-rock. The sound on TEENAGE HEAD might be
best described as similar to what The Rolling Stones were doing with their
more contemporary workings of R & B on such records as STICKY FINGERS and
EXILE ON MAIN STREET. The first five tracks are all jammers perfect for
cranking to maximum volume and getting your ya-ya's out. Loney has now
completed the transformation (with a couple of exceptions) from Frisco
hillbilly to growling madman in his vocalizing. "High Flyin Baby" kicks
things off with him snarling over an over-amplified guitar attack filled
with slides, twangs, and grunts, which gives way to some heavy blues
styled acoustic jamming on "City Lights". "Have You Seen My Baby?" is a
riff-heavy working of a Randy Newman composition, and "Yesterday's
Numbers" keeps things jamming along at the same pace. After this
exhausting sonic build-up the whole thing explodes into what is probably
the greatest Groovietune of them all. In "Teenage Head" Loney gives
himself over to expressing the ultimate tale of teen angst through a nasty
sneer of pent-up emotions and frustrations that have you believing that he
knew what he was singing about. After the dust settles from the first
half of the LP, things slip back into a bit of the more American roots
rock trip that is heard throughout these early recordings. "32-02" is a
rendition of a Robert Johnson song with a bluesy acoustic guitar and piano
accompaniment. "Evil Hearted Ada" is the only track that Loney penned by
himself, and in it he goes back to his early Elvis impersonation. This is
a song which he would re-record on a solo record as late as 1992. "Doctor
Boogie" follows in the same style as it's predecessors, and then gives way
to "Whiskey Woman" which returns to the more electrified guitar based rock
sound which opened the album. This song is slower, somewhat similar in
style to something like the Stones' Wild Horses, with great guitar
interplay throughout it's beginning giving way to a wild rave-up at the
end. Overall the original Flamin' Groovies line-up never sounded better
than on this record. Each instrument had really adapted it's own sound
and place in the music - something which probably emerged out of the
extensive live performances of the preceding years. The maturity of the
band's sound, and especially of Loney's singing, that was emerging on
FLAMINGO really show through here. Additionally the songwriting is
exciting, and even the throwback tunes all work well. A highly
recommended album - get it!
SLOW DEATH EP
United Artists REM 406, 7" (UK), 1972
Slow Death / Tallahassee Lassie / Married Woman / Get A Shot Of Rhythm and
Blues
produced by Dave Edmunds
This four song import only disc is notable for two reasons. The first is
that it represents the final collaborative efforts of the Loney-Jordan
songwriting team. Secondly if "Teenage Head" is the best song the band
recorded, then "Slow Death" is a real close second. Loney painfully
describes the turmoil of heroin addiction in a manner that has only been
approached in it's honesty by Lou Reed in The Velvet Underground's
"Heroin", and on the Johnny Thunders/Dee Dee Ramone team-up of "Chinese
Rocks", recorded by both The Heartbreakers and The Ramones. The psychosis
is backed by a monster guitar grind for extra effect. The record is
rounded out by three covers, of which "Tallahassee Lassie" with it's
over-distorted interpretation is the best. "Married Woman" is a straight
ahead mid-tempo rocker that is done in a style that is not usual for the
Groovies, while "Shot" is reminiscent of the SUPERSNAZZ material. This is
kind of tough to track down these days, but a studio version of "Slow
Death" in some form is mandatory. After breaking with Kama Sutra and
Robinson, the band headed for England under the production wing of Dave
Edmunds. Before heading overseas, rhythm guitarist Lynch was forced to
leave after his arrest for drug possession and draft evasion. He was
replaced by James Farell, who makes his recorded debut here. It has been
reported that in fact Cyril Jordan overdubbed much of the second guitar on
the TEENAGE HEAD album. Originally released by UA as two separate
singles.
YOU TORE ME DOWN / HIM OR ME (7")
Bomp 101, 1973/1992
Him Or Me / You Tore Me Down
produced by Cyril Jordan and Greg Shaw / Dave Edmunds
A return to SF resulted in the departure of Roy Loney over that old
standby, "creative differences". Reportedly he was producing too many
ballads in his songwriting efforts. His replacement on lead vocals, who
also played some guitar and harmonica, was Chris Wilson. Greg Shaw put
this single out on his Bomb label, and "You Tore Me Down" became a minor
hit. This Edmunds produced tune helped land their next recording deal
with Sire, where it was included on the SHAKE SOME ACTION debut album.
These songs really gave a suggestion as to how the new configuration would
sound, with both being well played uptempo rockers with a prominent clean
guitar sound and good pop beat, and with many harmonies in the vocals.
Bomp has recently re-released this.
SHAKE SOME ACTION
Sire SASD-7521, 1976
Shake Some Action / Sometimes / Yes It's True / St. Louis Blues / You Tore
Me Down / Please Please Girl / Let The Boy Rock 'N' Roll / Don't You Lie
To Me / She Said Yeah / I'll Cry Alone / Misery / I Saw Her / Teenage
Confidential / I Can't Hide
produced by Dave Edmunds
Over the years between the Kama Sutra and Sire contracts The Flamin'
Groovies only put out the above mentioned seven inchers of new material,
in addition to several EP's worth of live recordings. They also lost
three members from the original line-up. Drummer Danny Mihm was the next
to go, being replaced first by Terry Rae, and then by David Wright who is
heard on this album. The only two original members left were Cyril Jordan
and bass player George Alexander, who would form the axis for all
subsequent Groovies projects through the present day. New singer Chris
Wilson also emerged as a regular songwriting partner with Jordan. This
record in it's best moments reflects the great songwriting of "You Tore Me
Down" (included here), especially in the title cut. "Shake Some Action"
was a hit, and to this day it is one of the most popular of all Groovies
songs. It's a great uptempo tune that incorporates all the best qualities
that are characteristic of the Jordan/Alexander period of the band; a
strong beat, loud rhythmic guitars, and harmonious vocals rooted in The
Beatles. A precursor to the coming New Wave, "Shake Some Action" is
probably the best post-"Slow Death" song that the group has come up with.
The rest of this album follows along stylistically in much the same mode,
however not all of the songs are up to the level of "Shake". Jordon and
Wilson collaborated on "Shake Some Action", "Yes It's True", "You Tore Me
Down", "Please Please Girl", "I'll Cry Alone", "Teenage Confidential", and
"I Can't Hide". "I Saw Her" is a Jordan/Willhelm/Hunter effort, while the
rest are cover tunes. It is an overall enjoyable album highlighted by the
two essential classics discussed above. Some of the songs however lack a
distinctive edge, and thus tend to merge into each other.
