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[originally posted July 26, 2006]
School's out for summer, as Alice Cooper's musical manifesto defiantly declared. However, my dear minskys, I have been doing the most enjoyable homework as of late. The marvel of democracy that is YouTube.com has enabled me to illustrate some of the major Real Life Parallels and Rock & Roll History mentioned in this compendium of trivia.
As with all matters of taste, some of these may not be to your liking, and some of you may be on dial up, so I've marked the essential ones as they pertain to Velvet Goldmine with ****, the mere greats with ***, those of interest to the enthusiast with **, and suggest the completists enjoy the more esoteric ones marked with *. Length is noted like this (00:00) allowing you to decide your level of commitment before clicking the link since they load right away. Read the entry link first if you want background on the clip or just go straight to the visuals.
Because I have no idea how long these links will be available, I'm not adding them to each entry. However, I'll add a link to the left side of the main page, next to the Indexes, so you can access them there.
UPDATE: I know you are often getting a statement that clips have been removed for violations of terms of service. Some escape the ban and others get taken down right away - so there are still lots of goodies here - just a boring trial and error, sorry. Since people will attempt to re-post the clips, you can do a search and still find them (or a close match).
The links follow the chronological order of the film:
Read the entry about the quintessential glam rock album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie always offered a bit of theater with the music. Here is a ** delightful snippet of Ziggy doing mime during Width of a Circle. (1:07)
Read the entry about photographer Mick Rock and then see him at the *** opening of his gallery show in Berlin in April of this year. (2:57) The montage of iconic images will remind you of how essential his presence was in documenting Glam Rock.
Read the entry on Venus in Furs and then see ** Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable perform it. (3:26) The beautiful Gerard Malanga is in there doing the whip dance.
Then watch the **** performance of Marianne Faithful, high as a kite, dressed like a nun, duet with Bowie on I Got You Babe (3:31) from The 1980 Floor Show that's discussed in the comments.
Read the entry about costume designer Sandy Powell and then see how the kids on the street in this *** performance of All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople resemble Sandy Powell's costumed extras.
Here you can read about the promo film on Brian Slade that starts with the Perfect and Poisonous quote. To see a major influence on Todd, please put up with the poor quality [content ****/quality*] to watch a bit of the BBC doc Nationwide. (6:17) The narrator is positively livid that Bowie is pulling the birds with his act. Then see ** Bowie singing Time in a similar off the shoulder jumpsuit to Brian on The 1980 Floor Show (5:07), (and dig those far out dancers). Then take a look at **** Mick Rock's film of Jean Genie featuring Cyrinda Foxe. (4:06)
Queer Studies and Cinema majors can read about the iconography of the sailor and then they, and those of us who truly appreciate seeing two hot men kissing, can see a *** clip of Fassbinder's hypnotic take on Genet's Querelle. (3:27) [btw, the artificial voiceover is intentioned by Fassbinder - the film is originally in English - it's only part of the charm of this Douglas Sirk meets Tom of Finland weirdness.]
Read about Slade's "Cuz I love You" and then watch *** them sing it on Top of the Pops (3:10) giving you an idea of their audience pleasing enthusiasm despite their 'blokes in mascara' image.
Read about Elton John before he made his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album and watch him *** play piano for T Rex on Bang a Gong. (4:08)
Read the entry about young Tommy singing Tutti Frutti in the style of Little Richard. There is a ** performance of Little Richard singing Tutti Frutti (2:12) on YouTube but it is mostly static shots from a poor quality black & white print of 1956's Don't Knock the Rock. However, this *** (2:54) 1969 live performance of The Georgia Peach singing Lucille shows his more fabulous side. His ensemble wouldn't be out of place at the 1970 New Years party where Mandy and Brian meet. His tunic and necklaces are très Jack Fairy.
Here's the entry on Gary Glitter. Watch him perform *** ‘Do You Want To Touch Me (Oh Yeah)’ (3:15) and see how he can rock with the best of them despite looking like Benny Hill in a mullet wig.
The entry on the history of the Mod and Rockers is here. Watch a ** British newsreel clip about it and view the ** Quadrophenia trailer. (1:36)
You've seen Ewan do Iggy and you can read the many reactions to seeing Iggy on stage then see Iggy and the Stooges perform **** TV Eye (5:04) at the infamous Cincinnati Pop Festival that is mentioned in the comments.
