October 31, 2008 Earworm

There are pages and pages of returns when you google Jack Kittel but very little information about the loose screw who recorded "Psycho" in 1974. Liner notes from Ace's "Dead! The Grim Reaper's Greatest Hits" says that he is/was from Michigan and that's about all that I can find.

"Psycho" was written by Leon Payne and originally recorded by Eddie Noack in 1968. It received no airplay and immediately became one of those titles prefaced with "Hey, did you ever a hear a song called...". Jack Kittel released his version six years later on Atlanta's own GRC label, home to Sammy John's blandly licentious "Chevy Van". From what I've read, everyone seems to be in agreement that Jack's straight-faced delivery makes it the choice of choice, besting a cover by Elvis Costello during his almost blue period. It also makes a perfect antidote to the equally ghastly "The Christmas Shoes"

"Psycho" is disturbing enough but its full creep credentials are found outside of the grooves and in the story of GRC label owner, Michael Thevis, known as "The Scarface of Porn", who started the label in an attempt to hide his more illicit gains. Read more about Michael Thevis and you'll see what I mean.

Have a devilish weekend.

L5P: Voting Ideas for Atlanta

DISASTROUS TIMES CALL FOR RADICAL CHANGES!

October 17, 2008 Earworm

Riding into the weekend that, here in Atlanta, kicks off the Halloween festivities with the Little Five Points Parade, I present the galloping "Johnny Remember Me", best remembered in the States - if at all - as the partial source for a Bronski Beat/Marc Almond collaboration. Produced by Joe Meek for maximum creepiness with minimal instrumentation arranged by Charles Blackwell, even singer John Leyton's flat vocal can dampen the fun of the story.

What the story is is open to interpretation but there's no doubt that Johnny is unhinged by the loss of his true love. For what's it worth, I'm inclined to believe that his loss was by his own hand and that his hope to find a replacement suggests a psychopath on the loose.

So, uh... have a great weekend and it's probably wise to avoid tricks.

P.S. John's delivery of "Johnny" at 2:20 always reminds me of Julie Brown's "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun": maybe we now all know, like, who Johnny was...

To mark your calendar

CARL MARTIN: Photographs 1986-2007
Curated by Samuel Fogarino
June 20- August 2, 2008
Opening reception and artist's talk: June 20th, ( 6-9p)

Opal Gallery is pleased to present CARL MARTIN:
Photographs 1986-2007.
This collection of photographs span twenty-one years of life spent in New York, NYC, and Georgia. Carl Martin's unique awareness and sensitivity to the world around him resonates in the loose comic geometry of this snapshot based body of work. The range of subjects is not limited to a particular typology but, as he describes, is simply what was being seen and the "visceral way things just are". Curated by musician and writer Samuel Fogarino, this massive installation of imagery offers a contemporary view of the living connection to those who have created a life before us. Filled with aliveness, each individual photograph is evidence of the continuation of a celebration composed of many incongruent components.

Carl Martin received his degree from The School of Visual Arts in New York. He has exhibited nationally. His work is exhibited in numerous private and public collections including the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, New York and Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, GA. He lives and works in Athens,GA.


The Opal Gallery is located at:
484 B-2 Moreland Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
www.theopalgallery.com
For more information please contact:
Constance Lewis, Director
constancelewis@gmail.com
tel. (415) 601-0281

the Color Fields exhibit and soundtrack

So, you went to the opening of Click Clique's The Color Fields exhibit at Opal Gallery and got a great photograph, 'zine, and a couple of cds and you are here because you're curious about what some of this music is and who the artists are.

The track list is provided so that you can buy some stuff from the great artists that I've sampled. You definitely want to support the artists, right?
Right.

