t - East Village Eye

., ... . .,
,
,
,
PYRAMID84
101 AVE A 420-1590
\
. ",
,
TEN EAST
EIGHTH STREn
NEW YORR CITY 10003
SEE THEM AT THE RITZ MAY 26, SATURDAY NIGHT
,
WHY SUBSCRIBE
TO THE EYE?
LISTEN!
THAT'S what you'll be doing soon if you subscribe to the
Eye now. Through the courtesy of ROIR cassettes, we'll send
you your choice of Glenn Branca's critically acclaimed Sym.
phany No.1, that masterpiece of monotonal music, or Singles,
an excellent sampler of now-defunct New York bands including
Patti Smith , Richard Hell, Television and a host of other
underground favorites. Subscribe for two years and alsoget the
att r act ive commemorat ive Sing les poster, These ROIR
cassette-only albums normally sell for $8.00; th e poster is only
available through this special offer.
But hurry-only the first 200 subscribers are eligible!
---------------------------o
I
1 year (11 issues) plus 0 Sy mphony No. 1 or 0 Singles (check one) for
$12.00 ($I J.OO plus $ J.OO postage & handling).
I
o 2 years (22 iss ues) plus 0 Sympho ny No.1 or 0 Singles (check one) for I
$2J.OO ($20.00 plus $J.OO postage & handling), plus the commemorat ive I
Singles poster.
I
I
Please allow 10 doys for deli very
I
I Nam e '
I Address
!City
i '
State
Zip
ElUll Village Eye, 611 Broadway, rm 214 New Yor k, NY 10012
I
I
II
~--------~-----~-----------~
ABOUT
THIS ISSUE
... "ow., .
I. •• ttiee of IIris I ..
14"
---.,MeI tIte
•,e IMI........
t•f
::':::.no.s the
re,.urrecf the
•
IW
··~~~GE lYE, of ,~on
,,.It. So ..
co-..,
.lfn.
.-ti......
.
.
10 _..,
MI. .. writen.
x.
~'" wloIcIo
.. -"_
.lIf
.t
....::te,...
,.,.
. ..... rtI.. ~ -::.. tile
_
(, 79 &
m_':::'......, ...
-"::11 "E .....
.....
_
.....
_. ...._.
II ... ~of e.tut• • •
1110_ ...... wlt...
_ I I . ciMIt .....
.:=
m_-:...........
""'"' to
It II ...
th· lAST 'ILUG(
MIpe4 .,
......... .
.,........
I
--'
1. . ,M4y YllUG( m
..... IAST _ ...
bewI
=.';'
d.. rwM
...
fw effertl
...
.... of
It ._
.__
. .......
fer ....tI
....
IC8I'Ct
etcrM"n"
_tIu..... m
,=
"
.........-:..'t:'
-..,.'.... "...
~
t '
..... s' ••••••_..........
La:
.
r.." . ..
.....1....
m:;n.:..............
•
MAY 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 5
•
TELLUS
The Audio Cassette Magazine
TELLUS, The Audio Cassette Magazine is a subscription only bi-monthly publication of audio art,
new music, poetry and drama. Its aim is to disseminate global timely audio information. The name
TELLUS comes from the Roman Goddess, the great mother who connects all psychic events to
material events.
.-
All submissions must be accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope.
~
'1:
Editors/Publishers
Claudia Gould
Joseph Nechvatal
Carol Parkinson
TELLUS#2
l'ELLUS III
Side A
Side A
II Jody Hanl. Mr. Control
II J• .,., U"".", The Indian Elephant
./ _Ie T...lfl SCream (Recorded Live. Rolle Swilzerland 6/83)
' ) ...""" Hulc",n.... Wordplay
Un Skull Corpse
' ) T_ l _ . /ZIS
30 Second Telephone Te" or
1)
Bloodshot
' ) ....."., fro. The Atom & Eve of Destruction
II lItvc. T•••,., Re-Gender (Excerpt)
" I Grolch.n l .....h.ld 666
5)
/1"'-"'-/1"'-/1
'r04ueH....
Side B
tbenre
_II
IJ MHdt c....r Reaganomics /lnfinitessimus
I) .......ro f .. (rrtth
81rr) You Who Know No Pain
') J•••,.,. Hech_' Ego Masher
".,,01
Come Sit
' ) V....
51 T_ V... Hol/yweo</ (rrtth R.n, J,nt Shirr() After Shakespeare
•/ D<Jvld UnfOIl Shattering Glass
II lIltp CII<J"'- (",,,h GIInn Brlnu. lIiM Cln'f, Wh,rI.. TiffS)
Guitar Trio (1977) (Recorded Live. 5/79 NYC)
II KId 5mIllI: life Wants to Live, Exce<pt from life Wants to Live,
a sound inslallalion at the Kitchen ~ Decembof1983.
