Lolitas - 'Fusée d'amour' (1989)

Les Lolitas were a Berlin-based band who sang primarily in French.

Their sound was a combination of influences that included American garage rock, rockabilly and French yé-yé, played with a punk sensibility. They formed in the mid-1980s and split around 1993.

Lead singer Françoise Cactus met Brezel Göring soon after, and they founded the fabulous multi-lingual
French-German electronica pop/rock duo, Stereo Total.

'Fusée d'amour' was the third Lolitas LP, recorded in Memphis, Tennessee in August of 1988 and produced by music biz chameleon
Alex Chilton.
Chilton plays just a bit of piano on the album, as does his friend and fellow Memphis legend Jim Dickinson.






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On the album cover, from left to right:
Olga La Basse - bass

Coco Nut - guitar

Françoise Cactus - vocals, drums

Michele Tutti Frutti - guitar, harmonica





- Follow link to view track listing & production credits.


From the Lolitas album
'Fusée d'amour' (New Rose Records, 1989),
Listen to:

Mummy
La Fille Qui Se Promene Sur Les Rails
Joli Johnny
Les Cactus

(click for audio)

- - OR download the full album (16 tracks) in one 46.5 Mb zipfile.





See also:
- Les Lolitas on MySpace
- StereoBio, A history of Françoise Cactus
- Stereo Total website

- As of this writing, the rest of the Lolitas catalog (and a Coco Nut solo record) are posted at cosmozebra. (This post hopefully improves upon Cosmo's slightly noisy vinyl rip of 'Fusée d'amour' - - unless you're a fan of clicks and pops)

'San Francisco Guys & Girls' b/w 'Mommy, Daddy Jog With Me' (1980)

Curious and kitschy old 45's like this one are pretty much the epitome of the Thrift Store Find - - the sort of 'vanity project' record originally intended to be given as a gift or maybe a give-away 'premium'.

You might find it further down the road at a garage sale, but when it was new you probably never saw it at your local music emporium or heard it on your radio.

This 1980 single celebrates the city of
San Francisco in two similar songs that capitalized on that era's surge in the popularity of jogging, in the wake of efforts by running guru/author Jim Fixx and other fitness advocates of the time.

It sounds like it was recorded just for fun by non-professional musicians.

A bit of googling regarding the principal artists supports this theory, revealing very little to suggest that they stuck with the performing end of the music industry.

It appears that the Passantino family has a rich San Franciscan background, and that Regina's daughter Angelica has worked a bit in art history and acting in more recent years.
Since his performance on one side of this record, Konrad Dryden has distinguished himself as a classical music historian and author.













Listen to:
Konrad Dryden - San Francisco Guys & Girls
(Golden gate Records 45, 1980)
(click for audio)













Listen to:
Angelica Passantino -
Mommy, Daddy Jog With Me
(Golden gate Records 45, 1980)
(click for audio)


See also:
- Though you'll still see plenty of joggers in the vicinity of San Francisco's Marina Green, Crissy Field and its Presidio district, this record brings to mind the days when it was still a 'craze', and also the beginnings of the 'Parcourse' fitness trails, some of which appeared first in San Francisco and nearby cities.

- That 'newness' of jogging might for a few in turn conjure up a scene from Albert Brooks' cynical 1981 comedy 'Modern Romance'.
Click over to YouTube to watch the running store scene, in which Bob Einstein (a.k.a.
'Super Dave Osborne' and Brooks' real-life older brother) outfits Brooks with all the 'serious' equipment he'll need to 'start a new life'.

Selections from George Carlin's 'Sometimes A Little Brain Damage Can Help' (1984)

Still processing the news of George Carlin's passing.

I guess one of the things that saddens me about losing Carlin is that he was still performing good material, and as was the case over so much of his career, it seemed that his style was still evolving.

Beginning in 1997 with his book 'Brain Droppings' Carlin found new success in essentially committing his stand-up routines to paper.

I didn't read the books, because I knew I'd really enjoy hearing his voice on all the audiobook versions.

I continue to find the difference between those audio 'performances' and the live stand-up shows really interesting, especially as the past few years took his shtick further and further into the realm of spirited crankiness and bile-spewing.

