New release: Psychedelic Celluloid. Simon Matthews, contributing writer for Record Collector and Shindig!, has released a new book that will appeal to Spy Vibers. From the press release: "The definitive guide to the decade when swinging London was the film capital of the world. Illustrated throughout with colour images, Psychedelic Celluloid covers over 300 British and European films and TV shows from the Beatles via Bond spin offs to crazy personal follies de grandeur, Blow Up and its imitators, concert movies, documentaries, stylish horror films and many more. Carefully researched and drawing on interviews with some of the survivors of the era, it provides a witty and detailed account of each major production, listing its stars, directors, producers and music and showing how they were linked to the fashion and trends of the period." His approach is very similar to the Spy Vibe book I'm working on for Hermes Press (hoping for a summer 2018 release), so I'm especially keen to check out the book. You can read more about Psychedelic Celluloid in The Independent. Author interview here. Limited editions at Old Castle Books. Also available at booksellers and Amazon and AmazonUK. Publisher press release: "After The Beatles stormed America, every Hollywood and European production company descended on London to be part of the new swinging scene... and they didn't leave until they'd signed up every able-bodied pop group or singer to appear in one of their films. A unique and carefully researched cultural history of UK film, TV and music in the swinging 60s. A time when no film or TV programme was without a group, singer or fantastic soundtrack - and London was briefly the film capital of the world. Containing individual summaries of over 120 films, covering everything from John Barry to Pink Floyd via Blow Up, the Electric Banana, Serge Gainsbourg, Magical Mystery Tour, David hemmings, Kubrick, Godard, Jodorowsdky and the London cast of Hair. With comprehensive listings of over 500 related features, documentaries, TV programmes and shorts, an unforgettable trip through the swinging 60s." Matthews is also planning to release companion books about the preceding era and about British film from 1975-1986, so stay tuned for updates. Thanks to Jhalal Drut for getting this on my radar. Spy Vibers, Episode #2 of my new radio spot on Cocktail Nation is live! This month I talk about the 1965 Sci-Fi classic film, The 10th Victim. More info here. Enjoy!
Art & Hue are back with a cool new series of Pop Art posters based on classic Brit Noir films. Leading the pack is Sean Connery in The Frightened City (1961) and Orson Welles in The Third Man (1941). The new collection of prints also includes Pool of London (1951), starring actor Earl Cameron (Danger Man, Secret Agent, The Prisoner, Thunderball, Doctor Who). More info here. Spy Vibers in London, check out the screening of Tonight Let's All Make Love in London on May 1st. Also, Episode 2 of my new radio spot on Cocktail Nation is live! This month I talk about the 1965 Sci-Fi classic film, The 10th Victim. More info here. Enjoy!
To celebrate the HD restoration of the 1967 cult-classic movie Tonight Let's All Make Love in London, the film is scheduled to appear on the big screen at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday, May 1st. The screening and Q&A will be hosted by distributor Tim Beddows, DeMonfort professor Steve Chibnail, music writer Jon Savage, and Peter Whitehead Archive curator Dr. Alissa Clarke. Don't miss it if you are in London! The film, named after a poem recited at the Hall by Allen Ginsberg, is driven by the pulsing psychedelia of early Pink Floyd and punctuated by interviews with the likes of Michael Caine, David Hockney, Mick Jagger and other Sixties ‘faces’. It also captures a moment when the Rolling Stones’ concert at the Hall in 1966 was interrupted by a rioting audience. More info about the screening event here. I've had a CD of the soundtrack for years and have enjoyed the piece as an interesting time capsule. Parts of the film and soundtrack are a window into one of the most important happenings of the decade- The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream (April 29, 1967). This event was organized by Barry Miles, John Hopkins, Mike McInnerney, and Jack Henry Moore as a fundraiser for the counterculture paper, International Times. The multi-artist line-up included Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown, Soft Machine, The Move, The Pretty Things, Pete Townshend, The Creation, Yoko Ono, and film screenings by Peter Whitehead. Experimental and innovative days indeed! Whitehead also filmed parts of the event and then used the Pink Floyd footage to create structure for his experimental film, Tonight Let's Make Love in London. News of the May 1, 2017 Albert Hall screening comes via UK distributor Network, who will release a Blu-ray edition of the movie. From the press release: "Featured here as a brand new restoration, Peter Whitehead's celebrated film probes the myth and the reality of "Swinging London" presenting an intimate, impressionistic collage of rare concert and studio performances, interviews with key figures from the worlds of music, art and cinema, and images of Sixties counterculture. John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Vanessa Redgrave, Lee Marvin, Julie Christie (Billy Liar, The Saint, Fahrenheit 451, Petulia), Allen Ginsberg, Edna O'Brien, David Hockney and Michael Caine (Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, Alfie) are among those captured on film and in sound; bookended by a performance of Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive, the soundtrack features songs by the Rolling Stones and Eric Burdon. Made when many young people saw politicised hedonism as the logical response to global uncertainty, Whitehead's "Pop Concerto for Film" taps into both the confidence and the confusion of an iconic moment in time." To help Spy Vibers place these events in context: The Beatles innovative masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band came out on June 1st, 1967. Pink Floyd's first album for EMI, Piper At the Gates of Dawn, was released on August 5th, 1967. Whiteheads Tonight Let's All Make Love in London was originally shown at the New York Film Festival on September 26th 1967. The culture was truly about to change forever.Enjoy! Spy Vibers, Episode 2 of my new radio spot on Cocktail Nation is live! This time I talk about the 1965 film, The 10th Victim. More info here.
