. . which would be just about every day here in the post-rockcritical millennium. I’m invoking the editorial “we,” of course. My golden years have been burnished with a latter-day career as an antiques dealer (generically speaking — I actually … Continue reading
//Front cover, No Pussyfooting, Fripp & Eno, EG/Island, 1973.// The final piece in Tate Modern’s current Yayoi Kusama show – her dramatic Infinity Mirror Room – brought to my vinyl-fixated mind one of the greatest record sleeves of all time: the gatefold for No Pussyfooting, the 1973 album by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. All of a piece with the music it packages – prismatic, playful, calm, cerebral, oblique – the four-part composition was photographed and designed at Eno’s behest by photographer/filmmaker Willie Christie. Continue reading
Before I headed off on tour I pulled out my recently acquired copy of Bob Dylan’s autobiography ‘Chronicles: Volume One’ (2004), which I’d specifically earmarked for this trip. However, on my connecting flight from Manchester to London I realised that rather than packing it in my hand baggage, as intended, I must have put it in my suitcase, so, with my luggage checked through to Hong Kong, when I arrived at Heathrow I went into WH Smith to see if I could find something else to read on the journey. I was really looking forward to the Dylan book, so, when I saw it on the shelf I decided to get another copy, and pass the spare one on somewhere along the way. Continue reading
I took this photograph of writer John Mendelssohn ( LINK ) 42 years ago in my UCLA dorm room. We somewhat jokingly based it upon the iconic Victor Skrebneski photograph of Vanessa Redgrave (see info about that shot LINK ) which graced the print ads and billboards for the 1968 film “Isadora.” It was a high key shot lit with a study lamp initially, then in a darkroom I polarized it (subjected it to timed white light exposure, whereas normally only dark red light could be tolerated in the developing process without ruining the prints.) The avant garde effect of this print emerged from the developer chemicals looking just like this, no decades-later computer manipulation needed. (Photo tech tips from the Pleistocene!) It was said that the polarizing process was random and could not be controlled precisely, so I promptly disproved it and made multiple identical copies for assorted recipients Continue reading
After returning from this year’s Cayamo Cruise I started fiddling with all the random media I’d captured. Since I didn’t take any videos, the solution was to combined what I managed to record with the hundreds of pictures taken with … Continue reading
With Cardin, Paris, January 2012. Continue reading
Click to read the latest column from Jeffrey Morgan: JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #303
Self portrait of Michael Davis that appeared in his Facebook profile. My favorite quotation from MICHAEL DAVIS, bass player extraordinaire for the MC5, Destroy All Monsters and a few lucky other bands, fine artist, charitable humanitarian, from his autobiographical blog: “As I stand here, looking down the last stretch of my own path, I still see the greatness of being alive. Continue reading
Here’s my review of Jon McGregor’s new collection of stories in today’s Independent on Sunday: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/this-isnt-the-sort-of-thing-that-happens-to-someone-like-you-by-jon-mcgregor-7166338.html Here’s a longer review of the book: This Isn’t The Sort Of ThingThat Happens To Someone Like You by Jon McGregor Bloomsbury £14.99 Jon … Continue reading
In the midst of bulletin board normally touting “horse for sale,” “found dog” and the like at East Valley tack and feed store, this was displayed today. It lifted my spirits that someone bothered to post this, but what I want to know is: has it had any dressage training? P.S., any takers might ponder study of the book below, which I indeed recommend. Continue reading
She was anointed, for sure. Behind the curtain, all the machinery was being cranked up for her debut, all the fanfare that was possible back when record labels had money to lavish on marketing. But the Whitney Houston I met … Continue reading
Writer. Composer. Videographer Continue reading
Three long blocks away from our own domicile, a huge fire in a strip mall raged tonight, requiring over 100 firefighters to contain it. The smoke looked like a vertical storm (video by me with my “purse camera.”) NOTE: link directly back to http://fastfilm1.blogspot.com if all elements such as photo layouts or videos aren’t here. Continue reading
Above, Melanie Harrold of the metal band Bad Xample, in my studio in Venice sometime in the 1980s. She was (and probably still is) a terrific, strong-voiced singer, and the band’s overall effect was that of Bessie Smith fronting Aerosmith Continue reading
[Decades hence, I will surely be celebrated posthumously as one of the great songwriters of the last quarter of the 20th century, and of the first quarter of the 21st. But I see no reason why we shouldn’t begin a detailed consideration of my oeuvre right now, while I’m still around and able to comment.] So this Miranda Lambert person, who apparently isn’t a character on Sex and the City , but a country singer, was miffed at this Chris Brown person’s being featured at the Grammys, and tweeted that he needed to listen to her song about domestic violence. Well, I’ve got a song about domestic violence of my own Continue reading
By Larry Jaffee Like many successful musicians, Frank Zappa wanted to curate, and help expose other talented artists who might not otherwise get a chance to be heard. The Beatles obviously attempted a similar thing around the same time with … Continue reading
I’ve written before about the parallels I continue to find between my own life and Loudon Wainwright III’s, as he expresses events and feelings in his autobiographical songs. He’s written about his persistent regret over episodes of inappropriate anger, the … Continue reading
[Decades hence, I will be celebrated posthumously as one of the great songwriters of the last quarter of the 20th century, and of the first quarter of the 21st. But I see no reason why we shouldn’t begin a detailed consideration of my oeuvre right now, while I’m still around and able to comment.] Not long after moving to the UK for the first time, in the summer of 2002, I resolved once more to become a famous producer, a dream I’d entertained briefly in 1973, with the Reform School Girls. Continue reading
For Valentine’s Day, where ever you are, I hope your troubles are few… Continue reading
By Wayne Robins Since we do not tweet here on Wayne’s Words, nor are we driven by deadlines as we were in the old days when we received a nice salary to do the work we now do for free—oh, but I was so much older then!—here are some thoughts and comments about the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, telecast Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012, by CBS. LL COOL J. Continue reading
[Decades hence, I will be celebrated posthumously as one of the great songwriters of the last quarter of the 20th century, and of the first quarter of the 21st. But I see no reason why we shouldn’t begin a detailed consideration of my oeuvre right now, while I’m still around and able to comment.] As with virtually all my songs, I composed the music for Me at My Worst before the lyrics. Continue reading