In comparing the complimentary shades of darkness between his last live CD and the audiobook version of his last book, 'When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?' there's something informative there that I think points to the brilliance Carlin had as a performer.


One book of his that I do own, however, is his first, a slim volume printed in something close to a glossy magazine format back in 1984.

Truth is, it's not a great book.
It's fun, but it's pretty half-assed in its presentation.

Like his later books, much of it is drawn from his stand-up comedy act - - in fact, some of the same material in 'Sometimes A Little Brain Damage Can Help' got recycled a bit and wound up in
'Brain Droppings' and maybe some of the other books.

Still, he did something just a little different with his humor in this book, and looking over its various little lists and 'Carlin-isms', his style shines through.

You don't see this one around much anymore; hope you enjoy peeking at some of its pages.

At this point, should I bother mentioning that it may not be suitable for those who are easily offended?













































(Click on images or titles listed below to ENLARGE pages in a new window)
- Acknowledgements & Table of Contents

- Tonight's Program

- Misc. B.S.

- The Book Club

- People I Can Do Without

- A Salute to Famous Bands

- Things You Never See

- Tumors & Food, Tumors & Sports

- Advertisements

- Milwaukee Obscenity Complaint

- (back cover) Tie Champion

Heavy Metal Memories:Turning pages, 1977 - 1981 (flickr link)

- Please follow this link to my flickr set of 101 images gleaned from a stack of old Heavy Metals!

Heavy Metal first saw print in the U.S. in 1977, almost 3 years after the original French comics magazine,
Métal Hurlant ('Screaming Metal') had been created.

Flipping through the pages in my own mounds of old issues, I found that it's not just the stories that bring back memories (perhaps a bit faded, a bit dated) - -
it's the ads and other bits and pieces that make the experience.

Follow the link to a completely non-definitive glance at some of those memories, often having very little to do with the actual content of the magazine. (Whaaa??)
























I drew the line (for now) at 1981.
The magazine was changing then, and I was recently out of high school, so I suppose I was too...







- - And for other HM reference, follow links to:

- The official Heavy Metal website, which includes material pertaining to the current magazine, as well as galleries and other features from the magazine's history.

- A Heavy Metal Magazine Fan Page

- A Heavy Metal Cover Gallery

Comics Artist Dave Stevens passed away?!?!

I've recently returned from a trek out of town and away from many of my routine information sources.

It was with no small sadness and some surprise that I've just learned of the passing of illustrator Dave Stevens.

He lost a long battle with leukemia, passing away on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at the age of merely 52.

Along with many other comics readers, I first discovered Dave Stevens' artwork during the big independent publishing boom of the early 1980's, and just like many other fans, I was immediately hooked and hungry for more examples of his art.

Serialized installments of The Rocketeer were of course the main treat. A huge breath of fresh air and a reminder that comics could be just plain fun. (My own well-timed introduction to Bettie Page, too!)

If his comics were few and far between in those years, it was understood that they were worth the wait.

Cover art by Dave Stevens seemed to come around a bit more often during the first hunk of the '80's.

Here's a few examples dug out of my collection...

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For more on Dave Stevens and his artistic legacy, see also:
- Biography / career overview at The Comics Reporter

- Stevens page at Lambiek

- Remembrances at Mark Evanier's 'News From Me' (scroll down the page), and at The Beat

- Excerpts from a 2001 interview with Dave Stevens, from Comic Book Artist #15

- An archived forum at Newsarama, with some included scans of more of Stevens' artwork

Scars - Some cuts from their 'Author! Author!' LP (1981)

Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, Scars were a new wave band active as a unit from 1977 - 1982.

Live shows and a handful of 45's in the UK led to their one and only LP release in 1981.
A stressful summer of '82 tour in support of headlining band The Church hastened the group's break-up by the end of that year.

That one album they left behind is a winner; Evocative of the era, but standing out among many other acts. A fine blend of New Romantic charm and dark post-punk overtones.
As of 2007 the album had finally been issued to CD in the UK.

