DAZZLE SHIPS

I really enjoyed an album event yesterday held on Twitter, as part of the listening parties hosted by Tim Burgess of the Charlatans. We had a chance to listen to Dazzle Ships (1983) by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) with co-founder and singer, Andy McCluskey. Dazzle Ships always been a favorite record of mine because it's so steeped in concepts around graphic design, history, experimental music, and cold war commentary. Andy shared background info during the event about the tracks, how various sounds were made, and he even hinted at an exhibit of some kind planned for 2022 (but no context re: the contents). Andy has often drawn themes and lyrics from his own studies into history, society, and art, and this record was like a sonar reading of technology and politics in the 20th Century. About "Radio Waves" (track 10), he said, "It contrasts the potentially positive power of communication technology with the sad reality of Cold War lies and military escalation." Interestingly, the design concepts by Peter Saville for the album were originally based on a 1919 painting by Robert Hewison of the original "dazzle ships" in WWI. The concept was to confuse the enemy's perception of a ship's course on the water by using fractured, surreal camouflage. As Smithsonian reported on the anniversary of WWI and Dazzle inventor Norman Wilkinson: "Wilkinson’s innovation, what would be called “dazzle,” was that rather than using camouflage to hide the vessel, he used it to hide the vessel’s intention. Later he’d say that he’d realized that, “Since it was impossible to paint a ship so that she could not be seen by a submarine, the extreme opposite was the answer – in other words, to paint her, not for low visibility, but in such a way as to break up her form and thus confuse a submarine officer as the course on which she was heading.” In our current time of disinformation and Orwellian doublespeak, this whole notion of manipulating perception is quite sobering, but I do find the designs beautiful and intriguing. There was an exhibit in 2019 held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson called Dazzled:OMD, Memphis Design, and Beyond that featured an OMD installation based on the Savile designs, as well as art and design by Peter Shire, Carrie Schneider, Miho Shimizu, Natalie Lanese, and the Memphis design group from Milan. OMD crafted their album with early electronics, sound collage, and musique concrète (including surfing through short-wave transmissions of Radio Prague and international speaking clocks), and these aesthetic choices provided a rich and textured landscape to communicate their ideas. The record tour included set designs based on the sleeve art. Sadly, few photos seem to remain to document the shows and apparently film footage was lost. My big hope is that the band will release an anniversary book in 2023 to document all of the artwork and prototypes from the many sleeves, ads, programs, etc. OMD hailed from the Wirral, Merseyside, and were one of the bands that launched through Eric's, a club on Matthew Street across from The Cavern in Liverpool (others in the scene were Elvis Costello, Joy Division, and Echo and the Bunnymen). To make their music possible to play live, they originally performed with a TEAC 4-track tape recorder, which they dubbed "Winston." OMD's intentions were experimental, yet they soon found themselves part of a growing New Wave of musicians that would redefine the pop world though the use of new technologies. OMD has created many great albums, but Dazzle Ships was a masterpiece. At the time it was perhaps seen as too arty, and it's low commercial response prompted the band to move further toward a pop sensibility. There were some years when Andy carried on alone. Co-founder Paul Humpheys formed The Listening Pool and collaborated with then-partner Claudia Brücken (Propaganda) as Onetwo. OMD reunited again in 2006 for some live projects, which led to a new renaissance period of recording and touring with the original line-up. In 2015 they did a special performance of Dazzle Ships at the Museum of Liverpool (a fitting location to honor their artistic roots, as well as a favorite place of mine). OMD are still going strong. Recommended listening: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1980), Organization (1980), Architecture and Morality (1981), Dazzle Ships (1983), Junk Culture (1984), Peel Sessions 1979-1983 (2000), History of Modern (2010), English Electric (2013), The Punishment of Luxury (2017). Check out the recent book, OMD: Pretending to See the Future. Below: Saville designs and my collage of some of the great modernist OMD sleeves. Enjoy!

