FILM 1770: WHO THE F**K IS THAT GUY? THE FABULOUS JOURNEY OF MICHAEL ALAGO

'Who The Fuck Is That Guy'? The Fabulous Journey Of Michael Alago tells the astonishing story of a gay Puerto Rican kid growing up in a Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood, who got on the subway one day and began a musical odyssey that helped shape the musical landscape across N.Y.C. and around the world. Directed by Drew Stone and produced by Michael Alex the film tells the incredible story of a cherished New York City icon. From rubbing elbows with N. Y. scene makers as an teenager at Max's Kansas City and CBGB, to being the architect of a rock 'n' roll renaissance as the 19 year-old talent booker at the legendary Ritz, to making history as a 24 year-old A&R exec, signing the biggest metal band in a generation in Metallica, Michael Alago was on fire. Working with artists ranging from White Zombie and Johnny Rotten to Cyndi Lauper and jazz legend Nina Simone, Alago was driven by a love for great music...ANY great music..Passion and excess would bring Alago crashing into the twin reapers of substance abuse and AIDS, but surviving them both he reinvented himself as an art photographer...healthy, sober, and as passionate as ever. Told by Alago and the artists whose careers he helped build, illustrated with an exquisite collection of personal photographs, 'Who The Fuck Is That Guy'? The Fabulous Journey Of Michael Alago tells the tender, loving, self-destructive, and insane story of a man who loved new music so much he had to bring it to the world, and lived to talk about it.  Barely.

(Info from IMDB)

BOOK 177: GIRL IN A BAND: A MEMOIR: KIM GORDON

Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story—a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the lyricism and haunting beauty of Patti Smith's Just Kids.

Often described as aloof, Kim Gordon opens up as never before in Girl in a Band. Telling the story of her family, growing up in California in the '60s and '70s, her life in visual art, her move to New York City, the men in her life, her marriage, her relationship with her daughter, her music, and her band, Girl in a Band is a rich and beautifully written memoir.

Gordon takes us back to the lost New York of the 1980s and '90s that gave rise to Sonic Youth, and the Alternative revolution in popular music. The band helped build a vocabulary of music—paving the way for Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins and many other acts. But at its core, Girl in a Band examines the route from girl to woman in uncharted territory, music, art career, what partnership means—and what happens when that identity dissolves.

Evocative and edgy, filled with the sights and sounds of a changing world and a transformative life, Girl in a Band is the fascinating chronicle of a remarkable journey and an extraordinary artist.

MY VERDICT: I loved reading this book.  I was not reading as a fan of Sonic Youth (I don’t dislike them, I’ve just never really listened to their music), but rather as someone who was interested in what it was like to be a girl in a band and the scene in New York in the 1980s onwards.

I was not disappointed, there were so many people that Kim Gordon got to hang out with that I would love to meet, people from the art world and the world of the Punk Rock, No Wave and Grunge scenes. She got to tour with Nirvana and REM, she lived with Cindy Sherman, made a music video with Spike Jonze and a skateboarding Jason Lee and designed clothes with Sophia Coppola.

It’s safe to say, I envy her life.

Kim is very open and honest, she doesn’t hold back, but also this isn’t a sensationalist piece. She is clear on whom she likes and doesn’t like and gives us reasons rather than talking in gossipy tones. 

And this book’s greatest legacy, one that makes me hold certain texts in even higher esteem, it made me want to be more creative, a big bonus for any great book.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/44570187/Tanz

1. IRIS [DVD]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Iris-DVD-Apfel/dp/B00WSNHAPU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457191591&sr=8-2&keywords=IRIS+APFEL

2. IRIS APFEL BROOCH

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/254472268/iris-apfel-brooch?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

3. IRIS APFEL - FASHION ICON - ILLUSTRATION WITH NAME AND QUOTE – ART

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/285647821/iris-apfel-fashion-icon-illustration?ref=shop_home_active_1

4. CATWALK – UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON

http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/autumn-winter-2015/ready-to-wear/university-of-east-london/full-length-photos/gallery/1408617

5. IRIS APFEL ROCK - VOGUE T-SHIRT - STYLE IT YOURSELF

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/219070025/iris-apfel-rock-vogue-t-shirt-style-it?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=IRIS%20MORE%20IS%20MORE&ref=sc_gallery_2&plkey=d5316f8844a4a961a96cfbfefd00e555af2fff13:219070025

http://honestlywtf.com/home/stock-tank-pools/

http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2015/06/rose-flavored-rock-candy.html

FILM 1342: LEMMY

TRIVIA: A documentary on the life and career of revered heavy-metal musician Lemmy Kilmister.

FILM 1287: SUPER DUPER ALICE COOPER

Super Duper Alice Cooper is the twisted tale of a teenage Dr Jekyll whose rock n roll Mr Hyde almost kills him. It is the story of Vincent Furnier, preacher's son, who struck fear into the hearts of parents as Alice Cooper, the ultimate rock star of the bizarre. From the advent of Alice as front man for a group of Phoenix freaks in the 60s to the hazy decadence of celebrity in the 70s to his triumphant comeback as 80s glam metal godfather, we will watch as Alice and Vincent battle for each others' souls. The is the first ever 'doc opera' - a dizzying blend of documentary archive footage, animation and rock opera that will cement forever the legend of Alice Cooper.

FILM 1192: JODOROWSKY'S DUNE

The story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.