Personnel:
Robert King - vocals
Paul Research - guitars
John Mackie - bass
Steve McLaughlin - drums


From the Scars' LP
'Author! Author!'
(Pre Records, 1981),
Listen to:

Leave Me In Autumn
Fear Of The Dark
Everywhere I Go
Your Attention Please
All About You

(click for audio)

See also:
- Scars on MySpace

- Wikipedia entry for British / Australian poet Peter Porter, author of the poem 'Your Attention Please'

Devo - E-Z Listening Muzak Cassettes, Vol's 1 & 2 (1981 & 1984)

I loves me some Devo; Always have, always will.

Back in those painfully awkward teen years, Devo came along at just the right time.
It was genuinely helpful to have a bold example declaring it was okay to be an outsider - - or even better, to just follow your passions and leave any sort of group identification behind.

And -duh- their music kicked serious ass.








Devo's 4th LP, 'New Traditionalists', came out in 1981.

(Just for kicks, there's the cover art to the German pressing ►)

There were new additions to the fan club merchandise being offered in the ads on the album's inner sleeve.

As well as the latest crop of Devo fashion accessories, now they were hawking the 'limited edition' Muzak cassette.

("Gee, remember cassettes?")

The legend is that these 'devolved' instrumental versions of their hits were played as background music before their concerts.

(click on image to ENLARGE ▼)

The muzak cassettes were an acquired taste for many of the Devotees; some hung with it and some didn't.

Certainly the music was playful and fun, and it fit right in with the band's persona, if not their customary energy level.

The sound was also fairly telling of things to come. It was generally around that same period that Devo members began delving into soundtrack music, and the 'Lounge Revival' of the '90's was still a decade away.

I loved the nods to surf music, tracks that sounded like an opening theme to a Soap Opera, and the general 'raw and lo-fi' quality.

Their reprise of 'Satisfaction' was notable, too, as they finally used the Stones' guitar riff that they hadn't in their original cover treatment.

From Devo's
'E-Z Listening Muzak' Cassette,
(Vol. 1 -1981)
Listen to:

Come Back Jonee
Satisfaction
Space Junk
Jocko Homo
S.I.B. (Swelling, Itching Brain)
Whip It
Mongoloid
Girl U Want
Pity You
It's A Beautiful World

(click for audio - - or see zipfile link below ▼)

A second 'E-Z' cassette came in 1984, still only available via mail order.

Newer material, a noticeable advance in technology, less of a raw, 'underground' quality, but still great fun.




From Devo's
'E-Z Listening Muzak, Volume 2'
Cassette, (1984)
Listen to:

Gates Of Steel
That's Good
Jerkin' Back And Forth
Shout ► (version not included on CD release)
Fourth Dimension
Goin' Under
Peek-A-Boo!
Time Out For Fun
Jurisdiction Of Luv
Shout (Hello Kitty)

(click for audio)

- - OR download all 20 tracks from both tapes in one 66.7 Mb zipfile.

The tracks from the Devo Muzak cassettes were shuffled and released commercially on CD in 1987, but that disc has sadly gone out of print.


See also:
- An interesting (if grainy) live concert video clip from 1982; Devo performs a vocal version of 'Girl U Want' with an 'E-Z Listening' arrangement

- Previously linked, 'Are You Not DEVO? You are Mutato - - How Mark Mothersbaugh, an Agent of
De-Evolution, wormed his way into America’s subconscious' - - An article / interview from the
LA Weekly, December 5, 2007

- Mark Mothersbaugh's Mutato Muzika

- Club Devo

- 'Jocko-Homo Heavenbound', the inspiration for Devo's 'Jocko Homo'

Rock N' Roll 'Collage Drawings' by Opal Louis Nations, 1980 - '81

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He'd worn many hats prior to leaving his native Britain, but when I first encountered
Opal Louis Nations, he was relatively new to the SF bay area, and had recently begun hosting a wonderful late-night doo-wop show on community radio in Berkeley.

He also made fascinating and beautifully playful pieces of artwork celebrating the early days of Rock & Roll music. They could be sentimental, whimsical, scandalous and odd, and I loved them. Still do.

Many of these images appeared in a book of his work, 'The Nations of Rock N' Roll'.

In recent years, Nations has curated and produced many wonderful CD collections of vintage Gospel recordings, and has written several articles for Blues & Rhythm Magazine.

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