LENNON 80

Thinking of John and Sean Lennon today on their shared birthday! This week Sean aired a great radio documentary to celebrate his dad's 80th, which included intimate conversations with various people in John's life. In part two he spoke with brother Julian and with Paul McCartney about their relationships and observations. The results are a really thoughtful, honest, and heart-felt project. In a particularly moving moment for me, Sean asked Paul about his grandmother Julia, who he'd never really had an opportunity to hear about first-hand. The show is up on BBC player, but Spy Vibers can also find segments posted on Youtube (pt. 2 linked above). Happy Birthday, John! Happy Birthday, Sean! A new compilation of John's songs has been released called Gimme Some Truth. Timely title, as ever. From the press release: "The definitive new Best Of John Lennon - 36 tracks completely remixed from master tapes, giving these classic songs a new life for generations to come and sounding better than ever before. 2 CD/Blu-ray features 36 tracks in hi-res stereo 96/24 PCM, new 5.1 surround mixes and Dolby Atmos for the ultimate immersive experience. With an incredible 124-page book with rare photos and extensive notes from John, Yoko and more." Below: contact sheet from A Hard Day's Night. Learn more: Imagine Peace, John Lennon, Chimera Music. 

60S OVERDRIVE

Ever since Spy Vibe reported that a new print of the film Tonight Let's All Make Love in London was being screened at the Royal Albert Hall my mind has been in overdrive, as it were, thinking about the shifts in culture around 1966-67. The Beatles pushed rock music into new territory through their experiments on Rubber Soul, Revolver, and on their groundbreaking studio masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper's  Lonely Hearts Club Band. Batman led a wave of Pop Art and camp on television, and the patriotic adventures of the Spy Boom began to expand into the counterculture. Revolution and mistrust were high (no pun intended) in the point of view of projects such as The Prisoner, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Head, and Danger Diabolik. The focus of the youth movement became more concerned with freedom, peace, pleasure, and consciousness. It's interesting that Pink Floyd, another EMI band, spoke about making music that was intended to be experienced, rather than enjoyed simply for melody. I like this Pink Floyd footage below, which was used on Granada television and featured their track Interstellar Overdrive (Doctor Strange movie fans might recognize the tune). I can't wait to see more footage once Tonight Let's All Make Love in London is released on Blu-ray. People were pushing into new territory in the final years of the sixties. Paul McCartney once summed up "psychedelic" as a word used by people to describe new things they didn't understand- an explanation that was repeated in the Granada piece below. Sean Lennon and Les Claypool have been keeping the eternal flame of experimentation and psychedelic music alive and they recently covered Pink Floyd's Astronomy Domine on their Record Store Day EP, along with covers of King Crimson, The Who, and others. See video below. If Spy Vibers are interested in exploring the early Pink Floyd, check out the new CD series The Early Years 1965-1972. Casual fans can pick up individual volumes, each containing rare recordings and film/video, but there is also a massive set for serious fans and collectors. More info at Pink Floyd. The V&A in London also just launched a new immersive exhibit called Their Mortal Remains, which looks amazing. I can't wait to see the show and check out artifacts from the band's 1960s era. More info at V&A. I was never a huge Pink Floyd fan growing up; I often found their music music a bit too jammy and depressing. But I must say I quite enjoy the early era with Syd Barrett. Does anyone else hear strains of Piper at the Gates of Dawn in Blur's Britpop albums? Fun stuff all around! By the way, stay tuned for cool Beatles news!  Spy Vibers, have you heard my new radio show with Cocktail Nation? Episode #3 is coming up and I'll be talking about On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Here are info links for Episode #1 (Danger Man) and Episode #2 (The 10th Victim). Enjoy!

Selected Spy Vibe Posts: Make Love in London, Spy Vibe Radio 2, Spy Vibe Radio 1, James Bond Strips, Propaganda Mabuse, Fahrenheit 451 50th, Interview: Police Surgeon, XTC Avengers, 1966 Pep Spies, Batman Book Interview, Exclusive Fleming Interview, Avengers Comic Strips, Robert Vaughn RIP, UNCLE Fashions, Thunderbirds Are Pop!, Interview:Spy Film Guide, Lost Avengers Found, The Callan File, Mission Impossible 50th, Green Hornet 50th, Star Trek 50th, Portmeirion Photography 1, Filming the Prisoner, Gaiman McGinnins Project, Ian Fleming Grave, Revolver at 50, Karen Romanko Interview, Mod Tales 2, Umbrella Man: Patrick Macnee, New Beatles Film, The Curious Camera, Esterel Fashion 1966, Exclusive Ian Ogilvy Interview, 007 Tribute Covers, The Phantom Avon novels return, Ian Fleming Festival, Argoman Design, Sylvia Anderson R.I.P., Ken Adam R.I.P., George Martin R.I.P., The New Avengers Comics, Trina Robbins Interview, The Phantom at 80, 007 Manga, Avengerworld Book, Diana Rigg Auto Show, The Prisoner Audio Drama Review, David McCallum novel, Andre Courreges R.I.P., Who's Talking on Spy Vibe, UFO Blu-ray, Avengers Pop Art.