Read about how Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival and then **** watch him turn the Trogg's classic Wild Thing into a virtuoso career defining performance in which he segues into Strangers in the Night, playing it with one hand, turns a somersault while playing, plays it behind his back, humps it, kisses it goodbye and finally lets it burn, baby, burn. (9:14)
Todd bristles when people call The Ballad of Maxwell Demon a 'music video'. Those who know realize that these short films have a different cinematic sensibility than 80s rock videos. Read this entry on The Ballad of Maxwell Demon and then watch this * long clip (9:38) of Lindsay Kemp in Pierrot in Turquoise, pt. 1, with Bowie as 'Cloud'. There is a certain resemblance to The Ballad of Maxwell Demon here. You have to put up with the poor quality but longtime Bowie fans will will know this film as one of the earliest experimental theater pieces Bowie performed in and might find this a little goldmine.
When Brian makes his splash on Top of the Pops, Todd is referencing Bowie's star making turn on TOTP from 1972 when he and the Spiders from Mars sang Starman. Read the entry and the watch the **** performance. (3:32) Hard core fans can compare that confident "I'm already a star" attitude of Ziggy with ** Bowie's first television appearance, performing and accepting an award for Space Oddity. (4:20)
At this entry when Cecil laments, The next day every schoolgirl in London was wearing glitter eye make-up and I was out of a bleeding job, he's talking about the reaction to the first man to wear glitter on the telly, Marc Bolan. In this documentary segment there is a *** clip at about 2:00 in of Marc making Glam history singing Hot Love. (6:32) The piece also has more about early Bolan and Bowie with interviews from Tony Visconti and Mick Rock.
Listen to Mick Rock's delightfully sonorous voice say "If David Bowie was the Jesus Christ of glam, then Marc Bolan was John the Baptist," and watch a **** bit of a documentary about Glam with an interview with Lindsay Kemp. (9:47)
A brief description of The Mighty Hannibal can be followed up with a DJ giving more biography on James T Shaw. (4:31) A * minimal visual here, just a studio and turntable, it's all in the narration.
Read the entry on Ladytron and then watch the incomparable **** Roxy Music perform it on The Old Grey Whistle Test. (4:44)
Read about that marvel of lyrical virtuosity Virginia Plain and then see **** performance by Roxy Music. (3:10)
The script mentions what we can infer as two references to the Rolling Stones via Dancing in the Street. Watch *** David Bowie and Mick Jagger camp it up to their version done for Live Aid (2:52) Devotees can watch *** Martha and the Vandellas sing the original (drat, the better version of them in super cool mod gear is gone). (1:51) Listen to the very beginning of the song and try to hear the fuzzy riff that Keith was obsessed/inspired by and then watch *** the Stones in action (4:33) and see if you can hear the influence on Satisfaction.
Read the entry about Jean Harlow and then see the *** scene from Dinner at Eight (1:32) with that endearing glamourpuss, sensational in white satin.
Read the entry on the New York Dolls and Personality Crisis then see them in all their **** trashy glory here. (3:36) Mere serendipity or an influence on the Max's scene - notice the Marilyn illustration of the back of David Jo's leather jacket.
See Suzi Quatro lead her all man band, in matching black racer back vests ** here. (3:29)
Read the entry with the reference to the Monkees and then watch the ** Richard Lester influenced opening to their show. (:49) If you're smitten, there are lots of Monkees clips at YouTube, including ones with Tim Buckley, Johnny Cash and Frank Zappa.
Read the entry on Satellite of Love. As close as we can get to the original is U2 and Lou Reed via satellite performing Satellite of Love on the Zoo TV tour. (4:48) The * poor quality here diminishes the inspired pairing but may be of interest to U2 and Lou fans.
Read the entry on Todd's homage to his own Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story and then watch this infamously banned indy here. (43:44) **** for content and * for quality but all copies of this are bootlegs so it's actually not that bad because the sound is ok. See Todd himself as the cool disc-jockey Todd Donovan! Todd's style is recognizble and there are a lot of similarities to visuals in VG.
Here's the entry on Mick Rock's infamous shot catching Bowie and Ronno in the act. There doesn't seem to be an actual guitar fellatio on YouTube but here's ** David teasing Ronno with a hand job. (00:24)
Hardcore Iggy fans can read
spacequeen and I obsess about seeing Bowie and Iggy on Dinah Shore's afternoon chat show in comments. There is a link to a snippet of an interview there (of excellent quality) and some stills but now you can see Iggy perform **** Funtime (3:42) and **** Sister Midnight. (3:44) Bowie quietly plays keyboards as a shirtless Iggy throws himself all over the tasteful set like a possessed dervish.