FLAMIN' GROOVIES NOW
Sire SRK 6059, 1978
Feel A Whole Lot Better / Between The Lines / Up's And Down's / Move It /
Take Me Back / Reminiscing / Good Laugh Mun / Yeah My Baby / House Of Blue
Lights / Blue Turns To Grey / Paint It Black / All I Wanted / Don't Put Me
On /There's A Place
produced by Dave Edmunds
This second Sire album suffers more from the ailments which somewhat held
back it's predecessor; that is some songs which lack a certain degree of
distinction, and some covers which don't add much. Paying tribute to The
Beatles ("There's A Place") and The Rolling Stones ("Paint It Black") by
doing very similar renditions of their songs doesn't work, as those bands
interpretations of their own material is just fine. Cover versions that
are successful need to re-work the original (a good example in regards to
The Stones is Social Distortion's "Under My Thumb"), or bring an obscurity
to a new audience (as in all the early Cramps albums). These covers offer
us very similar treatments to the originals. The Byrd's "Feel A Whole Lot
Better" rises above this a bit, as The Groovies really energize it and the
original band doesn't reside at the same level as The Beatles or The
Stones. The Groovie originals are "Between The Lines", "Take Me Back",
"All I Wanted", and "Don't Put Me On" (Jordan/Wilson) and "Good Laugh Mum"
and "Yeah My Baby" (Jordan/Wilson/Edmunds). While none are terrible, with
the exception of "Yeah My Baby" they rarely rise above the average. Mike
Wilhelm had replaced James Farrell on lead and rhythm guitar.
JUMPIN' IN THE NIGHT
Sire SRK 6067, 1979
Jumpin' In The Night / Next One Crying / First Plane Home / In The U.S.A.
/ Down Down Down / Yes I Am / Werewolves Of London / It Won't Be Wrong /
Please Please Me / Tell Me Again / Absolutely Sweet Marie / 5D /
Ladyfriend
produced by Cyril Jordan and Roger Bechirian
Now this is more like it. By 1979 the New Wave was in full bloom in
England, and as The Groovies had always had somewhat of a following
amongst these bands and their fans they became inspired more in that
direction. Elvis Costello producer Roger Bechirian came on in place of
Dave Edmunds, and a much sharper and more modern sounding record was the
result. With the uptempo beat of the title track you know that you're in
for something good this time around. "Next One Crying" has them going for
a rock sound reminiscent of the early John Lennon solo albums rather then
the 1965 Beatles. "First Plane Home" and "In The U.S.A." keep things
pumping in a good way to keep the record moving along at a steady pace.
All four are Jordan/Wilson compositions, as are "Yes I Am", and "Tell me
Again". Most of the covers work well here, with the exception of The
Beatles "Please Please Me" which slips back into the negative aspects of
the previous album. "Werewolves Of London" does justice to the Warren
Zevon original, and even Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie" comes off OK.
However good this album is, apparently the sales level suggested by "You
Tore Me Down" and "Shake Some Action" wasn't achieved, and the band's
relationship with Sire was severed. Pick this one up if you see it.
This would essentially be the end of the Flamin' Groovies also, until
Jordan and Alexander surfaced with the one shot project ROCK JUICE in
1992, for the newly formed San Francisco based National label. After
returning to America the two of them would occasionally put together a
version of The Groovies for selected live shows and mini-tours. Interest
among the faithful remained high to support such endeavors, and as a
result some of this live material, and some older material, would be put
out from time to time during the lull. FUNHOUSE! has on a couple of
occasions had the opportunity to see Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney perform
together again in their home town, where we were treated to renditions of
such classics as "Teenage Head" and "Slow Death" amongst others.
ROCK JUICE
National NAT-030-2, 1992
Way Over My Head / Sealed With A Kiss / Hold On Me / Somebody's Fool/ Stay
Away / I'm Only What You Want Me To Be / Shakin' / Give It Away / Thanks
John / This Could Be The Night / Ainsley's Song / Little Girl / When She's
In Town / Flyin' Saucers Rock 'N' Roll
produced by Cyril Jordan and Kari Derfler
Out of nowhere in late 1992 we were caught by surprise with a brand new
Flamin' Groovies record. The only clue to the line-up here is that the
majority of songwriting credits are to Cyril Jordan alone, and a one line
note which reads, "All vocals: Cyril Jordan and George Alexander".
"Ainsley's Song" suggest that studio drummer and corporate rock hack-band
veteran Ainsley Dunbar (Jefferson Starship and Journey amongst others) is
probably involved. Despite that somewhat questionable resume he drums
well, and all of the music here is top notch. Good playing and clean,
sharp production abounds. It's not a bad record and some of the tunes
actually rise up to a higher level. The better tracks found interspersed
here are "Hold on Me", "Stay Away", "Shakin', Give it Away", "Little
Girl", and the non-Jordan penned "Flying Saucers of Rock and Roll". They
give a decent rendition of the old Modern Folk Quartet number "This Could
Be the Night" (which LA area people may recognize as being the theme song
for the "Rodney on the ROQ" radio show). The music is tight and upbeat,
and is distinguished by the use of an uncommon 10 string Rickenbacker 360
guitar. The shortcomings of the record come from the same thing that has
plagued many talented composers in the past; the taking of a batch of new
songs into the studio with hired musicians and recording them straight.
Without the fleshing out of new material by repeated playing with a
regular band, the tracks don't develop the edge, or the certain nuances,
which bring quality material up another level. Still the material here is
good if not great, it's fun to listen to, and it's good to have the band
still working at some level. The National Records logo contains a drawing
of a vinyl record and my disc lists "side one" and "side two", but I have
never seen this available except on CD. Could this be a Groovies record
not available on LP? Regardless of that, get this quick if you are so
inclined because it may already be out of print.
Other releases:
In addition to the main output containing studio recordings of new
material which are listed above, a number of LP's and EP's of live
recordings and studio outtakes, and repackagings have been issued. Those
that are known by FUNHOUSE! are listed below, with the pertinent
information given when it is available.
FLAMIN' GROOVIES '68 (LIVE)
Eva (France), 1983
FLAMIN' GROOVIES '70 (LIVE)
Eva EV 102 (France), 1984
Carol / Comin' After Me / I'm A Man / Jam Sandwich / Rockin' Pneumonia And
The Boogie Woogie Flu / Shakin' All Over / Headin' For The Texas Border /
American Soul Spiders / Louie Louie
A recnightclub soundcheck in 1970. Above average sound for a
live taping from the time, and the performance is excellent.
GREASE (EP) (LIVE)
Skydog 66001, 1974
MORE GREASE (EP) (LIVE)
Skydog 66002, 1974
Skydog is a Dutch label that released material all through Europe.