JANE & SERGE

New book: Jane & Serge. A Family Album. If your vibe is 1960s French Pop and the London fashion scene, check out this new deluxe book from Taschen that documents the relationship between Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. The celebrated couple made quite a splash with their release of Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus in 1969. The song reached number one in the UK, but was banned in a number of countries for its erotic content (see video below!). The B-side was another classic from their sexual revolution, 69 Annee Erotique. The official release date for A Family Album is Dec 15th, but I've already spotted advance copies from October in independent bookstores. Details below.

Jane & Serge. A Family Album from Amazon: "The highly public love affair of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and British actress Jane Birkin captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation. The moment Jane and Serge met on a movie set in 1968, sparks flew. They would spend the next 12 years together, a passionate union that produced the controversial duet "Je t’aime... moi non plus" (whose explicit lyrics and orgasmic moans caused so much fuss that the Vatican declared it offensive) and, in 1971, the legendary album Melody Nelson as well as a daughter, Charlotte, who has become a successful actress in her own right. From the earliest days of Jane and Serge's romance until their split in 1980, Jane’s brother Andrew Birkin was a frequent presence in their lives; an avid photographer, he snapped thousands of candid family photos during those years. Birkin’s pictures—very few of which have ever been published—offer a rare view of daily life for the couple, bringing us back to a place and time we have long idolized. Though more than 30 years have passed since the two parted ways, and over two decades since Serge parted from this world, the passion for Jane and Serge has endured. This treasure trove is sure to fan the flames of its undying embers." 

Transport yourself back in time with Serge and Jane at the Eiffel Tower as they film their pop hit, Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus. Gainsbourg recorded the song in 1967 with Brigitte Bardot, but it wasn't released until the 1980s. The 1969 version below captured the heat of his relationship with Birkin.

More from Amazon about the new book: "Designed by M/M (Paris), the photo album comes in a clear plastic cover with the following goodies tucked inside: Text booklet featuring an introduction by Jane Birkin and Andrew Birkin’s memoir of Jane and Serge, illustrated by Birkin family childhood photos, Softcover contact sheet booklet, Fold-out poster, 5 photo prints, Sticker sheet, Embroidered patch." Taschen page here. 

In related news, Bikin's only daughter with James Bond composer John Barry sadly passed away yesterday in Paris. Bikin was married to Barry from 1965-1968 before becoming Gainsbourg's partner from 1968-1980. 

The spirit of Jane and Serge has been channeled in recent years by Sean Lennon and his partner Charlotte Kemp Muhl. The Pop couple has recorded Serge covers, performed at the Gainsbourg tribute concert in Hollywood in 2011, and even appeared in an erotic S&M photographic spread based on Jane and Serge- a new level of Bondage for Spy Vibe! Below: vintage fashion (with kinky boots).

Recent Spy Vibe posts: The Goldfinger Variations, Mod Tales Interview, Pete Seeger nominated for Grammy,  Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, HMV returns to Oxford st w Beatles promo, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton,  Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive. 

SEAN LENNON RELEASE

If your vibe is psychedelic free-jazz grooves set to experimental live movie projections, Sean Ono Lennon has your ticket to boogie with a limited-edition record from his new project called Mystical Weapons. Teaming up with fellow multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, drummer Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), and projection artist Martha Colburn, Mystical Weapons will release their new record on November 29th for Record Store Day. Entitled Crotesque, the 20-min one-sided album includes a live broadcast on WNYC's Spinning On Air from last January, with Side Two sporting an original screen-printed illustration by Sean Lennon. The record is a one-time pressing by Northern Spy Records and is limited to 1,500 units. Spy Music Festival here. 

WNYC's Garland wrote "Both Sean and Shahzad share electric guitars, basses, and keyboards. Martha Colburn handles her films the way a performing DJ handles records: using the projectors like turntables, the images are mixed and manipulated live, with visuals forming an essential component of the Mystical Weapons experience.” The band will hold a release party on December 5th at Union Pool in Brooklyn. Check out their self-titled debut album here. Image above from their experimental video Mechanical Mammoth. Video links on Chimera Music here. In related news, I was one of the winners of a remix competition held by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band a couple of years back, which evolved into one of my experimental films on the festival circuit, The Sun is Down. Spy Vibers can also check out the soundtrack to my award-winning film I Was a Dancer and a collage I made as a gift for Ono called Lennon70. More info at my website. Image of Mystical Weapons below from Chimera Music. Enjoy!

