Where Have You Been Hiding Out Lately, Honey
I barely remember watching this clip from Marie Osmond’s short lived solo variety series, Marie, when it was originally on circa 1981. This is Marie performing Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock ‘n Roll to Me” as a campy duet with herself — what a hoot! Two things I notice now: the costumes have all the hallmarks of the legendary Bob Mackie, and Marie was a talented performer for being only about 21 years old. Enjoy.
The Fabric of Our Hip, Happenin’ Lives
Hey people, it’s been over two weeks since we’ve gotten a comment at scrubbles.net. I’m not going to get too sad about it, but… where is everybody? Please come out from that sun scorched rock you’re under and tell me what’s going on.
Onward to the latest semi-forgotten industrial film of the past. 1969’s R.F.D. Greenwich Village is a tranquil ode to the bohemian youth of NYC and their seemingly endless supply of wide wale corduroy fashions. This sort of cinema vérité documentary-cum-advertisement shares a lot of similarities with Every Girl’s Dream, another short produced by the Cotton Producers Association a few years earlier. In that film, a young woman (Nancy Bernard, 1966’s Maid of Cotton) tours a run-down, deserted MGM studio lot while wearing an assortment of fresh cotton daytime wear. The short also contains some great wardrobe tests of Doris Day modeling costumes from The Glass Bottom Boat. This priceless short isn’t viewable online, but whoever programs Turner Classic Movies seems to enjoy playing it in the gaps between features.
They Got Rhythm
During a break from a busy week drawing cartoons (for a client, even!), I spent a few minutes watching clips from an obscure variety show called What’s It All About, World?. The program aired on ABC in the Spring of 1969, a satirical revue with all the edges sanded clean for mass consumption. Yet another example of something that tries so hard to be “hip” that it ends up being painfully unhip. At least this performance of Sweet Charity’s “Rhythm of Life” with Dean Jones, Ricardo Montalban and a troupe of monochromatically garbed dancers is kitschy fun.
Doggies Need Haircuts, Too
Something we fished out of the trash: an Oster electric dog clipper in its original box. It was missing a few parts, but I did manage to scan these swell illustrations from the instruction booklet. Who knew small animal grooming was so complex? I love the very ’60s character of the drawing on the bottom.
Las Vegas in 1983 on Flickr
Just uploaded to flickr: 33 photos of Las Vegas I shot in 1983. I was thirteen and went there on a business trip with my dad. Most of these photos were shot via the family 35mm camera by myself, wandering the strip at night. It’s kind of a wonder that I wasn’t mugged or anything. The photos are of a very old time, unpretentious (and nearly empty) side of Vegas that is completely different from what you’d find in the same place 27 years on. Check it out.
Learning the Facts of Life
Nice: remember the YouTube user that I’ve written about before who did those montages of opening credits from forgotten ’80s/’90s TV shows? The one that was taken off YouTube? He’s back. Better hurry up and watch invaluable stuff like this before it disappears again:
Whitest People You Know
Nino Tempo, April Stevens and a bevy of go-go dancers perform “Land of 1,000 Dances” in a Scopitone clip. I wish the quality was better so we could better appreciate those pastel colors.
Attack of the Japanese Leathervixens
Cinebeats highlighted this non-subtitled trailer for the 1966 actioner Black Tight Killers. I don’t know Japanese, but I know I love it!
Somewhere, An Eagle Is Crying
A museum of tacky 9/11 memorabilia from curator April Winchell. All those sparkly animated GIFs that people use to post on their MySpace pages … words fail me.
Welcome to the Sixties. Let’s Bowl.
Those with a keen eye for the corners of Turner Classic Movies‘ schedule will have noticed that the channel has been playing ephemeral short films in the wee hours every Friday night. I never fail to record these babies, they are so bizarre and cool. Last Friday’s selection was The Golden Years, an early ’60s industrial film by Brunswick intended to showcase their shiny new bowling lane designs. Similar to what car manufacturers were promoting at the time, this film boasts angularity, optimism and lots of chrome. Part one:
Surprisingly, one can still find many of these fixtures in bowling alleys all over. And part two:
Very Special
With Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Dave Steed of Popdose.com is cataloging every song that charted outside the top 40 but within Billboard’s Hot 100 in the ’80s. This is a fascinating, if huge, project that I’m overjoyed that I stumbled upon. Steed has been at this for a year, but he’s only up to the “L” artists in the alphabet. A lot of good stuff falls in this area — R&B, Hip Hop, Metal, Adult Contemporary and Country hits with limited mass appeal, obscurities from outside the U.S., movie soundtrack junk, lesser-known singles from big name acts, etc. If anything, it allows me to hear previously unheard gems like Stacy Lattisaw’s “Attack of the Name Game.”
Discover a Lovelier You
Here’s another swellorama thrift store find to share on flickr. The Nancy Taylor Course was a 1960 four volume self help manual on how to be a fashion model, or at least look like one. Each volume is printed on pale pink paper for maximum femininity, packed with advice on how to attain perfect posture (balance a book on your head!), social etiquette, hair and makeup, diet, even what kind of dainty toiletries to pack in one’s handbag. You know, in case you have one of those “not so fresh” days.
What really grabbed me about these are the illustrations, image after image of Barbie-esque ladies looking all elegant and chi-chi — and there’s a lot of them. The drawings appear to be by several artists, and they’re all so good that I’ve scanned several and placed them in their own flickr set. It contains 50 photos as of now, and that’s only covering the first volume. Some highlights below. Note the carefully positioned feet on the first woman:
Books, Wished After and Not
Right now I’m going through the yearly conundrum of what to put on our holiday cards. This piece on the favorite book covers of 2008 is good for some visual inspiration. So is a complete set of scans from the 1980 Sears Christmas catalog, albeit in a completely different way. Looky here:
The Divine Gobbler
James Likeks’ tribute to the oddly named Gobbler Hotel in Wisconsin is a study in contrasts. Compare the space-age renderings (above) with the actual hotel in its prime — and the ’70s era structure with the sad, outdated ghost of a hotel shortly before it got demolished. Thanks to Lileks, now everybody can appreciate the Playboy After Dark grooviness of it all. The Gobbler’s architect, Helmut Ajango, is apparently still living and working in the same state as his own now-defunct creation.
Pebbles, Shells, Lennons and Kings
Patrick’s kinda now, kinda wow sunshine pop compilation Just Beyond The Sunshine is putting a smile on my face today. Highlight: The Lennon Sisters’ zombie-like “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me.” There’s also Brian Hyland, Nick DeCaro, The Cyrkle, Ronny & The Daytonas and so much more. Great job, Patrick!