THE GOLD STAR TAPES
Skydog SKI 2224 (France), 1984
River Deep Mountain High / So Much In Love / Rough Tapes / And Your Bird
Can Sing / She Don't Care About Time / Do I Love You
Outtakes from the Sire period which includes a number of cover songs.
A BUCKETFULL OF BRAINS (LIVE)
Voxx (US), 1983
released as SLOW DEATH LIVE! in France on the Lolita label.
After Bill "The Bozo" Graham abandoned the Fillmore West for a larger
(read greater profit$) venue, the Groovies took it over. They booked many
shows featuring local and touring groups, with them opening as the house
band. This is a recording of them playing there in 1971. (The Fillmore
West at Geary and Fillmore streets in SF was still hosting the occasional
live show up until the October, 1989 earthquake. The FUNHOUSE! editors
caught The Cramps there on New Year's Eve 1987/88. After the quake it
became unsafe for live performances, and today serves as offices for the
inheritors of the Graham promotional empire.)
ONE NIGHT STAND (LIVE-AUSTRALIA 1984)
AIM Records AIM 1008 (Australia), 1986
Kicks / Bittersweet / I Can't Hide / Money / Call Me Lightning / Shake Some
Action / Slow Death / Teenage Head / Slow Down / Tallahassee Lassie
A performance with a Groovies line-up that included Jordan and Alexander,
and has Jack Johnson on guitar/vocals, and Paul Zahl on drums/vocals.
THIS IS THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES
Metronome 201 707 (Europe), 1975
Kama Sutra's release of FLAMINGO throughout Europe.
COLLECTOR'S ITEM
Kama Sutra 940 106/7, 1976
A double album re-issue of FLAMINGO and TEENAGE HEAD.
STILL SHAKIN'
Buddah 5683 (Philips 940541 in Euro 1976
Buddah, Kama Sutra's sister label, released this single LP of tracks culled
from FLAMINGO and TEENAGE HEAD.
STEP UP
A recent Australian release which Midnight Records describe in their ads as,
"13 new recordings". Anyone know about this?
GROOVIES GREATEST GROOVES
The 1991 greatest hits CD from Sire, it contains material from the earlier
records as well. All the best stuff is here, and along with a copy of
TEENAGE HEAD would be a good place to get started.
Loney has put out a number of records since his departure, by himself and
with his band The Phantom Movers, most of which headed straight for the
cut-out bins. Most recently he's on the Norton label backed by The
A-Bones, and with a band including Danny Mihm.
Reviews: Books, 'Zines and Music
---------------------------------
Some books, new and old, that may be of interest:
BABOON DOOLEY ROCK CRITIC! by John Crawford; 1988, Popular Reality
Press, ISBN: 0-94520-900-2, $9.95
When I was reading Flipside back in the early 80's, one of the highlights
of each issue were the "Baboon Dooley Rock Critic" strips regularly
featured. Baboon gets around quite a bit, as the back cover lists over
100 mostly 'zines and underground pubs which he's appeared in. Dooley is
the prototypical pompous, mooching, obnoxious, egotistical, know-it-all
rock critic boob. This provides plenty of yucks in itself, but also gives
a platform for jokes centered around trends, styles, and subcultures of
the times the strips were drawn. Not all of them are great, but there are
plenty which are hysterically on the mark. Perhaps there's so much inside
humor, or jokes which concern personalities that are only known to those
who move through a small scene, that different strips appeal to different
people who may in a certain case be "in the know". I know that those for
which I'm "in the know" can be really insightful. Intros are by Bob
Black, Byron Coley of "Forced Exposure", and the Rev. Ivan Stang. I only
wish that some of the brilliant "Baboon Dooley meets Henry and Dez from
Black Flag" series were included here, but with so much material, maybe it
will turn up in a subsequent collection.
DOING RUDE THINGS: THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH SEX FILM 1957-1981
by David McGillivray; 1992, Sun Tavern Fields (UK), ISBN: 0-95170-122-3
This book traces the history of an area of cinema which most American film
fans know almost nothing about. The development of nudies in England
occurred roughly parallel to those in the US, and McGillivray highlights
the specific British nature of these films which he attests to the Brits
Victorian attitudes toward sex. The progress of the genre is traced as it
developed through the sixties, with emphasis placed on the major figures,
specifically Stanley Long, Arnold Louis Miller, Harrison Marks, and Pete
Walker, who the author has had a hectic relationship with going back many
years. Starlets such as Diana Dors, Fiona Richmond, and Pamela Green are
also given their due for their roles in these films. Pamela Green, long
time partner of Harrison Marks and for a while a sort of Betty Page of
England (in stature, not form in my opinion) writes the introduction.
McGillivray takes us up through the end of the British sex film industry,
which he attributes to the conservative Thatcher government's censorship
and the repeal of the Eady fun
d subsidy, as well as to the Soho
community's (the Times Square/Hollywood Blvd./Tenderloin section of
London) attempts to eject the sex theatre operators who they felt were
eroding the bohemian character of their neighborhood. The author is
honest in his evaluations, regarding these films mostly as pretty poor,
which makes his praise of those few found to be of quality more valuable.
Despite the quality of the product, the development of the industry makes
for some interesting stories. Some of the bits of information gleaned
from the text include the participation of famous American directors, such
as Jack Arnold and Jonathan Demme, who might wish that these efforts were
removed from their resumes. McGillivray himself authored a handful of
sleazy horror films in the seventies. These were HOUSE OF WHIPCORD
(1974), FRIGHTMARE (1974), THE CONFESSIONAL MURDERS aka HOUSE OF MORTAL
SIN (1975) and SCHIZO (1976) with director Pete Walker, and SATAN'S SLAVE
(1976) and TERROR (1978) for director Norman J. Warren. Anyone who has
seen any of these violent and sometimes sicko movies should be amazed with
the realization that they were *subsidized* by the British government.
(Likewise amazing is that Peter Jackson's BRAIN DEAD/DEAD ALIVE was
subsidized by the New Zealand government - just try to get that one by
Jesse Helms here in the US!)
