In 1994, Russ Forster one time editor of the now defunct 8-Track collector's fanzine "8-Track Mind," took the twenty thousand dollars he was saving for film school and spent it on making this documentary instead. Billed as "An 8-Track loop around the U.S." this film is exactly that. You get to see interviews with writers, artists, retailers, musicians and deejays in cities from Portland to New York. What all of these subjects have in common is that they are fans and collectors of the 8-Track tape, dedicated to preserving the legacy of the long departed cartridge. During the film we see a demonstration of how to fix a broken splice and replace a melted fly wheel. A lot of obscure tapes and vintage players are shown by their perspective owners including the rare sphere-shaped Panasonic and several of the classic "dynamite-plunger" models. Big Bucks Burnett (a.k.a. "Mr. Bucks, 8-Track Messiah") owner of a record store in Texas shows some of the more obscure variations of the cartridge including a folding cartridge. Stories of disintegrating tapes, record clubs and nasty thrift store employees are recounted. The Washington D.C. band Gumball, talks about taking cartridges for entertainment while on tour and shows off their incredible "8-Track Mountain." Do you know what the most collectable 8-Track is? Want to know what is hidden between two songs on Lou Reed's "Berlin" tape? Want to see an "Abbey Road" cartridge try to cross the real Abbey Road? You'll have to see the film. DVD extras include interviews with Tiny Tim, T-Bone Burnett, Jim Dandy and David Byrne.
The XXV Gathering documents Killing Joke's 25 anniversary gigs in London. Like a fine wine, Killing Joke only improves with age. The current crop of wannabe angry "alternative" bands could learn quite a bit by watching this dvd. Songs such as "Sun Goes Down", "Primitive", "Are You Receiving?", and "Wardance" will have the nu metal flavor of the week (weak?) bands running for the hills. Killing Joke vocalist Jaz Coleman plays his psychotic, shamanistic, front man roll perfectly. The interview with Coleman following Killing Joke's set shows this isn't an act (i.e., he might just be half-insane).
Don Letts has created a wonderful documentary on the genre of music known as punk. Instead of this being a documentary being made by an individual who only has film and dated recollections as sources, Letts was actually in the middle of the punk explosion that occurred in London in the mid-1970s. If you ever look at any footage of the Sex Pistols, look for a skinny rastaman in the background. Letts was the man who injected the reggae influence into the punk movement, which then did the same for New York by the late 70s. Sure reggae had always been in both places, but it took the influence of musicians, such as The Police, from the punk genre to allow it to be accepted by a wider audience. Feeling that punk music had yet to have an authoritative documentary made to discuss its influence, Letts set to work gathering film footage, including his own, and interviewing those who were involved in the punk scene. Sad to say, many of those who made such an impact in the punk genre are no longer with us, such as Joey and Johnny Ramone, Stiv Bators, Darby Crash, etc... When watching a documentary like this, you always ask yourself why certain people weren't interviewed, why certain periods did not receive more exposure, and on and on. Letts does a better job than most in getting respected sources to speak out on the subject. In these interviews and footage, you do get the sense that attitude, as used in the title, is an equal if not more important ingredient in the punk movement than the music itself. When describing punk, one never thinks of the music, but instead, the snarl on the face of the person playing and those watching is what makes this form of music stand out. Punk definitely provided a home for those who fell through the cracks because they did not fit into the cookie cutter type molds placed on them by society. It would be interesting to see a study of the backgrounds of those people who were most influential in the punk movement. Found in these artists would more than likely be the common denominator of having a childhood that was in some way unpleasant. Very few true punks had a contented upbringing, otherwise, their snarling displeasure with the regular world would be easily seen through by the audience. Getting back to the documentary itself, Letts uses a nice mix of hard to find footage and interviews to inform those not around during the time of punk what it was all about. While Letts has done the best job of documenting this musical genre since the Robert Palmer inspired documentary Rock & Roll which was produced by PBS, there is still a major gap in this study that needs to be covered. In the documentary, they admit to not having much information on the development punk during the 1980s leading into the Grunge movement. They always end with Grunge but never tell of influential bands like the Butthole Surfers, The Minutemen, etc... that bridged the gap between the original punk movement and the early 90s explosion. I actually emailed Henry Rollins about this gap at his email address on IFC and darned if he didn't respond. His response was something like, "I didn't make the documentary!" He was right, It wasn't his documentary, but somebody needs to cover it.
Anyone having doubts about Devo's prowess as a live band should buy "Devo Live 1980". This DVD features a full Devo live set recorded from their "Freedom of Choice" tour just as Devo were topping the charts with "Whip It"; well before bad record deals and mediocre songs had set in. The spud boy's deliver the "hits" with robotic precision: "Girl u Want", "Snowball", "Be Stiff", "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA". Devo's performance is as good as their performance on the equally excellent Devo Live CD reissued by Rhino records (and has the same set list except this DVD includes the song "Pink Pussycat"). "Bonus" features include Devo performing "Praying Hands" and "Shrivel Up" under the pseudonym "Dove the Band of Love". Not only that, "Devo Live 1980" is reasonably priced. I paid 14.99 for my copy. Overall, an excellent DVD that meets the high standards of Devo in their prime. (One small warning: "Devo Live 1980" is two sided with the DVD version on one side of the disk and the CD audio version on the other side. Be careful with those finger smudges!)
|
"So Wrong They're Right (An 8-Track Loop Around the U.S.)"
"Killing Joke - XXV Gathering: The Band That Preys Together Stays Together"
"Punk: Attitude"
"DEVO - LIVE 1980"