Read who's really behind that behind that Brian is snorting coke off of here. Then see *** David with Ava Cherry as his backup singer from The 1980 floor show (5:00) But oh gosh, my geesh, darlings, I think Angie's assessment of her lack of singing talent is spot on.
Read how Berlin figures in the mix and then why Bowie needed a change in this film clip of Bowie singing Be My Wife. (3:12) It seems the director is going for the minimal magic that worked for Life on Mars (4:10) but Bowie simply looks like a corpse with make up here.
Iggy fares better in this era, here he is singing The Passenger (7:31) (wearing his lovely horse's tail.)
Read the entry about 20th Century Boy and then watch *** Marc Bolan's original version. (1:50)
Regarding this entry, witness the * blandness that is Pat Boone. (1:19) I dare you to call it rock & roll.
Read this entry on the use of masks in VG and by Bowie. Then watch this clip of the documentary on Bowie, ** Cracked Actor, (4:39) showing the creation of a plaster mask of Bowie's face that was used to make his stage prop.
Read the entry about Jack Fairy's Death of Glitter performance and then see the inspiration for his fabulous feather collar as worn by Brian Eno as he plays synthesizer (to the left of the screen) for Roxy Music's **** Do the Strand (3:51), one of the best examples of their witty wordplay.
Read the entry on the song over the credits, Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me), and then watch **** Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel perform it on Top of the Pops from 1975. (3:36)
Just for fun, hear *** Christian Bale talk about his method of becoming skinny enough to play Arthur. (0:39)
School's out for summer, as Alice Cooper's musical manifesto defiantly declared. However, my dear minskys, I have been doing the most enjoyable homework as of late. The marvel of democracy that is YouTube.com has enabled me to illustrate some of the major Real Life Parallels and Rock & Roll History mentioned in this compendium of trivia.
As with all matters of taste, some of these may not be to your liking, and some of you may be on dial up, so I've marked the essential ones as they pertain to Velvet Goldmine with ****, the mere greats with ***, those of interest to the enthusiast with **, and suggest the completists enjoy the more esoteric ones marked with *. Length is noted like this (00:00) allowing you to decide your level of commitment before clicking the link since they load right away. Read the entry link first if you want background on the clip or just go straight to the visuals.
Because I have no idea how long these links will be available, I'm not adding them to each entry. However, I'll add a link to the left side of the main page, next to the Indexes, so you can access them there.
UPDATE: I know you are often getting a statement that clips have been removed for violations of terms of service. Some escape the ban and others get taken down right away - so there are still lots of goodies here - just a boring trial and error, sorry. Since people will attempt to re-post the clips, you can do a search and still find them (or a close match).
The links follow the chronological order of the film:
Read the entry about the quintessential glam rock album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie always offered a bit of theater with the music. Here is a ** delightful snippet of Ziggy doing mime during Width of a Circle. (1:07)
Read the entry about photographer Mick Rock and then see him at the *** opening of his gallery show in Berlin in April of this year. (2:57) The montage of iconic images will remind you of how essential his presence was in documenting Glam Rock.
Read the entry on Venus in Furs and then see ** Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable perform it. (3:26) The beautiful Gerard Malanga is in there doing the whip dance.
Then watch the **** performance of Marianne Faithful, high as a kite, dressed like a nun, duet with Bowie on I Got You Babe (3:31) from The 1980 Floor Show that's discussed in the comments.
Read the entry about costume designer Sandy Powell and then see how the kids on the street in this *** performance of All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople resemble Sandy Powell's costumed extras.
Here you can read about the promo film on Brian Slade that starts with the Perfect and Poisonous quote. To see a major influence on Todd, please put up with the poor quality [content ****/quality*] to watch a bit of the BBC doc Nationwide. (6:17) The narrator is positively livid that Bowie is pulling the birds with his act. Then see ** Bowie singing Time in a similar off the shoulder jumpsuit to Brian on The 1980 Floor Show (5:07), (and dig those far out dancers). Then take a look at **** Mick Rock's film of Jean Genie featuring Cyrinda Foxe. (4:06)
Queer Studies and Cinema majors can read about the iconography of the sailor and then they, and those of us who truly appreciate seeing two hot men kissing, can see a *** clip of Fassbinder's hypnotic take on Genet's Querelle. (3:27) [btw, the artificial voiceover is intentioned by Fassbinder - the film is originally in English - it's only part of the charm of this Douglas Sirk meets Tom of Finland weirdness.]