LOU REED AND THE VELVET UNDERGROUND by Diana Clapton; 1982, Bobcat Books,
ISBN: 0-71191-067-7, ($9.95 [softcover] as ISBN: 0-86276-055-0 originally)
This book was originally put out in 1982 and having wished that I bought
it then, I was glad to see that it had been reprinted. The structure is
to chronologically follow the albums issued by The Velvet Underground, and
then by Lou Reed as solo projects. On top of this framework is a good
deal of information regarding the exploits of Lou and the V.U. It's a
work that is greatly weighted toward the period from 1966 to 1975, with a
pretty complete description as to the contents, and the story of the
making of, the five V.U. LP's put out while the band was together (VELVET
UNDERGROUND AND NICO, WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND,
LOADED, LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY), and the Lou Reed solo projects up
through CONEY ISLAND BABY (LOU REED, TRANSFORMER, BERLIN, ROCK AND ROLL
ANIMAL, LOU REED LIVE, SALLY CAN'T DANCE, METAL MACHINE MUSIC, and CONEY
ISLAND BABY). The recordings from the Arista years are touched on
lightly, and the return LP for RCA, THE BLUE MASK, which was recently
released when the book was published, appears to be included at the last
minute. For the years that are looked at in detail however there is a
wealth of interesting information that hasn't been written about too
extensively despite the growth in popularity and influence of the music.
The formation of The Velvet Underground is described and the early
association with Andy Warhol discussed. We get a good idea as to the
contributions of various band members, and we learn about the causes for
the various personnel changes. Interviews with Sterling Morrison and
Maureen Tucker provide some of the facts; Tucker's negative opinion of
Nico and her manipulative powers is rather interesting. Other interviews
with producers of solo albums such as Richard Robinson (LOU REED, STREET
HASSLE) and Geoffrey Diamond (CONEY ISLAND BABY), band member Chuck
Hammer, and tour manger Barbara Fulk give a picture as to the state of the
ever changing Lou personality that produced LP's from certain periods. The
author does a good job of being explanatory as to the style and of the
various recordings, without being too judgmental herself. Being on
obvious fan she keeps her distance with critical analysis, letting
interviewees and reactions of the public and people connected with Lou
give you a good idea as too any individual project's merit. There are
also a good number of photos (some in color), and despite being rather
light in detail for the later years, this book serves as a good reference
for those all too little chronicled early years.
NIGHTMARE OF ECSTASY: THE LIFE AND ART OF EDWARD D. WOOD JR. by Rudolph
Grey; 1992, Ferral House, ISBN: 0-92291-504-0, $14.95
With the Ed Wood film bio by Timmy "Batman" Burton in the works (which
will probably cost more, even adjusted for inflation, then all of Wood's
movies combined), anyone planning on seeing it should first read this
exhaustively researched account of his life. Grey tracked down just about
every surviving associate of the eccentric filmmaker, sleazy sex novel
author, and transvestite, and constructs this book around interviews
strung together in succession to tell the story of particular aspects of
the subject's life. Childhood through death are traced in the words of
Maila Nurmi (Vampira), Karl Johnson (son of Tor), A.C. Stephens, Valda
Hansen, Paul Marco, Timothy Farrell, Lyle Talbot, Aldo Ray, Dolores
Fuller, Dudley Manlove, Mona Mckinnon, Conrad Brooks, Wood makeup man
Harry Thomas, filmmaker "peers" Sam Arkoff, Dave Friedman, and Alex
Gordon, Wood's mother Lillian Wood and wife Kathy Wood, Forrey Ackerman,
and many others. Never before has such a wealth of Wood information been
collected in one place. Detailed accounts of the making of such well
known classics as GLEN OR GLENDA, THE SINISTER URGE, JAILBAIT, BRIDE OF
THE MONSTER, PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE, and NIGHT OF THE GHOULS are of
course included, but Grey also gives the scoop on X-rated directorial
efforts such as TAKE IT OUT IN TRADE (1970), NECROMANIA, (1971) and THE
ONLY HOUSE (1971). The filmography list 31 titles from 1948 to 1976 which
Wood worked on as either director or writer, including a slew of seventies
sex films written for director A.C Stephens, Wood's partner on ORGY OF THE
DEAD (1965). There is even a listing with descriptions of loops, TV
productions, and 34 unrealized scripts/projects envisioned by Wood. But
that's not all. Grey also amassed about fifty trash novels Wood authored,
including descriptions of the text for most, as well as references to his
short stories which appeared in various men's magazines. Many of these
were later used as the basis for screenplays. The author has recorded
more data than many Wood fans even thought existed is mixed
with a large number of photographs of Eddy and his cohorts, movie stills,
and artwork from books and films. The sections which tell of Wood's work
and friendship with horror film icons Bela Lugosi, Criswell, and Tor
Johnson (my greatest curiosity about the Burton film is who will play The
Swedish Angel) are especially entertaining.
PSYCHOTIC REACTIONS AND CARBURETOR DUNG by Lester Bangs; 1988, Vinatge
Books, ISBN: 0-67972-045-6, $9.95 (softcover)
The iconoclastic Bangs was always one of the most outrageously
entertaining rock critics, particularly in his CREEM period of the
seventies, striking that fine balance of interjecting himself into his
articles without the results coming off in the pretentious "critic more
important than the music" style of a Robert Hilburn, Dave Marsh, or Greil
Marcus. Bangs, the man who consensus generally gives credit to as the
inventor of the term "punk rock", rambles along in a gonzo style in which
his story telling gives you a feeling for what the music is doing to him,
without spelling it out in so many words. This is a posthumous collection
from the years 1971-1981 (Bangs died in 1982). The Hunter Thompsonesque
style comes through most noticeably in the title article, in which Bangs'
discussion of the San Jose sixties garage rockers The Count Five credits
them with four albums more than the one they actually issued. In 1971 he
is in full H.S.T. style writing about their mythical catalog, essentially
saying that although the group had disappeared four years previously, if
they HAD continued this is what they WOULD have done. He's using this
format to give an idea of his own, as well as countless low level band's,
evolution through the period. PSYCHOTIC REACTION is in fact the true
title of the lone real Count Five album, while CARBURETOR DUNG is their
Bangs created mythical second release. In the course of this narrative he
takes the opportunity to interject his opinions of other groups and tunes
that excited him at the time, such as The Shadows Of Knight, Question Mark
and the Mysterians, The Rivingtons, and Capatin Beefheart, while subtly
blasting the corporate rock of the day, CCR and CSN&Y. In other words
every article gives you much more than the titles suggest. Lester's
diatribe is so convincing, to the extent of giving details of phony tracks
from the phony albums, that when the English Edsel label issued a Count
Five comp in 1987 they included this article on an insert sheet as a band
bio. The humorous Bangs style is applied in detail to Iggy/Stooges, The
Clash, and especially his long time "adversary" Lou Reed. Lou's attitude
toward METAL MACHINE MUSIC at the time of it's creation is really amusing.
Other groups and people touched on are The Godz, John Coltrane, Richard
Hell and the Voidoids, Peter Laughner, and Sham 69.