Selected Spy Vibe Posts: Spy Vibe Radio: Raumpatrouille, Remembering Richard Sala, Crime & Spy Jazz books, Soviet Space Graphics, Numan is FAB, Bruce Lee Blu, John Barry Event, RSD Vinyl Spies, James Bond's DB5, UFO CD Set, Spy Vibe radio: Phantom Agents, Steranko is Revolutionary!, Interview: The Saint I Ain't, Diabolik Interview, New 007 Song, Diabolik Figures, Diabolik Sounds, Diabolik Set Design, Diabolik Park Ride, Danger Diabolik Blu, Count Arthur Strong, Honey West Title Cards, Bowie Day, New Year Cosmonauts, Neil Innes R.I.P., Claudine Auger R.I.P., OHMSS at 50, Italian Job 50th OST, Charles Schulz Modern, Paul Desmond, Python 50th, Randall Hopkirk 50th, Thunderbirds Day, Lazenby Returns to MI6, Dr. John R.I.P., Spy Vibe Radio: Lupin III, Lupin Ska, Spy Vibe Prime, Zigomar Translation, The Village: Part 1, Monkey Punch R.I.P., Bubble Girl 63, ITC Soundtracks, Spy Vibe Radio: Public Eye, UFO Prime, Spaceship to Mars, Modesty Blaise Companion, Spy Vibe Radio: Fantomas, George Day, Fantomas Blu, Dark Shadows Doc, Bedazzled Blu-ray, Mary Quant Exhibit, Laika Calypso, Lost in Space Japan, Spy Dust Calypso, Atomic Cafe, John Barry Mono, Interview: John Barry Book, Land of the Giants Score, Skyfall Concert, Dearest Emma, Spy Vibe Radio: Upperseven, Ogilvy at Elstree, Mabuse Propaganda, Bond Beatles Day, Spy Vibe Radio: Liquidator, Diabolik LP, Fab Dresses, Eurospy Music Collection, Beetle Bailey in West Berlin, Why Mort Walker?, Spy Vibe radio: The Beatles Help!, Avengers Critical Guide, The Spotnicks, Benny Spies, James Pond 0017', Satire Stones, Annette Andre Book, Cat Day, Spy Vibe Radio: Get Smart, Caine: My Generation, Interview: Ian Ogilvy, Horror of Party Beach, Sylvie Vartan Renown, Ringo At 78, Dark Shadows Strips, Spy Vibe Radio: Flint, Archie Batman 66, Paul at 76, Beatles Pac-Man, Spy Vibe Radio: Jerry Cotton, The Invaders, 007 Horowitz Book Tour, McGoohan/Prisoner Event at Elstree, The Prisoner Interviews Vol 1, British Underground Press, Interview: Fab4 Mania, Bond Cocktail Book, Bond at Bletchley, Spy Smasher, Spy Vibe Radio: Peter Gunn, Agent Zero M, New Prisoner Comic, Dr. No Villains Edition, Spy Vibe Radio: Danger Diabolik, Dr. No 60th, Oy-Oy-Seven, Spy Vibe Radio (UFO), Cold War Comic Strips, Thunderball Event, Mission to India, Mort Walker Celebration, Peter Wyngarde Celebration, Batman 66 Exhibit, Prisoner Fifty Event, Ian Fleming Publications 2017-2018, Interview: Ed Hulse Pulp, Avengers Audio Drama, Interview: Callan At 50, Interview: Playboys, Spies, Private Eyes, TWA Returns, Spy Vibe Radio 8, Interview: Ryan Heshka, Mid-Century Modern Schulz, Agent Werewolf, Johnny Sokko 50th, Interview: Trina Robbins, Eddie Izzard, The Prisoner Capt Scarlet 50th, Hugh Hefner R.I.P., Jack Good R.I.P., Interview: Shaken Not Stirred, Callan 50th, Spy Vibe Radio 7, The Prisoner 50th Event, Spy-Fi Event, Kaho Aso 007, Two Million, Bo Diddley, Carnaby Pop, Le Carre Events, Billy Bragg Skiffle, Elvis 68, Jack Kirby The Prisoner, Casino Royale Concert, Review: The Prisoner Vol 2, Interview: The Prisoner Essential Guide, Maud Russell Mottisfont, Spy Vibe Radio 4, Batman Gallants, Adam West R.I.P., Village Triangle, Roger Moore R.I.P., Spy Vibe Radio 3, Sgt Pepper 50th, Satanik Kriminal OST, 60s Overdrive, Make Love in London, Spy Vibe Radio 2, Spy Vibe Radio 1, James Bond Strips, Propaganda Mabuse, 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, The Phantom at 80, 007 Manga, Avengerworld Book, Diana Rigg Auto Show, The Prisoner Audio Drama Review.

PAUL AT 76

It's June 18th and time for my annual celebration of my favorite creative person, Paul McCartney! McCartney's friend and collaborator, Barry Miles, summed up their early years by saying, "I think of the 60s as a supermarket of ideas. We were looking for new ways to live." If Swinging London in the 1960s represented a hurricane of cultural revolution, McCartney was in the eye of the storm. On his 76th birthday, Spy Vibe looks back at the art of Paul McCartney. Photo below: in true space-age fashion by Richard Avedon.