Read about Slade's "Cuz I love You" and then watch *** them sing it on Top of the Pops (3:10) giving you an idea of their audience pleasing enthusiasm despite their 'blokes in mascara' image.
Read about Elton John before he made his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album and watch him *** play piano for T Rex on Bang a Gong. (4:08)
Read the entry about young Tommy singing Tutti Frutti in the style of Little Richard. There is a ** performance of Little Richard singing Tutti Frutti (2:12) on YouTube but it is mostly static shots from a poor quality black & white print of 1956's Don't Knock the Rock. However, this *** (2:54) 1969 live performance of The Georgia Peach singing Lucille shows his more fabulous side. His ensemble wouldn't be out of place at the 1970 New Years party where Mandy and Brian meet. His tunic and necklaces are très Jack Fairy.
Here's the entry on Gary Glitter. Watch him perform *** ‘Do You Want To Touch Me (Oh Yeah)’ (3:15) and see how he can rock with the best of them despite looking like Benny Hill in a mullet wig.
The entry on the history of the Mod and Rockers is here. Watch a ** British newsreel clip about it and view the ** Quadrophenia trailer. (1:36)
You've seen Ewan do Iggy and you can read the many reactions to seeing Iggy on stage then see Iggy and the Stooges perform **** TV Eye (5:04) at the infamous Cincinnati Pop Festival that is mentioned in the comments.
Read about how Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival and then **** watch him turn the Trogg's classic Wild Thing into a virtuoso career defining performance in which he segues into Strangers in the Night, playing it with one hand, turns a somersault while playing, plays it behind his back, humps it, kisses it goodbye and finally lets it burn, baby, burn. (9:14)
Todd bristles when people call The Ballad of Maxwell Demon a 'music video'. Those who know realize that these short films have a different cinematic sensibility than 80s rock videos. Read this entry on The Ballad of Maxwell Demon and then watch this * long clip (9:38) of Lindsay Kemp in Pierrot in Turquoise, pt. 1, with Bowie as 'Cloud'. There is a certain resemblance to The Ballad of Maxwell Demon here. You have to put up with the poor quality but longtime Bowie fans will will know this film as one of the earliest experimental theater pieces Bowie performed in and might find this a little goldmine.
When Brian makes his splash on Top of the Pops, Todd is referencing Bowie's star making turn on TOTP from 1972 when he and the Spiders from Mars sang Starman. Read the entry and the watch the **** performance. (3:32) Hard core fans can compare that confident "I'm already a star" attitude of Ziggy with ** Bowie's first television appearance, performing and accepting an award for Space Oddity. (4:20)
At this entry when Cecil laments, The next day every schoolgirl in London was wearing glitter eye make-up and I was out of a bleeding job, he's talking about the reaction to the first man to wear glitter on the telly, Marc Bolan. In this documentary segment there is a *** clip at about 2:00 in of Marc making Glam history singing Hot Love. (6:32) The piece also has more about early Bolan and Bowie with interviews from Tony Visconti and Mick Rock.
Listen to Mick Rock's delightfully sonorous voice say "If David Bowie was the Jesus Christ of glam, then Marc Bolan was John the Baptist," and watch a **** bit of a documentary about Glam with an interview with Lindsay Kemp. (9:47)
A brief description of The Mighty Hannibal can be followed up with a DJ giving more biography on James T Shaw. (4:31) A * minimal visual here, just a studio and turntable, it's all in the narration.
Read the entry on Ladytron and then watch the incomparable **** Roxy Music perform it on The Old Grey Whistle Test. (4:44)
Read about that marvel of lyrical virtuosity Virginia Plain and then see **** performance by Roxy Music. (3:10)
The script mentions what we can infer as two references to the Rolling Stones via Dancing in the Street. Watch *** David Bowie and Mick Jagger camp it up to their version done for Live Aid (2:52) Devotees can watch *** Martha and the Vandellas sing the original (drat, the better version of them in super cool mod gear is gone). (1:51) Listen to the very beginning of the song and try to hear the fuzzy riff that Keith was obsessed/inspired by and then watch *** the Stones in action (4:33) and see if you can hear the influence on Satisfaction.