RESEARCH #14: INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC VOL I ed. V. Vale and Andrea Juno;
1993, Re/Search Publications, ISBN: 0-94064-222-0, $17.99
I hope that all FUNHOUSE! readers are already familiar with the Re/Search
monographic series. If not you should look into their past publications,
especially the essential #10: INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS (write: 20 Romolo
#B, San Francisco, CA, 94133). This latest edition doesn't focus on punk,
garage, doowop, psychedelic, etc., but on REALLY strange music. The
format is to interview collectors and aficionados of crazed rockabilly and
R & B, instrumental rock, sound effects records, synthesizer effects
records, recorded musical rants, and recordings of film and TV stars.
Highlights are discussions with The Cramps, Eartha Kitt, the owners of
Norton Records, The Phantom Surfers, and Martin Denny. The articles
consist of ramblings where the interviewees continuously go on about
whatever enters their minds. Many tell interesting anecdotes about some
special finds or new musical discoveries, and about their experiences
building their collections. Their enthusiasm for the material really
shows through. A comment here is that unlike in INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS,
allot of the material discussed is fun to hear about but you don't get an
immediate urge to run out and track it down (SONGS FOR CANARY TRAINING by
example). However there is plenty that you will be turned onto, and other
things which give you a big laugh just to know that they exist (YOU'RE MY
GIRL: ROMANTIC REFLECTION BY JACK WEBB, THE ADDICTS SING: NINE FORMER
ADDICTS [complete with depiction of a smack injection on the cover]). The
many record covers re-printed greatly add to the fun.
STAIRWAY TO HELL: THE 500 BEST HEAVY METAL ALBUMS IN THE UNIVERSE
by Chuck Eddy; 1991, Harmony Books, ISBN: 0-51757-541-8, $14.00
Don't let the title or the Led Zep cover of this book fool you. There's
plenty of the Circus/Rip style poseur metal in here, but crazy man author
Eddy expands his horizons and his definition of metal way beyond the
standard interpretations. Places one through four are awarded to the
usual suspects, Led Zeppelin ("Led Zeppelin"), Guns 'N' Roses ("Appetite
for Destruction"), Alice Cooper ("Greatest Hits"), and Aerosmith ("Toys in
the Attic"), but lurking just past those are The New York Dolls ("New York
Dolls") at no. 6, Funkadelic ("Maggot Brain") at #22, The Beastie Boys
("Rock Hard") at #79, The Chambers Brothers ("Time Has Come") at #141,
Black Flag ("Damaged") at #191, and Redd Kross ("Neurotica") at #217.
Don't worry, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Def Leppard, and Motorhead have
many entries, but you're also hit with many surprises such as Roky
Erickson and the Aliens (#193), "Metal Machine Music" (#199, which is
described as "the most dauntless 'fuck-you' move/hype/tour de force/sham
in the history of history") and even Teena Marie (#9<!> for "Emerald
City"). The author's prose is pretty whacked, sometimes taking a couple
of re-readings just to make sense of what you just took in, but many times
leaving you rolling on the floor after you've deciphered it. There's such
a wide range of material that is lumped under "heavy metal", that I've
picked up on many great records that I'd never heard (or even heard of)
before. There haven't been too many other books that I've had so much FUN
reading in awhile. The craziness is epitomized by the appendix which
carries a section titled, "25 Reasons Disco-Metal Fusion Is Inevitable In
The Nineties". In case you were wondering, the 500th best heavy metal
album of all time is Death Angel's "The Ultra-Violence".
STEP RIGHT UP!: I'M GONNA SCARE THE PANTS OFF AMERICA by William Castle;
1976, Pharos Books, ISBN: 0-88687-657-5, $12.95
William Castle was a horror film director from the fifties and sixties who
is not only well known for some pretty good terror movies, but also for
the outlandish gimmicks which he concocted in order to promote them. The
recent Joe Dante film MATINEE with John Goodman was based on Castle and
his tricks. This autobiography was originally published in 1976 by
Putnam, but was re-issued last year. Castle takes us through his career,
which began as a house director for Columbia on run of the mill Hollywood
output, included production duties with the difficult Orson Welles on THE
LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1948), and his most well known work as producer,
director, and promoter on a string of horror titles ranging from MACABRE
(1958) through LET'S KILL UNCLE (1966). Castle ended his career producing
mostly horror films in the late sixties and seventies, including
ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) with director Roman Polanski. Easily the most
enjoyable sections of the book are those in which he tells of his coming
up with and carrying out the promotional gimmicks for which he is most
well known. Things began subtly with MACABRE, in which a life insurance
policy was taken out to protect patrons from dying of fright while
watching the film. Eventually it picked up when he used "Emergo" for THE
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) where a skeleton on a wire flew from above
the screen out over the audience's head at the proper moment, "Percepto"
in THE TINGLER (1959) where after star Vincent Price tells the audience
that The Tingler is loose in the theatre the lights go out and selected
seats deliver a shock to it's occupants arse (in this film Price trips out
after injecting himself with a hallucinogenic drug), and "Illusion-O"
where viewers of 13 GHOSTS (1960) where given special glasses which
allowed them to visualize the spooks on the screen. My personal favorites
are the "Fright Break" from HOMICIDAL (1961) in which the film is stopped
a few minutes from the end and those too afraid to continue were allowed
to leave the theatre and receive a money back guarantee. To do so however
they were forced to stand in "Coward's Corner". And also the "Punishment
Poll" from MR. SARDONICUS (1961) in which before the film ended the
audience was allowed to vote with a fluorescent card with a thumb up
saying "mercy" if they wished the villain to live, or a thumb down saying
"no mercy" if they wished him to die. The projectionist would then mount
the appropriate closing reel. Castle claims that they stopped even
bringing the survival reel to the theatres as it was never needed. These
movies actually stand alone as quality horror films without the gimmicks,
especially THE TINGLER and HOMICIDAL, and are periodically featured on the
cable channel TNT. The introduction to the repressing is by John Waters,
and the filmography is by Michael Weldon of "Psychotronic", two people who
have been singing the praises of Castle's work for a long time.
A YOUTH IN BABYLON: CONFESSIONS OF A TRASH FILM KING by David F. Friedman
with Don De Nevi; 1990, Prometheus Books, ISBN: 0-87975-608-X, $19.95
David Friedman was one of the pioneers of the exploitation film. Here he
tells the first half of his life story, beginning as a distributor and
promoter of traveling roadshows featuring material such as the infamous
MOM AND DAD, and concluding with his association with the amazing
Herschell Gordon Lewis and their production of early nudies and the
infamous "gore trilogy", BLOOD FEAST, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS, and COLOR ME
BLOOD RED. The second part of this autobiography, to be titled "Kings of
Babylon", is yet to come out, but when it does it will cover Friedman's
involvement with the creation of numerous sexploitation titles from the
mid-sixties through the seventies. What's really interesting about the
book is Friedman's many tales of promotional tricks and hucksterisms from
the early days of film exploitation. He worked with the pioneering Kroger
Babb and the anecdotes surrounding this character are quite amusing. The
book gives allot of insight as to the tricks of the trade, and the text is
littered with "carny", the slang of the carnival crowd. There's even a
glossary defining such terms as "half a yard" (fifty dollars) and a
"skygrifter" (a con man preacher). Stories on the shenaningans of such
early figures as Irwin Joseph, Dwain Esper, Louis and Dan Sonney, Floyd
Lewis, Gidney Talley, and S.S. Millard are scattered throughout the text.