Disc 1 (white)
01) Polaroid SX70 Land Commercial - Sir Laurence Olivier, 1972
found on youtube
02) The Colourfield - The Colourfield, 1985
from "Virgins and Philistines" which is out of print
03) Pictures of You - The Cure, 1989
from "Disintegration"
04) Yellow - Coldplay, 2000
from "Parachutes"
05) Yellow - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
06) Mellow Yellow - Donovan, 1966
available on "Donovan's Greatest Hits"
07) October Is Orange (day 1 and 2) - Haircut 100, 1982
available on "Pelican West... plus"
08) Orange Crush - REM, 1990
from "Green"
09) Hooray for Hazel - Tommy Roe, 1966
available on "Greatest Hits"
10) Apple Green - The Milltown Brothers, 1990
from "Slinky" which is out of print
11) Pretty Green - The Jam, 1981
from "Sound Affects"
12) Green - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
13) Bein' Green - Kermit The Frog, 1970
available on "Sesame Street: Platinum All Time Favorites"
14) Bowling Green - The Everly Brothers, 1967
from "Everly Brothers Sing"
15) Pale Blue Eyes - the Velvet Underground, 1969
from "The Velvet Underground"
16) I'm Blue (The Gong Gong Song) - The Ikettes, 1961
available on "One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found"
17) Mood Indigo - Ella Fitzgerald, 1957
available on "Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook"
18) The Moon Is Blue (album version) - Colourbox, 1985
from the album, "Colourbox" which is out of print
19) Blue - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
20) Have You Ever Had It Blue (Uncut Version) - the Style Council, 1986
available on "The Complete Adventures of The Style Council" (but it's not complete at all)
21) Blue Savannah - Erasure, 1989
from the album, "Wild!"
22) Blue Turns To Grey - Tracey Dey, 1965
from Amy 45 #917 - no legitimate cd release or mp3 available
23) Grey - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
24) Fade To Grey - Visage, 1981
from "Visage"

Disc 2 (taupe)
01) Pretty In Pink (first version) - The Psychedelic Furs, 1981
from the album "Talk Talk Talk"
02) Pink Glove - Pulp, 1994
from "His 'N' Hers"
03) Red Rabbits - The Shins, 2007
from "Wincing The Night Away"
04) Red Light - Siouxsie and The Banshees, 1980
from "Kaleidoscope"
05) Red Eyes and Tears - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, 2000
from "B.R.M.C."
06) Red Tan - The Raveonettes, 2005
from "Pretty In Black"
07) Beige - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
08) Purple Rain - Prince, 1984
from "Purple Rain"
09) Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix, 1967
available on "Experience Hendrix"
10) Purple - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
11) The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley, 1958
available on "The Golden Age of American Rock 'N' Roll: Novelty Edition"
12) Deep Purple - Nino Tempo and April Stevens, 1963
available on "Deep Purple/Sing The Great Hits"
13) Black - Pete Yorn, 2001
from "musicforthemorningafter"
14) Paint It, Black - The Rolling Stones, 1966
available "The Rolling Stones Singles Collection: The London Years"
15) Black - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
16) Black - Pearl Jam, 1991
from "10"
17) Clean White Bed - Smoke, 1995
from "Another Reason To Fast" which is out of print
18) White - Ken Nordine, 1966
from "Colors"
19) Nights In White Satin - The Moody Blues, 1967
edited from "Days of Future Passed"
20) A Whiter Shade of Pale (new stereo mix-2004) - Procol Harum, 1967
available on "Dick Bartley Presents: Classic Oldies 1965-1969"
21) Polaroid Commercial - General, 1980
found on youtube
22) Photographs and Memories - Jim Croce, 1972
available on "Photographs & Memories: His Greatest Hits"

Choose your color wisely and your music with abandon.

The Color Fields show runs through April 2nd, 2008.

WTF?

I'm not one to fly the rainbow flag. In fact, I've flown no flag but the stars and stripes since folding away my freak one at the end of the eighties. I'm not on the down-low, I've no shame or hatred of self, and I'm certainly not trying "to pass". I just don't feel a need to identify with any group; least of all, the gay one. After being in a relationship for fifteen years, I'm not having enough sex to trumpet it as my definition. Plus, I live in East Cobb, for chrissake - how less gay can my life be without moving out of the metro Atlanta area and in to a nunnery?