Paul McCartney was born seventy-six years ago today. His mother Mary (as in "mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom") was a nurse. His father, James, was an amateur musician with a local jazz band, and he brought Paul and younger brother Mike up with an appreciation for all kinds of music. The family enjoyed listening to old 78 records and to the radio, and McCartney developed a keen ear for the classics and a passion to make music of his own. After a brief interlude with a trumpet, he was inspired by the skiffle craze to pick up the guitar. He swapped his horn for a Framus Zenith acoustic model and began strumming away. It wasn't until he saw an image of Slim Whitman that he realized he could restring the instrument backwards for easier playing as a lefty. As Lonnie Donegan belted out Rock Island Line and other skiffle hits during the era, McCartney wrote his first tunes- including When I'm Sixty-Four! In 1956, he found his "messiah," Elvis Presley. Elvis opened the floodgates of Rock and McCartney became a devotee of Fats Domino, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, and the Everly Brothers. Photo below by brother Mike McCartney (The Scaffold): playing guitar in his back yard at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool. Although Paul has said in interviews that he has sad memories of the house -because of his mother's early death- the home is quite cheerful these days. I visited inside last summer and found the rooms filled with light, family photos, and a vibe that said "the more the merrier."  

McCartney's childhood friend, Ivan Vaughan (also born on June 18th), brought him to the Woolton County Fete on July 6, 1957, where he formally met John Lennon for the first time. The two boys shared a love for Rock n Roll, especially two rockabilly cats that would tour England quite a bit in those early years: Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent. Vincent is seen seen in the photo below with Paul and John in matching leather gear. As the story goes of that first meeting, McCartney impressed Lennon with Cochran's Twenty-Flight Rock and Lennon played Vincent's Be-Bop-A-Lula for the first time on stage. McCartney soon joined Lennon's band and history followed with Hamburg, The Cavern, world tours, Sgt. Pepper's, Abbey Road, and beyond.

While juggling the busy Beatles schedule, McCartney was a man about town in the mid-60s, soaking up inspiration from all corners of the arts. While his bandmates moved out to the suburbs, he helped Barry Miles start the underground paper, International Times, and they attended happenings at the Roundhouse with performances by Beat Poets and The Pink Floyd. McCartney got interested in arty film screenings and began to make his own experimental movies (his footage was later stolen). He also became fascinated with John Cage and the creation of tape loops and sound collages, which he called "electronic symphonies." McCartney's passion for experimentation fed back into a number of Beatles projects, including the seagull-sounding tape loops on Tomorrow Never Knows, The Sgt. Pepper's concept album, the formation of an Apple subsidiary label devoted to poetry and experimental music (including work by William S. Burroughs), and the Magical Mystery Tour film. McCartney later teamed with Sgt. Pepper's cover artist Peter Blake and others on an interesting album called Liverpool Sound Collage (2000).

When Yoko Ono was creating The Word, a book of graphic scores for John Cage, McCartney facilitated the inclusion of hand-written lyrics by Lennon. And McCartney helped to renovate and set up the Indica Gallery, where Lennon would later meet Ono in person. Moving with the London in-crowd, it would prove to be one of the most creatively fertile periods for both McCartney and The Beatles. Photo below: Miles and McCartney at Indica.

McCartney has supported animal rights for decades and has been a spokesman for PETA. He helped to organize the Concert for New York after the attacks in 2001. And recently in March 2018, he participated in the March For Our Lives against gun violence. Photos below: PETA campaign poster; Talking to the press in NYC about how one of his best friends (John Lennon) was killed by gun violence. 

Paul McCartney has continued to explore mainstream and experimental projects each year since The Beatles disbanded in 1970. In the last twenty-five years, he has released many classical music compositions, new electronic experiments, an anthology of poetry (including a memorial to childhood pal, Ivan), and he exhibited a large body of work as a painter. How does he manage it? If lifestyle is any clue to his output: jogging, family, laughter, music, and being meat-free seem to be the top of the list. Spy Vibers will, of course, celebrate McCartney's addition to the world of James Bond with his theme to Live and Let Die. Others may also applaud him for his Swinging-London style. It all comes back, however, to his deepest roots- music. That kid playing guitar in the backyard (photo above) is still driven by a love of performing. Spy Vibers can see for themselves during his on-going tours. And keep your eyes peeled for a new album launching soon! Happy Birthday, Paul! Many Happy Returns from Jason at Spy Vibe.

If you are interested in exploring more of Paul McCartney's creative work, here are some favorites:

Albums


McCartney (1970)
Ram (1971)
McCartney II (1980)
Working Classical (1999)


Run Devil Run (1999)


Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest (1993)


Rushes (1998)


Liverpool Sound Collage (2000)


Twin Freaks (2005)
Electronic Arguments (2008)


Ballad of the Skeletons (Allen Ginsberg/1996)


Hiroshima Sky is Always Blue (unreleased/w Yoko Ono/1995)


Good Evening New York City (2009) 

Kisses on the Bottom (2012)



Movies


Beatles Anthology (1995)

Live At the Cavern Club (2001)


Wingspan (2001)


The Real Buddy Holly Story (2004)


My Old Friend (1998)


Paul McCartney Live in Red Square (2005)


Magical Mystery Tour (1967)


Music and Animation Collection (2004)

Live Kisses (2012)



Books


The Unknown Paul McCartney (2002)


Many Years From Now (1998)


The Complete Beatles Chronicle (2010)


Paul McCartney Paintings (2000)
Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics 1965-1999 (2001)


Related posts: Beatles Pac-Man, Interview: Fab 4 Mania, The Beatles: Mission to India, Sgt. Pepper 50th, The Beatles: The Curious Camera, Revolver At 50, Ringo Rocks At 71, Pattie Boyd Exhibit, Peter Sellers to John Lennon: UK Satire, Ringo Tribute, John Lennon Remembered, Vintage Vinyl, Experimental Beatles, Ivan Vaughan, Essential Ringo, Paul at 72, Notes Behind the Curtain 1, Notes Behind the Curtain 2, Notes Behind the Curtain 3, Notes Behind the Curtain 4, 1960s Overdrive, Make Love in London, George Martin R.I.P., Tony Sheridan R.I.P., Cynthia Lennon R.I.P., Encouragement From Yoko, My Experimental Re-Mix & Film with Yoko, Lennon70 Tribute Film, Home Movies, Sean Lennon Release, Gilbert Taylor R.I.P., Atomic Art, Love Piece, Sean Lennon Scores, Sean Lennon Limited Edition, Fab Fall 2013, George Harrison, New Beatles Fashion, Yellow Submarine 50th. 

Selected Spy Vibe Posts: Beatles Pac-Man, Spy Vibe Radio: Jerry Cotton, The Invaders, 007 Horowitz Book Tour, McGoohan/Prisoner Event at Elstree, The Prisoner Interviews Vol 1, British Underground Press, Interview: Fab4 Mania, Bond Cocktail Book, Bond at Bletchley, Spy Smasher, Spy Vibe Radio: Peter Gunn, Agent Zero M, New Prisoner Comic, Dr. No Villains Edition,  Spy Vibe Radio: Danger Diabolik, Dr. No 60th, Oy-Oy-Seven, Spy Vibe Radio (UFO), Cold War Comic Strips, Thunderball Event, Mission to India, Mort Walker Celebration,  Peter Wyngarde Celebration, Batman 66 Exhibit, Prisoner Fifty Event, Ian Fleming Publications 2017-2018, Interview: Ed Hulse Pulp, Avengers Audio Drama, Interview: Callan At 50, Interview: Playboys, Spies, Private Eyes, TWA Returns, Spy Vibe Radio 8, Interview: Ryan Heshka, Mid-Century Modern Schulz, Agent Werewolf, Mata Hair Exhibit, Johnny Sokko 50th, Interview: Trina Robbins, Eddie Izzard, The Prisoner Capt Scarlet 50th, Hugh Hefner R.I.P., Jack Good R.I.P., Interview: Shaken Not Stirred, Callan 50th, Spy Vibe Radio 7, The Prisoner 50th Event, Spy-Fi Event, Kaho Aso 007, Two Million, Bo Diddley, Carnaby Pop, Le Carre Events, Billy Bragg Skiffle, Elvis 68, Jack Kirby The Prisoner, Casino Royale Concert, Review: The Prisoner Vol 2, Interview: The Prisoner Essential Guide, Maud Russell Mottisfont, Spy Vibe Radio 4, Batman Gallants, Adam West R.I.P., Village Triangle, Roger Moore R.I.P., Spy Vibe Radio 3, Sgt Pepper 50th, Satanik Kriminal OST, 60s Overdrive, Make Love in London, Spy Vibe Radio 2, Spy Vibe Radio 1, James Bond Strips, Propaganda Mabuse, 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, The Phantom at 80, 007 Manga, Avengerworld Book, Diana Rigg Auto Show, The Prisoner Audio Drama Review.