Friedman also details his association with H.G. Lewis and their creation
of such classics as THE PRIME TIME, SCUM OF THE EARTH, and DAUGHTERS OF
THE SUN, as well as the above mentioned original gore flicks. While
learning about specific movies is an interesting part of this book, what's
even more fun is the many stories of how these things were made and sold
to a gullible public.
On the fanzine front:
CULT MOVIES AND VIDEOS #7 ($4.95 cover, four for $18.00 by subscription at
6201 Sunset Blvd., Suite 152, Hollywood, CA, 90028) continues to offer 80
densely packed pages of valuable information and good, fun reading. The
new issue devotes much attention to Godzilla, but also finds space to
include a masked Mexican wrestler movie feature, an interviewh 30's
and 40's horror flick character actor Turhan Bey, reports on rare film
finds with Boris Karloff and Betty Page, Craig Ledbetter on "Death Laid an
Egg", Bela Lugosi, George "Superman" Reeves, and plenty of letters and
book and record reviews. ECCO, THE WORLD OF BIZARRE VIDEO has taken on a
new expanded format with issue #18 ($3.00 cover, four for $10.00 by
subscription at P.O. Box 65742, Washington, DC, 20035). The 'zine used to
be shorter and carry brief descriptions of obscure films, but it now has
branched out to a full ad-free 30 pages, with lengthier features on
artists and individual films in addition to shorter reviews of books and
videos. This issue contains stories on director Barbet Schroeder and
Florida exploitation film make-up man and promoter Doug Hobart, a look at
the British teensploitation sleazer "Beat Girl", discussion of a pair of
roughies on video, "Aroused" and "Evil Come Evil Go", plus additional book
and video reviews, commentary, and even Idi Amin. EUROPEAN TRASH CINEMA
#6 ($6.00 cover, four for $20.00 by subscription at P.O. Box 5367,
Kingwood, TX, 77325) is finally out, and it was worth the wait. The all
interview issue has 42 pages of conversations with Riccardo Freda,
Lamberto Bava, Ruggero Deodato, Lee Van Cleef, Antonio Margheritti, and
Sergio Stivaletti. Also included is a an homage to actress Barbara
Bouchet, and a discussion of the increasingly controversial Thomas Weisser
book "Spaghetti Westerns-The Good, the Bad, and the Violent". FILMFAX is
a slick that FUNHOUSE! usually passes on from a lack of interest, but
issue #38 ($4.95 cover, six for $25.00 by subscription at P.O. Box 1900,
Evanston, IL, 60204) caught my eye with an interview and film history of
the greatest of the badfilm auteurs, Dallas' Larry Buchanan. The issue's
98 pages are fleshed out by a Joe Dante interview, a Lon Chaney Sr.
article, and an interesting talk with Tommy Kirk (star of Buchanan's "Mars
Needs Women" and "It's Alive") in addition to other stuff outside of
FUNHOUSE!'s interest. FREAKOUT U.S.A. ($5.00 cover at 1204 East 12th St.,
Tucson, AZ, 85719) is a new 'zine with an emphasis on garage and punk
bands of the sixties, and their modern derivatives. This is a successor
to PSYCHEDELICATESSEN, and #1's main feature is a fantastic, lengthy
interview with MC5 bassist Michael Davis. The article, which is heavily
illustrated with pictures and items from Davis' personal collection, is
the best feature on that great band that I've yet read. Also of interest
is a first hand account of the neo-psychedelic band scene in Japan. The
64 pager is filled out with many short articles on various genre bands
(including an incomplete short one on Davie Allen and the Arrows, who will
be profiled to a much greater extent in a future FUNHOUSE!) and book and
record reviews. THE LAST PROM is a work of literature from editor Ralph
Coon (no cover price, write to 137 S. San Fernando Blvd. #243, Burbank,
CA, 91502). #2 is a well researched 40 page biography of television kook
preacher Dr. Gene Scott, a regular feature on the FUNHOUSE! editor's TV
screen throughout a Southern Cal adolescence. If you've ever been
fascinated with this intense character get this immediately. All of his
well publicized exploits are explained in detail, as well as a look into
his origins. Even if you've never heard of Scott this expose on a
fascinating character is an intriguing read. PSYCHOTRONIC VIDEO #15
($3.50 cover, six issue subscription for $20.00 from 3309 Rt. 97,
Narrowsburg, NY, 12764-6126) is 72 pages of the usual great collection of
many video reviews, informative letters, and book, fanzine and record
reviews. This issue's features are interviews with Antonio "Huggy Bear"
Fargas, John "Animal House" Vernon, British sixties nudie filmmaker
Harrison Marks (see FUNHOUSE! book review section), and Peter Jackson, as
well as a follow up to last issue's "Spook Show Racket" feature discussing
Donn Davison. With many video reviews and great feature articles,
FUNHOUSE! considers PSYCHOTRONIC to not only be a bargain but the best
oddball film mag of them all. SHOCK CINEMA #5 ($3.00 cover, $4.00 ppd by
mail from P.O. Box 518, Peter Stuyvesant Station, New York, NY, 10009) is
40 pages of many (over 60) medium length reviews of horror/weirdo/sleaze
films covering a wide range of styles and periods. Also thrown in are a
few pages of informative letters, themselves filled with strange movie
reviews, and a record, book, and 'zine section. I like this one. SNAKE
OIL #1 ($2.00 from 6102 East Mockingbird #374, Dallas, TX, 75214) is
Brother Randall's continuation of his "Robert Tilton Fan Club Newsletter".
After eight issues of that title dedicated exclusively to Brother Bob, he
widens his scope with this 'zine to cover a larger selection of Bob's TV
brethren. This 12pp/no ads issue has a testimonial from a visit to Benny
Hinn's healing crusade, the first hand scoop on the marriage of Bob
Tilton's daughter Amy, details from a wet David Koresh T-shirt contest at
the Cod Club in Waco, and tips for blending in when visiting the faith
healing/fundamentalist/ Pentecostal crowd's get togethers. Also included
is a listing of TV preacher related items for sale by mail. VIDEOOZE #4
($3.00 cover, four for $10.00 by subscription from P.O. Box 9911,
Alexandria, VA, 22304) comes in at a somewhat short 28 pages. The focus
is primarily on (mostly) foreign horror films from (mostly) the sixties
and seventies. It is largely made up of longer reviews of about ten
rather obscure terror films, and a detailed comparison of Mario Bava's
"Lisa and the Devil" and it's bastardized retooled release "The House Of
Exorcism". The rest consists of a short article on actress Helga Line and
the usual letters and fanzine profiles.