It's time to cue up some cool soundtracks as Spy Vibe hits the airwaves. I've teamed up with Cocktail Nation, that swinging show out of Australia, and every month I will be introducing one of my favorite spy films/series and talking about the music. Spy Vibers can now listen to Episode Two on Cocktail Nation, where I spotlight the Mod, Sp-Fi classic The 10th Victim (1965), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress. As many readers may know, the 1965 Elio Petri movie adaptation of Robert Sheckley's sory starred Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni, and the film looms large here on Spy Vibe. Ever since I was a kid, I've been completely fascinated by the film's cocktail of groovy music, op art, pop art, space-age fashion, and modern design. I was even fortunate to be able to create the entire poster/still gallery to the Blu-ray edition from Blue Underground! It might not be Citizen Kane (or From Russia With Love), but the movie serves as an outstanding time capsule of the art and design scene in 1965. The 10h Victim sported a soundtrack by composer Piero Piccioni, who set out to create Jazz of the future for director Petri. Tune in to the show here. Info about Episode One featuring Danger Manhere. Below: a selection of images illustrating the rich style of The 10th Victim. Enjoy! Some related10th Victim posts: Elsa Martinelli Autodromo, 10th Victim Japanese edition, Future Listening, Set Countdown #5, Soundtrack, fashion, Fear and Fashion, Mods to Moongirls, German Edition, 10th Victim Photo.
New release: Titan Books just released the third volume in their Complete James Bond Classic Comic Strip Collection! The new hardcover edition includes strips from 1960-1966: Goldfinger, Risico, From a View to a Kill, For Your Eyes Only, The Man With the Golden Gun, and The Living Daylights. I love looking at the original strips, especially the work of the great John McLusky, which pre-dated the films and drew more directly from Ian Fleming's novels. From the press release: "James Bond returns to action in six thrilling adventures, starting with 007’s encounter with the titular Auric Goldfinger, the man with the Midas touch. Also included are Risico, From A View To A Kill, For Your Eyes Only, The Man With The Golden Gun and The Living Daylights, each of which has been painstakingly restored to create the highest quality reproduction of the original Express Newspapers’ strip available." More info at Amazon. Previous volumes include 1958-1960 (Casino Royale, Live And Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr No) and a SPECTRE omnibus (Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me). Enjoy! Spy Vibers, I'm writing and producing a new Spy Vibe radio segment for Cocktail Nation out of Australia! More info HERE.
