Blame Ringo!

What a delicious way to start off 2010! This video here below is living proof that pop culture is the driving force of our everyday lives. Enjoy it and a happy new year everyone!

Ken Russell has a message for you!

Yes, you read it right: Ken Russell, the director of Lisztomania, has recorded a message for all of us regarding the upcoming release of the DVD and you can listen to it in the Amazon UK page selling it! Just follow this link.

May can't come soon enough!

Lisztomania Promo Trailer

In anticipation of the soon-to-be released DVD for Lisztomania, Digital Classics have put together a trailer promoting it. I strongly suggest you watch it because only then you'll begin to understand the true nature of this particular beast. One to be experienced, that's for sure.

We're now less than one month away from its street date and I'm practically counting down the days, such is my excitement! From what I've heard, the A/V quality of the DVD really is outstanding but so far, no confirmation about the Russell commentary has surfaced. Let's really hope it does materialize. See you soon.

Happy Valentine's Day Ringo Fans!

Ok, St. Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I want you to stop for a moment... and smell the roses. Lovely clip it is too. Happy Valentine's Day for all of you (a bit early, I know but who's got the patience for such things these days?).

Let it be, Let it be, Let it be, Let it be, speaking words of wisdom, Let it be

Hi, there! Here I am again with a treat for all of you: Let it be, the movie. Often talked about, loved and hated by both fans and critics alike, seldom seen and WAY long overdue on DVD. What's the matter, Apple? Can't you see that we've been waiting for this one to come out since the birth of the DVD format? Unless you were waiting for Blu-Ray to catch on, which seems unlikely.

Meanwhile, take a look at the movie. It never ceases to fascinate me at how candid the whole thing still is. Enjoy.

200 Motels

Frank Zappa - 200 Motels Cd1
Enviado por piezo

I told you I had a great post in the making, didn't I? As you can see above, now's your chance to watch the long and still unavailable on DVD rock musical/comedy/farce/ avant garde /whateveryouwannacallit/extravaganza/one man show 200 Motels by the one and only Frank Zappa.

Ringo STARR's as Zappa himself and I have to say the resemblances are uncanny. But first things first. 200 Motels was one of many projects Zappa was able to pull out of his seemingly never-ending bag of tricks (to call him a workaholic is a bit of an understatement). It has the distinction of being the first feature length film to ever be shot on video and later transfered to 35 mm. But before I get all tangled up in the movie's production history (itself a whole movie unto itself and the subject of a documentary that I'll be posting later on), here's what the ever helpful Wikipedia has to say about it:

The $600,000 film budget resulted in a seven-day shoot and 11 days of editing. Its low production values and frenetic schedule contributed to the insanity which the movie attempted to evoke. Although the movie's main theme is "life on the road" for a touring rock musician in the late Twentieth Century, Zappa's movie makes broader comments about the surreal state of the political and cultural life of America and the world during that time. Its references include Mephisto, Kafka, Kubrick's 2001, work re-education/concentration camps and an animated sequence featured as part of a video/musical collage. These broader, symbolic culture references coexist with specific characters and places: i.e. "Lonesome Cowboy Burt," a non-union roofer who savagely beats up hippies and leftists, and two groupies, Lucy Offerall and Janet Neville.

The film's creative talents include the Mothers of Invention and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the actor Theodore Bikel and rock-stars Ringo Starr as Larry the Dwarf and The Who's drummer, Keith Moon as a nun in drag.

The plot is both nebulous and nonexistent as a narrative or as a series of vignettes and production numbers. According to Zappa, only a third of his script was filmed. The director, several actors and a band member quit mid-production. These events accounted for several radical, last-minute changes.

As you can see, it's the kind of movie that could only have been done in the 70's. Can you really imagine contemporary big studio execs turning to Zappa after he's explained to them what the movie's all about and asking him: "can we do action figures out of you" or "can we mass produce the Zappa mask Ringo is wearing to Toys 'R' Us stores all over the world"? Hmm, think not.

The film's out there though, for everyone to see and enjoy and I really hope the Zappa Family Estate gets its act together and let somebody release the damn thing on any home video format, preferably before the DVD format is dead... Yes, you heard it right, they're the ones behing all this delay... Oh, well, maybe 2009 will see it finally happen! Here's to it and while I'm at it, have a GREAT 2009! See you all then!

200 Motels Original Theatrical Trailer

Hi, there! I'm back as promised from all the Christmas excesses and I really hope you had a great one. Mine surely was. Quick post, though. I'm going to leave you with the trailer for Frank Zappa's wacky 200 Motels and be sure to watch this space for a great post in the making.

Bye.

The Magical Mystery Tour

A small treat for all of you out there: the famous Beatles "misfire", The Magical Mystery Tour movie.

Right now, I see you wondering: "what the heck does this have to do with Christmas?". Well, it does and I'll tell you how. This one little oddity was born in the apex of Beatlemania, when they thought that everything they'd do could not ever go wrong. Well, as it turns out, it was the beginning of the end of the (long by today's standards) love affair they had with the music press for years. It was broadcast on TV on Boxing Day (see, I told it had something to do with Christmas) and as TV transmissions at the time were still being made in black and white, the majority of the viewing audience did not "get" it. It's simple to see why, now. The film is so ebulient in colors and color effects that it could never work in black and white. Suffice to say that it was trashed by both public and critics alike.

Still, it's now regarded as an experimental work of some importance (read, lunacy) and an important legacy in the Beatles cannon. Its soundtrack it's actually one of my favorite Beatles records. Some pretty brilliant tracks in there. If you want to download it, just click here.

Shall we go for a ride, then?