FUNHOUSE! would like to recommend the newsstand at Naked Eye Video, 533
Haight St. (at Fillmore) in San Francisco, as a great source of 'zines and
oddball publications, as well as many of the videos we all crave. If
you're in the neighborhood you're encouraged to check them out.
Music:
Rather than talk about some recordings this time out, FUNHOUSE! will
give descriptions of two outstanding live performances recently
attended.
GEORGE CLINTON AND THE P-FUNK ALLSTARS - May 21, at The Circle Star
Theatre in San Carlos, CA.
Many times during the last election season I was struck by the wisdom of
tossing out GEORGE Bush and Bill CLINTON, and supporting the one man
capable of bringing about One Nation Under A Groove, GEORGE CLINTON. Well
that didn't go down, but a wild and frenzied four and a half hour
extravaganza of everything P-Funk did. The venue itself added to the
weirdness. The Circle Star is a place that usually hosts older comics,
country singers, and Las Vegas acts on tour, and thus I hadn't previously
had the pleasure of visiting. It appears to be all that's left of a past
suburban "passion pit" (that's a drive-in for you more sophisticated
types), which is the circular concession stand/restroom area/projection
building situated in the middle of the theatre so as to serve all of the
screens that surrounded it. Inside the stage is "in the round", meaning
that it's circular and is surrounded on all sides by about twenty rows of
seats. As the show proceeds, the stage rotates around so that at
different times different sections of the audience are facing the front.
The band composition ranged from the stripped down fivesome of two
guitars/bass/keyboards/drums for "Maggot Brain" (Where the combo was
introduced by "THIS IS FUNKADELIC!"), to greater than twenty musicians,
singers, and boogiers for the most elaborate Parliament dance tunes. It
was good to be situated in what was the first front of the stage, as it
took a good half hour just to get the whole gang assembled before they
actually began to rotate. The show was amazing. Brother George showcased
all aspects of his empire. He delivered many of his psycho-spiels at one
point, he rapped, and he allowed the musicians to tear off into the mind
melting guitar frenzy and keyboard wizardry that us Funkadelic fans came
for. After attempting to rouse the audience into applauding one
particular mind numbing sonic jam solo (I know I was already screaming),
George admonished the dance music oriented spectators that they didn't
just get the hits, they had to hear it all! - I think this was good for
allot of them. Of course all the hits you'd expect to hear were played,
from "P.Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)" to "Atomic Dog" to "Up From The
Down Stroke" to "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Of The Sucker" to
"Flashlight". But what the good folks at FUNHOUSE! came for were the
mighty Funkadelic cuts. Interspersed early in the show were "Cosmic
Slop", "Let's Take It To The Stage", "Alice In My Fantasies", "I Call My
Baby Pussycat", and the above mentioned "Maggot Brain", but after midnight
Sir Noise kept calling for the band to follow him in a string of
Funkadelic songs seemingly pulled from the top of his head. One after
another us hanger-onners were treated to "Standing On The Verge Of Getting
It On", "Red Hot Mama", "Hit It And Quit It", "One Nation Under A Groove",
and "No Head No Backstage Pass". Another interesting aspect of the whole
experience was the audience. It was a close to even mix of black folks
and white folks, but the real contrast was amongst the personalities from
those groups. The majority of the blacks were slightly older (thirties to
forties and many beyond that), mostly dressed sharply, with allot of
husbands and wives, families with children, and couples on dates. The
white kids however could have just as well been at a Dinosaur Jr. show.
Big hair and leathers abounded. It must be said that there were many
twentyish black kids in attendance, but virtually no (obviously) fortyish
whites. I guess they were all waiting for the upcoming Manilow gig.
Needless to say it was an exhaustive evening that I was damn glad that I
didn't miss. In the Bill Clinton department, I've been informed of a
campaign trail interview he gave in Portland in which he discusses his
favorite P-Funk tracks with the interviewer. Yet one more reason why I
feel that I in fact make the correct choice last November.
NEIL YOUNG WITH BOOKER T. AND THE MG'S - June 12, at The Concord
Pavillion in Concord, CA.
The ever eclectic Mr. Young has spanned the range of his styles of late,
from the Crazy Horse collaboration RAGGED GLORY and the 1990/91 tour with
them which resulted in the ARC/WELD live triple record, to his last LP
HARVEST MOON which reunited him with the mellower sounds of The Stray
Gators who had last worked with him on 1972's HARVEST. Neil's latest
group of musicians provide him with the perfect compliment for all the
various aspects of his career, none other than the greatest back-up band
of all time Booker T and the MG's. Booker T. Jones (organ), Steve Cropper
(guitar) and Duck Dunn (bass) were all there, along with Jim Keltner
joining on drums in place of the late Al Jackson. The group, rounded out
by a pair of female backup singers, were announced along with Neil on June
9 for a gig that night at the (I'm guessing) 2-3K seat Warfield Theatre in
San Francisco. Well that show was an impossibility as it sold out in ten
minutes after the press/radio/Bill Graham leeches got a hold of their
seats through their connections. A second show at that venue was
announced from the stage for the next night and I of course didn't make
that one either. After some brooding, I was stoked to hear a Saturday
morning announcement for a gig that night at the Concord Pavillion for the
very reasonable admission price of $12.50. After hauling it down to the
boxoffice for the ten o'clock start of ticket sales, I secured my pass for
that evening's rocking sold out night under the stars. The Concord is one
of those amphitheater places with a couple thousand seats in a semi-circle
arrangemaround the stage, backed up with a sloping grass general
admission area. Relaxing on the lawn amidst the marijuana haze after an
upper 80 degree day had cooled with the sun set was the perfect setting to
groove to the founder of grunge rock. Booker T and the MG's were the
house band at the Memphis based Stax/Volt soul label, writing songs for
and backing up such greats as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave. They put out
a number of great instrumental records themselves, and had hits with songs
such as "Green Onions" and "Tic-Tac-Toe". While this collaboration with
Neil was a new thing, these guys are sharp enough as a band that they were
able to slide right in with exciting grinds and jams behind songs from the
most subtly beautiful to the hardest rocking feedback drenched tunes Mr.