The arch-villain Doctor Mabuse was created by novelist Norbert Jacques and popularized in a series of films between 1922-1971, most notably by director Fritz Lang. He was a master criminal, much like Fantomas, whose dedication to organized evil became, in the lore, an undying idea that lived on in the hearts of his followers. Dr Mabuse returned as a character in the 1980s in a single by avante-pop band, Propaganda. The group hailed from Dusseldorf and recorded under Trevor Horn's ZTT label in the mid-1980s. Spy Vibers may remember Horn from The Art of Noise. After relocating to the UK, Propaganda released a number of interesting projects, including a cover of Throbbing Gristle's Discipline and the acclaimed album, A Secret Wish (1985). One of the album's singles, Dr. Mabuse, charted in both Germany and in the UK and became a popular track on entertainment programs such as The Tube (1982-1987). The promotional video (version 1) for Dr. Mabuse celebrated the era of German Expressionist films, and it was one of the first video projects by Anton Corbijn- famed photographer for many 1980s/1990s bands and director of The American (2010) starring George Clooney. Filmed in beautiful black and white at night, the Mabuse video featured the band members in cloak and dagger vibe, and none other than actor Vladek Sheybal (From Russia With Love, Secret Agent, The Baron, The Saint, Casino Royale, Billion Dollar Brain, The Champions, Callan, UFO) in the role of Dr. Mabuse! The video's rich imagery also recalls Fritz Lang's M and the hooded menace and secret societies of Edgar Wallace Krimi stories. The lyrics of the song warn: "The man without shadow promises you the world. Tell him your dreams and fanatical needs. He's buying them all with cash. Sell him your soul." Check it out below. Read more about Propaganda member Claudia Brücken. Speaking of music, I'm writing and producing a new Spy Vibe radio segment for Cocktail Nation out of Australia! More info HERE.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Inner Circle group has been discussing some very cool news from Wondercon this weekend. La-La Land Records is apparently working on a release of the TV soundtrack to the classic 1960s spy-western, The Wild Wild West later this year. And the news might get even better! It is believed this CD release will be produced by Jon Burlingame, who has been peerless in his efforts to research and preserve rare soundtrack recordings, as well as to provide insightful commentary tracks for film releases. He also wrote The Music of James Bond. Spy Vibers probably already have his collections of U.N.C.L.E. and Mission Impossible scores. If not, go get 'em! More info about Jon here. I'll keep an eye out for an official announcement from La-Lan Land. Stay tuned for updates as the project develops. Can't wait! Speaking of music, I'm writing and producing a new Spy Vibe radio segment for Cocktail Nation out of Australia! More info HERE.
New release: Universal Studios Home Entertainment will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Francois Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 this summer. Adapted from the original novel by Ray Bradbury, Truffaut's 1966 film starred Oskar Werner (Spionage, Jules and Jim, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold), Julie Christie (A For Andromeda, Billy Liar, The Saint, Doctor Zhivago, Petulia), and Cyril Cusack (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Where the Spies Are, 1984). The crew also included creative giants of the era, such as composer Bernard Herrmann (Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho), cinematographer Nicolas Roeg (Petulia, Performance, Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth), and production designer/art director Syd Cain (Billion Dollar Brain, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, The New Avengers, Our Man in Havana, Lolita, Goldeneye, Live and Let Die, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, The Road to Hong Kong). I've always loved the film, although the pacing and dynamics can feel somewhat sleepy at times. As a fan of 1960's aesthetics, the movie stands as a beautiful time capsule of the period- especially for its stunning design and use of stark blacks and reds. It's interesting to compare the film with Goddard's Alphaville, in that both French New Wave directors chose to create sci-fi atmospheres by photographing minimal geometric shapes, lights, and modernist architecture as a way to imply futurism, or in the case of Fahrenheit, to accentuate the notion of uniformity and conformity in a society that would fear books and the potential chaos of ideas. From the press release: "Ray Bradbury's best-selling science fiction masterpiece about a future without books takes on a chillingly realistic dimension in Fahrenheit 451. Montag (Oskar Werner), a regimented fireman in charge of burning the forbidden books, meets a revolutionary school teacher (Julie Christie) who dares to read. Suddenly, he finds himself a hunted fugitive, forced to choose not only between his rebellious mistress and his pleasure-seeking conformist wife (also played by Julie Christie), but between personal safety and intellectual freedom. Directed by one of the most important screen innovators of all time, Francois Truffaut, this classic film is an eerie tale where mankind becomes the ultimate evil." The Blu-ray will be released on June 6th and will include bonus features: the making of Fahrenheit 451, a discussion about the novel with Ray Bradbury, the music of Fahrenheit 451, commentary with Julie Christie, and more! Pre-Orders are now available on Amazon for $14.99. With recent screenings of Orwell's 1984, current discussions in the culture about privacy and ideas, Bradbury's tale about protecting human creative and intellectual output may be as relevant as ever. Enjoy! By the way, have folks heard Spy Vibe's new radio segments on Cocktail Nation? More info HERE.