2) ...... _
: Rock Steady. Wofds lWld Music by
1963" _
Vocals: lJa'Ie santaniello, lJnms: Robert """ales.
31 _ _: Private PtIc8s. M excerpIlran an "'lallation lor
The 5econd Coming, a show by Carnival Knowfodge at Frarldin Fumace.
" TIlo _ _ II _ : Buooed, _
Qt. _Iran Jeff McGcM!m,
Chris Nelson, Philip 1X"ay and llicl< Clmlp.
5) Tony Popo: water _ . (theme) Part of a series of 10 theme soogs
available Iran the artist
I) c._ III _
: lit1Ie Rabbit, by Kiki Strith,
7) _ _1lII : Electro-pop Iran Noo-Mud in Chicago.
')CIwlIoIb,. ._Old ..... Buver's Digitized 8Iessinq. Text lWld voice:
Jerome RoIhenberg, concept peIformlrlce lWld """'9: C. MomJw,
Christie Wells: Synclavier II. • 1983 0!heImedia N.Y. (ASCAP).
I) _
Nojoo: Becaus8 Q1e is AIov8ys I'<>yotren. (excerpI) Text by
carolyn Rlrshe Iran the book The CoIIItryis AIov8ys I'<>yotren
Voice: Eileen Hawes.
10} _ _: AWA - lJIn:e. Po<cussion, synthesizer lWld _
.
11)
: Flowers. (excerpl lran llepaJ1u'e). Pren'ier per10Imence
at St Peter's Church with the ExperinenIat Chorus lWld Orchestra 1982.
JoIvl_
SIde B
Stale
Make checks or rooney orders payable 10 TELLUS
143 Ludlow SI. #14
New York, NY 10002
,
, EAST VILLAGE EYE MAT 198.
-
CHANGING SQUARES
·".ke
·pe"'..f.d
d.... l.rry li.. •• • " ""II." ••d ...
'hil......, .ff/..' ..f .f lIt.i, P"..i ""nlly ••
U.i.."ily Pia.. ... rl....ng Uol•• 5
Appe"nlly i.
fI..di.g "f .11 • ..IIIi• • d.lla, blaze ;" lit. Si hoe 1/ ..
Io....dg"ning
•• lit. 9"••
d fI....
.
ple,ely
tit, premi
•••• f 123 U.i""ity Plo
g
AIo' wi/h lit. ......" •••f Uol•• $q.... P." '.d lit.
d·".'ili•••f lit. S. kl.i. building. f. lit. foo t, lit. ' nli..
IIti,tice.
QI"h presently flo. tire flv. 100.. of Beirut dUring an .r.
All .f lIti. will 'hong•• l.rry inf.....d
at hi. f'''p,,,,, .f.
AI 0.. Unio. $q
"ffy " " " f
hi• • Id '''nd. "" ..
d " ..d
th. Si
Shoe 1/
•••
0I1v.. ho,
th•• Id Ba do p
i... i. lItl.
building. lite
f U.Io. $quo,. pe"..wlllt 110 d.pe
doo/·,, ·.." ...... d. ia w''' .. ill w"Y. 'nd' hope •• "'pe.lIte
Gall." by lite FoI'" l.rry li.. I. "" .. th. 011.1.." ......ilt..
do'iding lit. fUlu...f U.I.. $q..... Thl. I
roging "w'•
•1... lorry'.r long hod•• 1..... 1/ I. lit
f Ia",••peees, I••
Powerful·· , for,... JNJWic "'tere.t.
r
be
"ke.
""
"'''''''011•• •
~ f.,.
T. ,.11 bed< lite .." ..... "'f. be .d.i..d "'" l.rry
lite 'lvnnlng W.rld·. F.I" ..hilliflo. at lit••Id H'''Ing
d
H.".
fon/
I. C',";"bu. C",," ..... , _ ""'. 01 il Iv '0'
w. w b.th I· ..,.ud ;" lite A" Doe. 'how hold ;" Roll'" Cily
Mooi,
SUPPlied lit. W.rld·. F.I, tri.1a ••d th
pt,
• nd 'SUPPlied. 1937 Follow Cob.nd. beige IU6 H.d Supe,
R ""'...1.. whi,h W'" pe"ud I. "'" lfteoi..... "",,,". lite 'nly
..........f " " " " belng·....h.d I. lit. MUll< H.,I. I, Woo •
..""', giggl
Iv.. R.dl. Cily I.... ,1a..1< ,.. "'''ing
The, .I ""
1y
d • nuMho, .f 10
iii... lite, hod
lit ; lite lei
f ..Ing 'hi
lit " f"
..