No, I gave up on flags and labels at an early age when I saw a chick with the legend "classy lady" tattooed on her right breast. I realized then that if you have to inform people of what you are, you probably are not what you are proclaiming. You know, like "!Christians!".

With that said, I was surprised when I found myself getting angry yesterday while trying to find a book at the nearby Borders. I had recently read, and fell in love with, John Weir's "What I Did Wrong" and was looking for a copy of his first novel, "The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket". Sorting through the W's in the fiction area I found nothing and then remembered that I had found my copy of "What I Did Wrong" in the remainder bin which in turn reminded me that it was part of the haul I'd purchased when the store reduced the shelf space in its Gay and Lesbian section which then reminded me that John Weir was gay. That, of course, reminded me that I was, too.

Finding the two short shelves that make up the Gay and Lesbian section, I finally fully noticed that it always seems to be tacked on the back end of the African-American section. The African-American section spans two full book cases minus the two Gay and Lesbian shelves which began to seem a bit disproportionate for the area as I tried to remember the last time I saw an African-American in East Cobb - a pointless task since I seldom notice these things. Then I wondered if the African-Americans living in East Cobb have a version of "Oh, thank God we're not the only ones" look that we encounter during those very rare moments when my partner and I turn into an aisle at the grocery and are spotted by two men "of a certain age" who are sharing a cart. Then I began to wonder where the Jewish-American section was since, it has been noted by several notable friends of mine who notice such things and who happen to be Jewish that, our little corner of East Cobb is heavily populated by Jews. Again, I seldom notice these things since I was raised in a idealistically diverse area of Baltimore and therefore thought that everybody drove past a pack of bearded, black hatted men leading their families to temple on Saturday.

Scanning the two allotted shelves, I noticed that the books weren't even in alphabetical order and that, my friends, is when I lost my mind. Isn't it bad enough that books have to be segregated by color or sexual preference or religion? Do they really have to be subjected to the further indignity of being slapped on the shelf in whatever order they were grabbed, regardless of whether they were non-fiction, fiction, memoir, or collected essays?

As the lingering anal retentive side effect of having worked retail took hold and I began sorting the books alphabetically by author or editor, a Trevor* came up to me with a hint of nervousness as he glanced down to the section that held my attention, and asked if I needed any help . "Yes", I replied. "I'm looking for a book by John Weir. He's a black gay guy and I think he might be a Jew. Where is that section?"

Seeing the confusion that my little joke had created, I guy-slugged him on the arm and said, "Never mind, Dude. I'll order it from Amazon". When I got to the check out counter, I made sure that my copy of the Out Magazine swimsuit issue landed on top of the Eels cd and, in noticing that I did so, flew my gay flag proud and high.

Unless your reading habits tend not to stray far from Patricia Cornwell or Danielle Steele, I highly recommend "What I Did Wrong" by John Weir . Yes, the narrator is a gay man but I promise that, if you are boy, you will not have an immediate desire to take it in the face and, if you're a girl, you won't see Ellen on the tv and immediately start masturbating. Actually, I can't promise any of that but should it happen, I doubt that it's because of the book.

I also suggest that you buy it from Amazon if you are not fortunate enough to have an independent bookseller nearby. By trying to provide one stop shopping for all of your books and music needs, stores like Borders and Barnes and Noble are neither book nor music stores. At least with Amazon you don't have to talk to eighteen year olds that not only know nothing about either one, but don't even care.



*A Trevor is any boy born in or after the late eighties who is wearing a name tag and has just been told to "go help that customer", meaning you. No conclusive data has been issued but it's my suspicion that 90% of all Trevors are also a Gus** or will grow up to be one.

**For the definition of a Gus,
blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-krCXu4QhaaNpFHID1Vvw?p=157