Young has written. The FUNHOUSE! offices like nothing better than putting
on the mayhem of N.Y. and Crazy Horse at eleven on the stereo, but we like
the acoustic guitar and piano accompanied songs as well. When Neil's with
Crazy Horse as on ARC/WELD, there's no other place to go than full blast.
The MG's however can provide him and his Gibson with the loud crunch he
needs at one point, but they can then come back with a clean, quiet
backing for the slow ones. The two and a half hour show kicked off with
"Mr. Soul", "The Loner", and "Southern Man", filled with top form vocals
and crazy solos that had the crowd on it's feet after each one. Neil's
enjoyment of the show can be directly correlated with the length and
intensity of his guitar wails, and based on these he was REALLY into this
one. The concert had a heavy dose of the high watt numbers mostly
recorded with Crazy Horse. Loud songs such as "Like a Hurricane" and
"Powderfinger" were mixed with more mid-tempo rockers like "This Note's
For You", "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere", and "Motorcycle Mama". The
organ wails from Booker T which accompanied "Love To Burn" and "Down By
the River" added a great element to these compositions which hasn't been
heard before. Steve Cropper picked out some great rhythms, and occasional
leads, to hold things together while Neil went off on his electric, or
strummed the melody on his acoustic to the hit "Harvest Moon" from his
latest LP. An occasional venture to the piano for songs like "Only Love
Can Break Your Heart" and "Helpless" were also interspersed. I never
thought that the concept of contact high was actually possible, but by the
encore of the Otis Redding classic "Sitting By the Dock Of the Bay"
(written by Cropper) and Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" I was heading
for munchyville courtesy of my neighbor's second hand dope smoke. I had
flashbacks of my previous experience at a Young concert at the indoor
Universal Amphitheater in L.A., where the atmosphere was like Spicolli's
van in "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". I was waiting for a repeat of my
most vivid memory from that date, Neil's vocalizing of "And I felt like
getting high..." from "After the Gold Rush" which was met my hoots and
hollers plus countless flicked bics from the turned on crowd.
Unfortunately as that great tune wasn't on the nights schedule there was
no repeat from this audience. This collaboration appears to have been
recently put together, but it worked so well and seemed to be so enjoyable
for the musicians that I wouldn't be surprised if a tour emerged. If it
happens you're advised to not miss it.
And finally, a video tape of a live show:
LOU REED - THE NEW YORK ALBUM
Recorded August 13, 1989 in Montreal at Theatre St. Denis
Lou Reed (vocals, guitar), Mike Rathke (guitar), Rob Wasserman (bass),
Robert Medici (drums)
Lou records his NEW YORK album live, in order, and in it's entirety with
the guitarist and bass player who worked with him on that record. Old
drummer and LP producer Fred Maher wasn't on this tour, but Medici is a
fine replacement. The band sounds really good, doing justice to some of
Lou's best songs, and the recording is excellent. The idea of playing an
entire album doesn't make sense unless it's a solid work without filler,
and this one qualifies ("Romeo Had Juliet" - "Halloween Parade" - "Dirty
Blvd." - "Endless Cycle" - "There Is No Time" - "Last Great American
Whale" - "Beginning Of A Great Adventure" - "Busload Of Faith" - "Sick Of
You" - "Hold On" - "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim" - "Xmas In February" -
"Strawman" - "Dime Store" Mystery). Rhythm guitar king Lou takes some
pretty cool sounding leads on "There Is No Time", "Great Adventure",
"Busload", "Strawman", and "Dimestore", with Rathke supplying many others.
Wasserman plays a weird looking six string stand up electric bass that in
some cases gives a jazzy sound, and allows him to take leads in a couple
of places. They really crank it up on the rockers "There Is No Time",
"Sick Of You", "Hold On", and "Strawman". For the more introspective back
to back songs "American Whale" and "Great Adventure" Lou sits at a stool
with his ashtray next to him while the spotlight goes off of the other
musicians (Rathke sits at the edge of the stage). Lou takes drags off of
his smoke between verses and guitar licks. On "Dime Store Mystery"
Wasserman plays his bass-thing with a bow and gets a sound that harkens
back to the John Cale viola noise of the early Velvet Underground. The
band appears all dressed in black and look like a sort of single-gloveless
Music Machine. Lou has some really ridiculous looking hair, with his
curly style giving way to one of those trendy soap opera/Mikey Bolton
tale-things in the back. At one point Lou banters that all the music
heard is live - no samples. As he says, "It's not ripped off from someone
dead or in jail." On the tape liner notes Lou states that they wanted to
be as straightforward as possible, with no choreography or back up
singers. The recording is all taken from one show with no overdubs. One
rather annoying aspect of the video production is the way in which it
breaks in between songs. As this is one live show, and Lou delivers a
little intro before every tune, there is no need for this interruption.
During this time the sound goes off and a graphic is displayed with the
title, album position, and length of the song. It was probably an effort
to remind you that this is one cohesive set. Also in his liner notes Reed
speaks of a NEW YORK PART II in the vaults of Sire and urges fans to
encourage them to release it. I know that I'd like to hear that. All in
all the tape presents a gig that was a great showcase for some great
music. As FUNHOUSE! has said before, Mr. Reed is at his best when he's
into his music, and at this time he had a quality, exciting back up band
rather than a bunch of studio hacks working with him.
On my cable system there is a channel operated by SF State University
called SCOLA which is a download of direct, unedited, satellite feed
showing newscasts from around the world. I recently saw a report on a
French news show (amazingly with English subtitles) of a recent Velvet
Underground reunion. Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, and Moe
Tucker were all spoken with briefly, and they were shown playing "We're
Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together. I think that it may have been
taking place in Russia but I'm not sure. I'd like to see this show, but I
somehow doubt that the tour hating Lou Reed or recluse Sterling Morrison
would take it on the road. Maybe a performance will be but out on video.
Next Issue: Funkadelic on CD, EC comics in re-issue, and the FUNHOUSE!
self-indulgence section.
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into his music, and at this time he had a quality, exciting back up band
rather than a bunch of studio hacks working with him.
On my cable system there is a channel operated by SF State University
called SCOLA which is a download of direct, unedited, satellite feed
showing newscasts from around the world. I recently saw a report on a
French news show (amazingly with English subtitles) of a recent Velvet
Underground reunion. Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale, and Moe
Tucker were all spoken with briefly, and they were shown playing "We're
Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together. I think that it may have been
taking place in Russia but I'm not sure. I'd like to see this show, but I
somehow doubt that the tour hating Lou Reed or recluse Sterling Morrison
would take it on the road. Maybe a performance will be but out on video.
Next Issue: Funkadelic on CD, EC comics in re-issue, and the FUNHOUSE!
self-indulgence section.