Read the entry about Jean Harlow and then see the *** scene from Dinner at Eight (1:32) with that endearing glamourpuss, sensational in white satin.
Read the entry on the New York Dolls and Personality Crisis then see them in all their **** trashy glory here. (3:36) Mere serendipity or an influence on the Max's scene - notice the Marilyn illustration of the back of David Jo's leather jacket.
See Suzi Quatro lead her all man band, in matching black racer back vests ** here. (3:29)
Read the entry with the reference to the Monkees and then watch the ** Richard Lester influenced opening to their show. (:49) If you're smitten, there are lots of Monkees clips at YouTube, including ones with Tim Buckley, Johnny Cash and Frank Zappa.
Read the entry on Satellite of Love. As close as we can get to the original is U2 and Lou Reed via satellite performing Satellite of Love on the Zoo TV tour. (4:48) The * poor quality here diminishes the inspired pairing but may be of interest to U2 and Lou fans.
Read the entry on Todd's homage to his own Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story and then watch this infamously banned indy here. (43:44) **** for content and * for quality but all copies of this are bootlegs so it's actually not that bad because the sound is ok. See Todd himself as the cool disc-jockey Todd Donovan! Todd's style is recognizble and there are a lot of similarities to visuals in VG.
Here's the entry on Mick Rock's infamous shot catching Bowie and Ronno in the act. There doesn't seem to be an actual guitar fellatio on YouTube but here's ** David teasing Ronno with a hand job. (00:24)
Hardcore Iggy fans can read
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
Read who's really behind that behind that Brian is snorting coke off of here. Then see *** David with Ava Cherry as his backup singer from The 1980 floor show (5:00) But oh gosh, my geesh, darlings, I think Angie's assessment of her lack of singing talent is spot on.
Read how Berlin figures in the mix and then why Bowie needed a change in this film clip of Bowie singing Be My Wife. (3:12) It seems the director is going for the minimal magic that worked for Life on Mars (4:10) but Bowie simply looks like a corpse with make up here.
Iggy fares better in this era, here he is singing The Passenger (7:31) (wearing his lovely horse's tail.)
Read the entry about 20th Century Boy and then watch *** Marc Bolan's original version. (1:50)
Regarding this entry, witness the * blandness that is Pat Boone. (1:19) I dare you to call it rock & roll.
Read this entry on the use of masks in VG and by Bowie. Then watch this clip of the documentary on Bowie, ** Cracked Actor, (4:39) showing the creation of a plaster mask of Bowie's face that was used to make his stage prop.
Read the entry about Jack Fairy's Death of Glitter performance and then see the inspiration for his fabulous feather collar as worn by Brian Eno as he plays synthesizer (to the left of the screen) for Roxy Music's **** Do the Strand (3:51), one of the best examples of their witty wordplay.
Read the entry on the song over the credits, Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me), and then watch **** Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel perform it on Top of the Pops from 1975. (3:36)
Just for fun, hear *** Christian Bale talk about his method of becoming skinny enough to play Arthur. (0:39)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 10:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 03:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 10:20 pm (UTC)What did we do to deserve this treasure trove of goodies?
Luffs you like mad!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 03:45 am (UTC)What did we do to deserve this treasure trove of goodies?
Take the whole shebang, ecstasy's the birthright of our gang!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 11:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 03:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 12:26 am (UTC)I'm especially tickled by the Slade & Suzi Quatro vids, as well as all the Roxy Music goodness. (I think T. Rex's Hot Love was taken down, though – what a shame.)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 03:36 am (UTC)That Hot Love clip disappeared fast! However, it was part of a clip I had posted in the next entry, so I moved it up. I think you'll appreciate that Simon Napier-Bell is interviewed.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 01:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 03:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 08:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-30 08:16 pm (UTC)Your icon reminded me to check out Sparks at Youtube and here is This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us from Top of the Pops! (ever so slightly out of sync.) They were so weird and wonderful, I was in love with both Ron and Russell.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-31 02:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-27 09:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-30 08:33 pm (UTC)I love you, love; You love me too, love; I love you, love me, love...
Date: 2006-07-30 08:41 pm (UTC)I'm beaming, truely, like someone's mum!
Date: 2006-07-29 03:55 am (UTC)XXXXXXOOOOOOOO Iris (over and) Out
P.S. and thanks for the Youtube info - I didn't know a thing about it.
Re: I'm beaming, truely, like someone's mum!
Date: 2006-07-30 09:50 pm (UTC)