Top of the Pops 1968 - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire
April 18, 2014 1:19 PM   Subscribe

FIRE posted by vapidave (16 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
I mean, I guess he probably knows what he's doing, what with being the god of hell fire, but dancing around while wearing a flaming headpiece doesn't seem like the best idea.
posted by Flunkie at 1:22 PM on April 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


dancing around while wearing a flaming headpiece doesn't seem like the best idea.

The hell it doesn't.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 1:23 PM on April 18, 2014 [9 favorites]


30 years ago you couldn't get away from this song in MTV's "Closet Classics" bucket.
posted by rhizome at 1:24 PM on April 18, 2014


1967 interview with Arthur Brown at a flower power festival.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 1:34 PM on April 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


I can't figure out which history of heavy metal documentary I first learned about Arthur Brown in, but I really enjoy watching that video and realizing that this guy is ultimately one of the most influential musicians of this time. I mean, this is the 1960's and this dark but groovy dude will go on to have a hand in making everything from Alice Cooper to George Clinton.
posted by cmoj at 1:43 PM on April 18, 2014


I can attest he lit up the old Fillmore on a Friday night with this one. Can't remember much of the rest of the set, though.
posted by issue #1 at 3:27 PM on April 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


I dig the dancing in this version from 1975:
posted by ericthegardener at 3:38 PM on April 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Needs more Frank Soda.
posted by salishsea at 4:15 PM on April 18, 2014


It was at Middle Earth or the Roundhouse one night; which for some herbal reason I can never remember, when it all went a bit wrong and his lady of the time leapt onstage and beat him round the head with a rolled up copy of International Times because his hair was in flames.
Good man Arthur.
posted by adamvasco at 4:57 PM on April 18, 2014 [2 favorites]


"You're a nonce. You're a 2-pin DIN plug. You're a bush dodger. You're a small bean regarder. You're The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown."
posted by acb at 5:30 PM on April 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Darth Brun!

Am I wrong to think I saw him on Ed Sullivan or something where he had an actual propane-powered burner thing on his head? Or am I just romanticizing the burning horns helmet in the videos above?
posted by sneebler at 5:42 PM on April 18, 2014


Back in my day, even devil music had a horn section. And when they sang about hellfire, they really set themselves on fire.
posted by 445supermag at 5:54 PM on April 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Two random observations. 1) I remember the single version of "Fire" really popping out of the speaker of my little transistor radio. Aside from the actual content of the song, something about the mix or EQ seemed very different than most of the other records on the radio around the same time.

2) I've thought ever since then that "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" was a badass band name. So much so that I think "The Crazy World of..." should become a standard naming trope for bands, like the John Doe Trio/Quartet/Quintet/etc, the Jane Jones Band, or (name) and the (plural noun).

Never mind me, kids, it's The Crazy World of Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner!!
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 6:07 PM on April 18, 2014


I have that record, 2 I think.
posted by Max Power at 6:13 PM on April 18, 2014


Sampled by The Prodigy - Fire: http://youtu.be/F1U0qvtQnE8
posted by bruzie at 12:41 AM on April 19, 2014


Produced by Pete Townshend. The B-side, Rest Cure, is a hoot too.
posted by aquanaut at 5:18 PM on April 19, 2014


« Older Pyro Board   |   The Hundredth Anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments