GERRY ANDERSON SCI-SPY MOVIE

Spy Vibe reported in January last year that a feature film based on Gerry Anderson's UFO is in the works. Anderson's first live-action project followed years of sci-spy puppet hits, like Stingray, Thunderbirds, Fireball XL-5, and Captain Scarlet. UFO is a Spy Vibe fave for its excellent blend of fab elements: lounge-jazz cues by Barry Gray, ultra-cool gadgets, a secret organization that poses as a film studio, purple wigs and silver mini-skirts, and those amazing Nehru jackets! (See Spy Vibe's Agent J go Nehru here). If you do not have the UFO megaset in your collection yet, keep an eye on deepdiscount for frequent sales. There are few updates regarding the movie, but a new website has been launched since our last posting. You can check it out here. Spy Vibers can also see our review of a James Bond-inspired episode of Thunderbirds here. Hermes Press has published some outstanding books over the last couple of years for Gerry Anderson fans, including Sylvia Anderson's illustrated memoir and the production history, Filmed in Supermarionation: A History of the Future. Stay tuned for updates.

Q LENNON EDITION

The John Lennon 70th anniversary event will be celebrated all over the world this October with concerts, films, broadcasts, and a number of CD, DVD, book, and magazine releases. The top of my list is the Signature edition box set of the remastered Lennon catalog (including the new, stripped-down mix of Double Fantasy), a combined-set edition of his 1960s collections of drawings and satire, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works (see Spy Vibe's Satire Surrealism Boom in the UK here), and the new bio-pic Nowhere Boy. The music press will not be left out of the festivities and Q Magazine has announced that their special edition will sport: four collectible covers, unseen images from some of the major Photographers in the Lennon/Beatles circle, and a limited-release cover for subscribers by 1960s Photographer/icon, David Bailey. For more details, check out the Imagine Peace website.

DESIGN WITHIN REACH

For Spy Vibers looking to spice up their pads and lairs, now is the time to get a good deal on modern furniture at Design Within Reach. They have just launched their big Knoll Sale, where you can find very cool pieces. There is even a Saarinen collection on sale that includes two versions of his famous Tulip chair! Sale ends October 3rd, details at Design Within Reach here.


To find out more about mid-century modern and the world of Knoll designs, check out the new book, Knoll: A Modernist Universe, by Brian Lutz. This lavishly illustrated book from Rozzoli is available at major booksellers, including Amazon.

MILES DAVIS SCORES

With the 40th anniversary editions of Bitches Brew by Miles Davis released last week, it's been non-stop Miles and Jazz here at the Spy Vibe lair. Miles has lead me on a fantastic journey from the cool of his mid-to-late 1950s era to his Hendrix-inspired fusion of the late 1960s and early 1970s. His music was ahead of its time, but it also now defines each period like a cultural Rosetta Stone. Twelve years before Brew, Miles worked on one of my all-time fave projects- the improvised score to Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l'echafaud/Frantic/1957-58). This French new wave film noir, starring Jeanne Moreau, is distributed in the US by the Criterion Collection. Various CD and 180 gram vinyl editions of the soundtrack are available. Check out the trailer- you will be haunted by the imagery and music! There is also a short, behind-the-scenes documentary about the score here.


My time with Miles Davis over the last few weeks has lead to other artists that Spy Vibers may enjoy: Paul Chambers, Dexter Gordon, and Kenny Burrell. The experience also re-awakened a love for Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, and other early "hot" Jazz players. I've played blues guitar for years, but old dogs can learn new tricks. I'm happy to report that I've followed through on an old dream and bought a clarinet over the weekend. So far I can play the melody to Gershwin's Summertime, and I look forward to seeing where this journey goes next. In the meantime, check in below with Miles Davis and a chilling story from Louis Malle.

RICHARD SALA: THE HIDDEN

The master of macabre mystery (and fellow fan of The Avengers), Richard Sala, is back with a new book for Fantagraphics called The Hidden. "Eight desperate people are stranded at a snowbound diner. Their phones can only pick brief and perplexing bits of conversation. The radio is filled with static- although occasional, broken-up bits of news are heard- reports of some sort of global catastrophe... A ninth person arrives, hiking to the diner from his stranded car, where he had been listening to his car radio. He informs the others that, yes, from what he was been able to make out, something alarming seems to have happened, a catastrophe on a global scale… Oh, and one more bit of local news he happened to pick up, he says: The previous night an inmate escaped from a nearby hospital for the criminally insane, after killing his doctor and several bystanders. The police warn that he is very, very dangerous...


What perhaps sounds like the description of an old weird tale or an episode of The Twilight Zone is actually just the beginning of the new suspenseful, brain-twisting graphic novel from the author of Delphine, The Chuckling Whatsit, and Cat Burglar Black. In The Hidden, as the isolated characters become increasingly unraveled, one character tells of a dream he recently had. Then each of the others tells a dream, a personal anecdote or a story they’ve heard, ranging from the bizarre to the absurd to the truly horrific. Each will be presented as its own chapter. Then there are the games- a selection of (fully illustrated) card games and board games found in the diner. Are these merely children’s games- or something more sinister? 48 pages of full-color comics." -Amazon

The Hidden is listed on-line for a late-fall release, but Fantagraphics has pushed the release date back a bit to allow our man to really go the extra mile on the artwork. We can't wait! Sala has posted a sneak preview of the book on his blog here. During the launch of his previous book, Cat Burglar Black, Sala sat down for a virtual interview with Spy Vibe from our private lairs in the Bay Area to talk about his passion for classic mystery adventures, storytelling, and Emma Peel's jumpsuit! He also shares scans of the photos and letter he received from Patrick Macnee as a young fan. See the Spy Vibe feature interview The Adventures of Richard Sala here.

Spy Vibers who have not explored Sala's work should expect hints of Edward Gorey, The Addams Family, Fantomas, Judex, Irma Vepp and les Vampires, and worlds filled with trap doors, hidden chambers, sleuths and ghouls, and ghastly murders. I recommend that you pick up The Chuckling Whatsit and Maniac Killer Strikes Again!. Amazon shoppers can find the Richard Sala page here.

AGENT J: ART PROJECTS

What lies behind the fab world of go go boots and fast cars for Spy Vibe's Agent J? When I'm not searching the globe for 1960s fashion, music, and spies, I'm in my secret lair working on new movie, music, and book projects. As a special treat for the weekend, I thought I'd invite Spy Vibers into the inner sanctum to check out some of the latest irons in the fire. My film for Yoko Ono, which features a soundtrack by me, Yoko Ono, and the Plastic Ono Band, recently screened at a gallery in NY and won an award at the Park City Film Music Festival. I also had a chance to assist with English subtitles for a new Japanese film produced by my pal, Kousuke Ono. The iPhone has proven to be a wonderful and spontaneous camera, much in the way that Polaroid, Holga, and Diana cameras were in the past. I've posted production shots from my Yoko Ono film, Japanese robots & monsters, Claudia at Point Reyes (below), and a portrait of the father of electronic music, Morton Subotnick, on my website. More info at JasonWhiton.com. Spy Vibers, what are your secret Art projects?

BRITISH SALE

For Spy Vibers looking to complete their libraries of classic British TV shows, Deep Discount is having one of their sales that can't be missed. A&E sets are at super low prices: Gerry Anderson's UFO megaset $27.98, Cult Spy Collection megaset $39.98, The Persuaders collections 1&2 $15.98ea, The Protectors seasons 1&2 $31.98ea, plus John le Carre, Sherlock Holmes and more. Check out the sale here and happy hunting!

LAZENBY GUESTS 007 SCREENING WEDNESDAY

James Bond actor, George Lazenby, will be making a rare appearance tomorrow at a special screening of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The event is being held at the American Cinematheque Aero Theater in Santa Monica. The film, which many consider to be the best in the Bond series, starts at 7:30, followed by a rare, screen-side discussion with Lazenby. 007 fans in the LA area should not miss this opportunity! Tickets available at Fandango.

WES BRITTON REVIEWS NEW 007 BOOK

A new scholarly anthology of essays, James Bond: The Films Are Not Enough, is due for release this month and promises to be an invaluable resource in Pop Culture and Jame Bond Studies. Fellow C.O.B.R.A.S. member, Dr. Wesley Britton, has posted a must-read review over at the Commander Bond Network. To give Spy Vibers a taste of the book and Britton's review: "The anthology is organized into six sections. “Part I: Experiencing the World of Bond” doesn’t deal with Bond essentials, but rather posters, dances in the title sequences, architecture, designer clothes, and two overviews of Bond video games. Part Two (which includes this reviewer’s own essay) covers Bond music from four perspectives. Then, seven essays look at gender, feminism, and the Bond girls. (Note: Why is it Judi Dench as M is frequently worth discussion as a significant female authority figure but never Lotte Lenya as Col. Klebb or Ilse Steppat as Irma Bunt?)....Because of the range of the contributions, it’s difficult to see how it won’t be considered indispensable reading from 2010 on. No library shelf on Bond, or film or espionage studies for that matter, will be complete without it." And that's just scratching the surface! You can read the entire review at the Commander Bond Network here. The book is available on Amazon here, and directly from Cambridge Scholars Publishing here.

MOD ANTHOLOGY

Spy Vibers interested in Mod culture should check out this collection of writings and interviews edited by Paolo Hewitt called The Sharper World: A Mod Anthology. Now out in a revised and updated paperback edition!


From Amazon: As portrayed in the Who rock opera Quadrophenia, the mods were a working-class British youth cult in the mid-1960s preoccupied with mohair suits, dance clubs, scooters, and amphetamines. Rock journalist Hewitt borrows short snippets from Richard Barnes's standard Mods! (Plexus Pub., 1994), fiction by Tom Wolfe and Samuel Selvon, scholarly accounts by Stanley Cohen and Dick Hebdige, and oral histories. More obscure mod-related pieces, including an interview with top mod Pete Meaden, a 1960s article by fashion queen Mary Quant, and an unpublished eyewitness account by mod pioneer Irish Jack are also included. Though he somewhat neglects the mod drive for upward mobility after the lingering postwar economic squalor, Hewitt provides marvelous descriptions of mod trappings: the fashion, the music, the drugs, and the clubs that clearly demonstrate the roots of Britpop and Austin Powers. Recommended for anyone interested in social history, youth movements, Carnaby Street, and rock'n'roll.

Visit the Mod Culture website for book reviews, news, and more.

MOVIE GROOVES NEWS

Spy Vibers who collect rare soundtrack music will be sad to hear that Movie Grooves is closing down. Movie Grooves has been an oasis on the internet for those wonderful, obscure records we all love from 60s and 70s genre films. Outstanding orders will be filled. More info on their website here.

RAYMOND HAWKEY

The influential graphic designer, Raymond Hawkey, worked on such memorable projects as the book jackets for Ian Fleming's James Bond and Deighton's Harry Palmer. Hawkey passed away on August 22nd at the age of 80. More about his life and career at the Telegraph here.

NEW YUKI 7 PRINTS

Illustrator Kevin Dart has unveiled new Yuki 7 prints that I think Spy Vibers will enjoy. Kevin continues to mine the fab world of retro movie posters and the aesthetics of films like Deadlier Than the Male and You Only Live Twice to create cool Yuki 7 and the Gadget Girls merchandise. You can visit the Yuki 7 website here. Read Spy Vibe's interview with Kevin here.

YUKI 7 WEB

Spy Vibe fave illustrator, Kevin Dart, has launched a website for his FAB character YUKI 7 and her swinging world of 1960s-inspired movie posters. Kevin's images are packed with implied fun and narrative with a host of iconic elements: evil lairs, spear gun wielding femme fatales, modern design, and exotic locations. From Kevin's website:

We've finally launched the official website for Yuki 7 and the Gadget Girls! There's some pretty neat stuff to see on there, like this awesome Yuki 7 sculpture by Damon Bard! There's also an official Yuki 7 Shop now, which has some awesome new items like this set of Gadget Girl mini prints. And also this new print of Yuki sleeping in her stylish bachelorette pad. Yuki even has her very own Twitter account now so you can keep up with her exciting life of espionage and couture fashion!

SUMMER SWIM

As the final days of summer wind down, Spy Vibers can enjoy a last swim with this classic scene from Deadlier Than the Male.

JEREMY DUNS TRANSMISSIONS

Our man in Sweden, author Jeremy Duns, has been a busy agent lately. His novel, Free Agent, was released in paperback earlier this summer, and its sequel, Free Country, is coming out this month. Both novels are also now available in kindle editions for you Spy Vibers with special gadgets. With this flurry of activity, and the BBC option on his spy trilogy, Jeremy has sent a number of updates that I think Spy Vibers will want to check out. From Jeremy:


Hi everyone, some good news. Free Country is reviewed in today's Guardian, which says: 'With its subtly deployed late-60s detail, Free Country is a treat for fans of traditional Len Deighton-style spy thrillers.' The rest is here. (It's not every day you get outed in the press as a lover of Roger Moore Bond films, but I should just say that I prefer the Connery ones!)

I was interviewed at the Harrogate festival by the website Unbound, and you can read that here. The audio of the interview is here. I've also taken part in a 'virtual panel' discussing the spy thriller with authors JJ Cooper and Adrian Magson at Permission To Kill, which can be read here.

Finally, Amazon is launching its Kindle e-reader in the UK this month. Free Agent and Free Country are both available to buy for it. [also available on Kindle at Amazon US here].

Congratulations to Jeremy! Read his list of top-10 historical spy gadgets here. You can also check out his top-5 list of fave set designs on Spy Vibe here.

MARISA MELL QUICK-CHANGE 1969

Una Sull' Altra (1969/Perversion Story/One on Top of the Other), is one of those Lucio Fulci efforts that offers up an odd cocktail of sordid crime drama and moments of cool style. And you can't get much cooler in 1969 than Marisa Mell (Danger Diabolik) and the modern architecture of the Eero Saarinen TWA terminal. In this clip, Marisa arrives at TWA and performs a classic disguise-change in the bathroom. The entire scene plays like a music video for Riz Ortolani's (Lightning Bolt) score. Not only does the music advance the sneaky tension of the plot, it was also a great way to make a low-budget sequence stronger with limited live sound. Does anyone else think that Marisa is wearing her wig from Diabolik? I wonder if she ever got to keep the outfits? Naked-alert. A heads-up for younger Spy Vibers who might rent the film. There are brief nude scenes (Marisa posing on a motorcycle, if I remember correctly?), albeit in a slightly innocent 60s fashion.

HARRISON/SHANKAR

Another exciting Beatles-related release coming this fall- the complete collaborations between George Harrison and sitar-master, Ravi Shankar! If your tastes in the groovy sitar sound of the 60s lean toward Rubber Soul and Sergeant Pepper, the Shankar soundtracks to Satyajit Ray and Alice in Wonderland, or the wild covers by Lord Sitar (see below), this set is an essential (and lovely) celebration of the friendship and music of these seminal artists that pioneered pop/world music fusions. From George Harrison's website:

Los Angeles – Dark Horse Records announced today the October 19th release of a limited edition deluxe box set, entitled RAVI SHANKAR GEORGE HARRISON COLLABORATIONS. The release honors the sitar master’s 90th birthday.

Collaborations is a 3 CD and 1 DVD uniquely numbered limited edition box set. All compositions were composed by Ravi Shankar and produced by George Harrison over a period of 20 years.

The DVD is a rare concert performance of the Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival From India recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1974. The albums include the acclaimed Chants Of India (1997), The Ravi Shankar Music Festival From India (studio version 1976) and Shankar Family & Friends (1974). The 56-page book includes a foreword by Philip Glass, a history of George and Ravi “in their own words” and rare photographs from both family archives.

The personal and musical friendship between Ravi Shankar and George Harrison has been known and well documented for decades now. It was a friendship that was powerful enough to make an impact on the large, musical life of the late nineteen sixties and it reverberates, as clearly, even today. – from the Foreword by Philip Glass

In 1973 George Harrison signed Ravi Shankar to his Dark Horse Records label. The first joint recording project between George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, Shankar Family & Friends brought together renown Indian classical musicians such as Ustad Alla Rakha, Lakshmi Shankar, and Shivkumar Sharma alongside Western jazz and rock musicians including George, Ringo Starr, Tom Scott, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner and Billy Preston. One half of the album comprises instrumentals and songs, while the second half is a thematic ballet to a yet un-staged performance.

Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival From India (live from the Royal Albert Hall) was the first artistic event organized and sponsored by George Harrison’s Material World Charitable Foundation; bringing together a 17-piece Indian classical ensemble as well as a solo sitar performance by Ravi Shankar accompanied on tabla by Alla Rakha.

In 1997 George Harrison and Ravi Shankar again collaborated on an album. This time Ravi created music for ancient Sanskrit chants with the challenge of maintaining the authenticity of the ancient verses. Released in 1997, Chants Of India are timeless, Vedic verses chanted for the well being of man and mankind.

Collaborations, is available on Dark Horse Records and distributed worldwide by Rhino Entertainment.

Spy Vibe Bonus
And now for something completely different! Lord Sitar is known for some very groovy sitar covers of 60s pop tunes. Although he made a number of Beatles covers, this version of I Can See For Miles by Mod-faves, The Who, has always stood out for me. I may have to post more of his stuff. What 1960s pop or soundtrack music would you like to hear Sitar-ized?

RETURN

The move north is now complete with Internet and Spy Vibe can resume transmission. A welcome back clip for Spy Vibers today from Terror Beneath the Sea. This film has it all: an evil undersea lair, submarines, agents, and... monsters shooting guns with silencers? There's a great scene in the climax (not shown in this trailer), where a room packed with monsters and baddie henchmen shoot it out with guns (and spear guns!). I'll get that scene up for you on-line soon. Enjoy!

Bionic Woman DVD

The first season of The Bionic Woman is now available for pre-order on Amazon and will be released in October. Where the 1960s agents of The Champions were augmented by spiritual powers that gave them super hearing, speed, etc, The Bionic Woman of the 1970s took the gadget/technology envy of the space age further by performing surgical implants. More on that soon! In the meantime, get psyched for the long-awaited commercial release of this classic series.