MetaFilter posts tagged with 1980s and 1970s

Oh, Rom...

kittens for breakfast — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:39:28 -0800

Rom: Spaceknight was an improbable comics success: Based on a toy series that consisted of one figure (Rom), the comics series debuted in 1979 and lasted an unlikely 75 issues, featuring art from such luminaries as P. Craig Russell and Steve Ditko (previously, previously and previously). The series was written by Marvel Comics mainstay Bill Mantlo, who retired from comics and became a public defender (the legal kind), only to suffer a tragic accident in the mid-1990s that left him in need of constant medical attention. A 2007 benefit for the writer -- Spacenight: A Tribute to Bill Mantlo -- will be followed by Spacenight 2, an auction of original Rom-related artwork that can be viewed here.

Behind the Mask - Michael Jackson's rarest recording?

0bvious — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:40:57 -0800

Michael Jackson penned and recorded lots of songs, many of which remain unreleased. Perhaps the most infamous, and rarest recording, is his version of Behind the Mask. Legend has it that upon hearing Yellow Magic Orchestra's original track, somewhen around 1979, Quincy Jones fell in love with the track, and he and Michael worked together on their own version. Jackson wrote new lyrics for it - adding to those of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Chris Mosdell - and eventually recorded it during his Off The Wall sessions. For unknown reasons the track never made the final cut of, arguably, Jones' and Jackson's greatest work. Not long afterwards Greg Phillinganes, Jackson's keyboard player, released his own version of the song, which was later taken up and re-recorded by Eric Clapton for his 1986, Phil Collins produced album, August. The track has since been recorded/remixed by Human League, Senor Coconut, Orbital and others. Does an original Jones/Jackson recording of the song even exist? Perhaps, as the world continues to mourn the star's sad death, someone will finally allow us a listen.

Who Are The People (and the Muppets) In Your Neighborhood?

jonp72 — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:32:35 -0800

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, let's take a few moments to honor those Sesame Street humans overshadowed by their Muppet counterparts. Check out Bob (Bob McGrath) singing Danny Boy in Japanese on a 1966 broadcast of To Tell The Truth or singing a Japanese ballad. Watch Gordon (Roscoe Orman) as the big pimpin' title character in this original trailer for the film Willie Dynamite. See Maria (Sonia Manzano) as a lady trucker on B.J. & the Bear or getting menaced by Jeff Goldblum in the movie Death Wish. And Mr. Hooper (Will Lee) plays Pac-Man in an Atari commercial. Meanwhile, the Muppet stars of Sesame Street have gone some interesting evolutions as well in their career. Check out the Cookie Monster prototype in this Munchos commercial or this Computer Monster skit. The original prototype of Grover was a thieving Muppet named Gleep who appeared on a Christmas sketch on the Ed Sullivan show with Arthur Godfrey as Santa Claus, but Grover also appears as Fuzzyface in a 1st season appearance on Sesame Street with Kermit. Last but not least, this Monsterpiece Theater production of Me Claudius features Elmo with a much raspier voice than the childlike Muppet who monopolizes the show today.

No Need to Atone for Your Synths

jonp72 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:59:03 -0800

Not all groups with synthesizers in the 1970s and 1980s were lame Top 40 acts with keytars. Some groups of the era used synths for spastic keyboard bleeps, herky-jerky tempos, and angst-ridden aggression in a style now classified by record collector geeks as synthpunk, minimal synth, or minimal wave. Several famous New Wave acts dabbled in the style before providing soundtracks for Molly Ringwald movies (OMD, Electricty) or singing about waitresses in cocktail bars (the Human League, Being Boiled), but vintage videos from synth punk acts all over the world can be found all over YouTube. New York City Suicide, Ghost Rider Suicide, Frankie Teardrop Dark Day, Arp's Carpet Los Angeles Catholic Discipline, Underground Babylon The Screamers, Vertigo The Screamers, 122 Hours of Fear Nervous Gender, Miscarriage San Francisco The Units, Unit Training Film: Warm Moving Bodies Tulsa, Oklahoma Los Reactors, It's A Wonderful Life Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Billy Synth & the Turnups, I'm So Sick of It South Florida Futurisk, Meteoright Futurisk, Army Now France Metal Urbain, Panik Australia The Primitive Calculators, I Can't Stop It The United Kingdom The Normal, T.V.O.D. Fad Gadget, Collapsing New People Spain Aviador Dro, La TV Es Nutritiva Los Iniciados, Marca de Anubis Japan P-Model, ArtMania P-Model, Health Angel

Words Are Made of Letter People

Thin Lizzy — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:29:06 -0800

The Letter People started as a collection of vaguely trippy drawings by illustrator Elizabeth Callen in the early 70s, but viewers of Midwestern PBS in the 70s and 80s might have learned to read from the Letter People puppet show produced by PBS station KETC in St. Louis. Set in the black void of "Letter People Land", the show allowed each character to introduce him or herself with a song, from the laid back, Carole King vibe in Miss A's song, to the bizarre sound collage of Mr. X (audio with fan-made video). And of course cashing in on the nostalgia craze, the new and improved letter people without references to junk food or the pesky marital status of the vowels. Sing along with the other Letter People songs: Mr. B, Mr. C, Mr. D, Miss E, Mr. F, Mr. G, Mr. H, Miss I, Mr. J, Mr. K, Mr. L, Mr. M, Mr. N, Miss O, Mr. P, Mr. Q (and his lack of a song), Mr. R (an introductory skit from the show- the song that follows was only recorded for the album), Mr. S (voiced by Joneal Joplin, local actor and favorite of the St. Louis theatre scene), Mr. T, Miss U, Mr. V, Mr. W, Mr. Y, and Mr. Z. Feel like it's a bit of a boyzone with all those consonants? Watch the vowel ladies band together and get their girl-group on.

Pocket Calculator Show

serazin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:14:53 -0800

Pocket Calculator Show. via: Beware of Blog

Ripeness is All: Lustmord Portrayed in Oil

WCityMike — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:48:34 -0800

New York artist Ashley Hope's Ripeness is All exhibit at the Tilton Gallery recreates crime scene photographs of murdered women from the 1910s through the 1990s as oil paintings on huge 4' x 6' canvasses. [some nsfw art] Hope states that her goal is the "re-subjectification of a scene that had been totally objectified by the forensic camera." She chooses the crime scenes of "Lustmord" (or "lust murders") — "these incomprehensible crimes are more sublime; they exemplify a reality that betrays our expectations, a reality that so often takes us outside of our understanding." ArtDaily.com, who made Hope their Nov. 2007 featured artist, comments: "Man is valued for his interior qualities ... woman is valued for her exterior attributes ... Hope's work — images of women reduced to a body — underscores this dichotomy, thus challenging these reductive tendencies."

But is it jazz?

klangklangston — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:32:14 -0800

Jazz '71-'89 Dave Douglas posed the challenge: “Is there a writer who can take on the project of an unbiased overview of music since the end of the Vietnam War?” The Bad Plus answered (though not unbiased). The Guardian and NY Times weighed in. Suck it, haters. And ultimately, Behearer used a wiki to answer the call.

Punk Rock Scrapbook

planetkyoto — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 07:05:20 -0800

Punk Rock Scrapbook. J Neo Marvin carried an instamatic camera to a lot of gigs way back when, and he has posted them on his band's website. The Clash, X, The Ramones and more.