I’m not what you’d consider to be any kind of fan of Tim Burton’s directing or story telling skills – aside from, say, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure or Ed Wood, which is a work of genius – but even if his “reimagining” of Alice in Wonderland (due out spring 2010) is complete ass, I’ll still see it just to take in the visuals, which from the looks of the picture above, are just insane.
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Happy Birthday, Todd Rundgren
You can’t have grown up in the seventies and not dig at least a few Todd Rundgren albums. Rundgren turns 61 today, having been born on this day, June 22nd, in 1948. Fave Todd song: “Real Man.”
Happy Birthday, Green Gartside of Scritti Politti
Green Would Call This One of His “Princess Dianna” Pictures
Scritti Politti vocalist, songwriter and brain trust, Green Gartside (born Paul Julian Strohmeyer) was born on this day, June 22nd, in 1956. Green has been the one constant in a band that’s forever bringing in new musicians for each recording. My favorite Scritti Politti song is the brooding and atmospheric “Skank Bloc Bologna” (released 1978) from before Green changed their sound and went all dance pop. The photo you see above hangs on a wall in my apartment and is inscribed, “To Gail with Love and Thanks, From Green.” Read my truly fabulous interview with Green from the year 2000 at This Link.
Happy Summer Solstice and Happy Father's Day, Too
The sunrise over Stonehenge on this day of the solstice reminds me of a song:
Stonehenge, where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge
Where a man is a man and the children dance
to the pipes of pan…
And Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads out there, especially to my long-time friend David Lee Beowulf, who became a Dad just two days ago. Congrats to Dave and his lovely wife Daisy on the arrival of their new twins!
Classic Post-Punk Single of the Day: Ultravox "Sleepwalk"
“Sleep. Waaahk”
On this day in 1980: Ultravox released their eighth single, “Sleepwalk” backed by “Waiting.” The A side was on their fourth album, Vienna – the first Ultravox album featuring new singer Midge Ure, who replaced John Foxx. “Sleepwalk” was a massively huge hit among my college crowd and was also played incessantly on radio station KUCI, where I was the best DJ on the air for four years.
Thanks to The P5 Blogspot: This Date in ’80s Music for the Tip!