Recent Spy Vibe posts: Mod Tales Interview, Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, HMV returns to Oxford st w Beatles promo, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton,  Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, Elio Petri on Blu-ray, Sophia Loren, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Beatles fall 2013 releases, A Hard Days Night cinematographer dies, Magic Christian on Blu-ray, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive. 

SEAN LENNON SCORES

Sean Lennon is well known for his artful blend of sensitive melodies and rocking collaborations with Cibo Matto, Ghost of the Saber Tooth Tiger, and Plastic Ono Band with mom, Yoko Ono. Last year Lennon channeled the 1960s vibe of Serge Gainsbourg with a cover of Comic Strip, which he promoted with a video in the style of William Klein's Mr. Freedom. Back in his home studio, Sean has been working on lesser-known film projects. A production of the Murakami Ryu novel, Coin Locker Babies, has been in development for many years and he composed the soundtrack for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in 2009. The lo-fi Mr. Freedom vibe continued this year with the quirky, super-hero rom/com, Alter Egos.  Lennon composed the score and appears in the film as a super-villain named Electric Death. The soundtrack offers a cocktail of hip contemporary grooves and retro cool. Check out the making of the beautiful tune, My Hero, below. The new Alter Egos album is now available on CD and vinyl from his record company, Chimera Music, and as a digital download from iTunes and Amazon. The record will hit stores on January 15th. 

Check out our recent posts, including Neil Armstrong: One Last Step, New Beatles Releases, Interview with Playboy Bunny Deana, and our series, For Your Shelf Only, where guests share stories about collecting and show us some of their treasures. Series links: Jon Gilbert, Raymond Benson, Jeremy Duns, Peter Lorenz, David Foster, Rob Mallows, Roger Langley, Craig Arthur, Fleming Short, Matt Sherman. Check out my books Counting Sheep and Mort Walker Conversations. Info about my re-mix and film for Yoko Ono at my website here.

YOKO'S INVISIBLE FLOWER

Yoko Ono's work is often whimsical and philosophical, offering ideas of global peace to inspire us and, sometimes, emotional rawness to invite the brave to face tough realities head on. Her work can also offer simple gestures of innocence and magic, as in the new book, An Invisible Flower, coming out this month from Chronicle Books. I had the pleasure to make a re-mix for Yoko Ono a couple of years back, a project that developed into an experimental film, The Sun is Down. Spy Vibe celebrates pioneer artists who worked in unusual areas in the 1960s and who continue to challenge us to 'think different'. I hope readers will check out her current work. See below for two additional books about Yoko scheduled for publication this year.

From Amazon: "Yoko Ono created An Invisible Flower when she was just nineteen years old, at the very start of her artistic career. Recently rediscovered in her archive by her son, Sean Lennon, who also provides a foreword, this jewel of a book tells the heartwarming story of the invisible beauty we all know is there—and of the one man, "Smelty John", who catches sight of it. Written years before Ono met John Lennon, An Invisible Flower offers a glimpse into the early process of a brilliant conceptual artist and, it will transpire, presages the love of her life. Simple pastel drawings complement the book's affirming message, and a new afterword by Ono makes this small treasure even more special."

When Yoko announced the book on her website, she added this comment: It just made me choke up re-reading “An Invisible Flower.” I thought of the drawing of two people on horseback John made in 1952 (the same year I made “An Invisible Flower”). The two people on horseback look very, very much like John and Yoko. And the date, 18th February, was my 19th birthday. It seems like we both knew in 1952 that we would fall in love with each other in 15 years time… yoko"

In addition, there are two books about Yoko coming out in the next year. Reconsidering Yoko Ono by Lisa Carver is due in October from Backbeat Books. From Amazon: "John Lennon once described her as "the world's most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does." Many people are aware of her art, and her music has always split crowds, from her caterwauling earliest work to her later dance numbers, but how many people have looked at Yoko Ono's decades-spanning career and varied work in total and asked the simple question, "Is it any good?" From her earliest work with the Fluxus group and especially her relationship with John Cage, through her enigmatic pop happenings (where she met John Lennon), her experimental films, cryptic books, conceptual art, and her long recording career that has vacillated between avant-garde noise and proto-new wave, earning the admiration of other artists while generally confusing the public at large who often sees her only in the role of the widow Lennon, Reaching Out with No Hands is the first serious, critical, wide-ranging look at Yoko Ono the artist and musician. A must-read for art and music fans interested in going beyond the stereotyped observations of Yoko as a Lennon hanger-on or inconsequential avant noisemaker."

And Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies by Nell Beram and Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky is due in January 2013 from Amulet Books. From Amazon: "This lyrical biography explores the life and art of Yoko Ono, from her childhood haiku to her avant-garde visual art and experimental music. An outcast throughout most of her life, and misunderstood by every group she was supposed to belong to, Yoko always followed her own unique vision to create art that was ahead of its time and would later be celebrated. Her focus remained on being an artist, even when the rest of world saw her only as the wife of John Lennon. Yoko Ono’s moving story will inspire any young adult who has ever felt like an outsider, or who is developing or questioning ideas about being an artist, to follow their dreams and find beauty in all that surrounds them.

In related news, The Beatles Yellow Submarine Blu-ray is available for order in Spy Vibe's secure Amazon Associates Store. Also, consider supporting a new documentary film about the Fluxus art movement (includes interviews with Yoko!). Info at our post here.

OCT 9TH EVENTS

A special weekend for fans of 1960s Art and music. Birthday wishes to John and Sean Lennon, who share October 9th birthdays (and congrats to Paul McCartney on his wedding this Oct 9th!). To get us in the mood, here is an amusing video mash-up that places James Bond at one of the summer 1966 Tokyo Beatles concerts. The filming of You Only Live Twice started in July 1966, so it's fun to imagine these major pop-culture events coming together.

In honor of John Lennon, Yoko Ono is scheduled to relight the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland this weekend. The structure was conceived from an idea that Ono had in the 1960s about architecture built entirely of light and prisms. The Imagine Peace Tower uses fifteen searchlights and prisms to create a shaft of light that reaches upwards of 4,000 meters. Construction was finished in 2007, and it is lit annually between October 9th and December 8th (the date of Lennon's passing in 1980).

More info about how you can contribute to the event from Yoko: "Dear Friends, On 9th October 2011, I will be in Reykjavík, Iceland to relight IMAGINE PEACE TOWER at 8pm (9pm London, 4pm NY, 1pm LA, 5am Tokyo) in memory of my husband John Lennon. I hope you will join us at http://IMAGINEPEACETOWER.com for the live event where you can tweet, email & Facebook chat your wishes live to @IPTower and watch a live feed of the event."

A special John Lennon exhibit has been set up in NYC for the weekend, in honor of what would have been Lennon's 71st birthday. There is also an exhibit of Yoko Ono's work at Stoney Brook University through October 15th. More information at the New York Times here. Spy Vibe on 1960s surrealism and satire in the UK here.

My wish in celebration of John Lennon's 71st birthday, going out to the armed populations in the world- Camera Piece: carry a camera instead of a weapon for 1 day, then 1 week. Look at people through the lens until you see that you are one.

SERGE GAINSBOURG TRIBUTE CONCERT

Sean Lennon and Beck will headline a special tribute concert to the maestro of hip musique, Serge Gainsbourg, at 7pm on August 28th at the Hollywood Bowl. Lennon and his partner, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, recently released a limited blue-vinyl album, La Carotte Bleue, that featured Gainsbourg's classic Comic Strip (see Spy Vibe's announcement here). The tribute concert will also include Ed Droste (Grizzly Bear), Victoria Legrand (Beach House), Mike Patton (Faith No More), Zola Jesus, Lulu Gainsbourg, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Jean Claude Vannier. Check out Amoeba records here for a chance to win free tickets!


Below is the whimsical lo-fi film for Lennon and Muhl's groovy version. It reminds me of William Klein's 1969 film, Mr Freedom. Serge Gainsbourg official website here. Gainsbourg was married to Jane Birkin from 1968-1980, following her three-year marriage to James Bond composer, John Barry. Check out the original 1968 promo film for Comic Strip with B Bardot here.

"LOVE PIECE"

The Beatles community gathered recently for the anniversary of Cirque du Soleil's LOVE show in Las Vegas. The event prompted a new remix for Yoko Ono that is a meditation on friends and lovers everywhere, and is presented today in honor of Paul McCartney's birthday. On the heels of his winning remix and experimental film for Yoko Ono, Spy Vibe creator Jason Whiton composed a new sound collage called "Love Piece" that is a mantra in honor of reunions and reconciliation. Sound file via Jason Whiton on SoundCloud. Image of 2007 LOVE meeting between McCartney and Ono from Life Magazine. See recent Spy Vibe posts about experimental sounds and musique concrete in the 1960s and beyond, including news of Paul McCartney's plans to make a new experimental project with his original Tomorrow Never Knows machines here and a documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and Doctor Who here.

"Love Piece" (Jason Whiton) remix to Yoko Ono & LOVE anniversary by Jason Whiton