.., ".. wreehrs
lolly d.._
ibly 1
I
ing il
from
1Nt"•,. w.,
,
H.".H.
READ YOURSELF ~W ,.._...
-==..........._.:-._,
..... filly
7."',
U.S .....
IlId1lh...,.t U WII
....." •••••II:I
f 4 Jtf It
::.....-'.11••""
_..
of _
.....•,....... IUIN'........ .."....,.......
..... "'" "" ,..CI!AI!" _ - ,•_..
of
" I~
MI.....
- - - JVSTMI GIIPt; AIT"'" C'IlltWfeM.,.
CIRIt
:
GAIl 'AMTII', " weft . . .
MIUIU., It
~
........
" " " , " If(
w::-::
u.::....
_.
_
_'":.':'::..-c':::.~
I
_ _ of "':..."':.. _f
.,.,.,.,. k
_t _ . . of
"'"'..... ... ......
::;...
....ti' 'n ~
I*'t fW It lit , __ ....
$5.00(.........
hr• • NY 10013.
_
_
of...
write
.."
f
~~
I.,.
pia,"
"PO"
" w..1d b• • 1.. ,.
lito, lorry'.......i"...... lite lui..
.. Iv.. Union $quo....... Iafo, do, X_•. bu, "'" ..,
.
let
flo.UIWould ""'i.1y bring • laugh in ••, M.nhotIo. kind " ••.
pro,.
W. .
..
....
"':"~
0..)." ,..
- I okrt _
•.
\
MAGIC GEMS
m'k ;ng; , : y
The M Sisters. are
'c inh erent
Lyn , nd K'i:::e of jewel')' on the m: g'uite ,mu lm
produ".ng, bois ,nd srones .. .
b ut more
~~
~~de~:;~r;;:nm,nd not ye;;lgs~ t;t :o~;rrors ,n~r
J'k bod y costu mes .. . g I 'boons and pearls. N
" n m,ndcrym n E hp;mof
smoke
. OWdoesn't
cheap'klac For details call
expenSive.
. h look
.
I am es Wit
a little boo el.
. )ewe: ry c . 925-3604
Island MagiC
to&loy s
MAT 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 7
•"'
u
"A s far as the Je sse Jackson
campaign , we see tWO thin gs
going on . One is that the black
elite that 's grouped around
Jackson sees rhis as a vehicle to
fun damentall y de mand a better share for themselves ... Wha t
it amou n ts 10 is a few more
blacks lei into the system while
the majority is ground down.
The other thin g that 's going
on is that (he rulers need 10
generate some interest among
blacks and minorities in the
Do yOIl Jupport the New Afri ca electoral arena . It has rallied a
Movem ent (See Eye, Sep t. '83) section of black people and not
in their effort to create a
a small section at th at - but
sep arate black notion in the
the numbers gained is not rhe
point. You've gOI to look at
soutbem U.S ?
As far as the qu estion of a
where thi s is headed .
" We are not worshippers of
right to a sCJ~a ra le state , we
think that ifthat was the deviolence per se. but we do
th ink we have to take a realistic
mand of the majority of black
approach as to how you are gopeople; the revolutionary
governmen t would have to go
ing to end thi s exploiting
with thai , but we don 't feel
system that sits on the backs of
that now is the tim e 10 fight
the people all over the world . ~
We don 't think tha t there's
for only an independe nt black
state - even if that' s all you
any way short of revolut ionary
want . But I can 't see the U.S.
violence by masses of people to
end us domin arion..
government giving up the
" When we talk a bo u t
Sourheasr 10 black people short
revoluti on . we're not talking
of a revolution . What we gOt
about overthrowing imto do right now is unit e 10 gel
perialism and puttin g our peorip of this imperialist governmem o
ple in power.. W h~ t we.' rt· try Does the j esse Jackson cam10 9 to get to IS a situation
where the class society is com came to town to announce that
pa ign serve your cause bv
uniting the disonfrancbisedi
pletely done away with.
14 pan ics and organizations
H OUl do you relate to A ngelo
People's int erests aren't served
worldwide had joined together
Da/l1S and the Com m u nist Parin the electoral arena. l .don't
to form the Revolurionarv Inthink people want to be dragg. ty U.S.A?
ternationalist Movement ':"'- to
We sec that as an outfit thai
fill the vacuum they say was
hasn' t been revolut ionary for
lef by the dissolurion of the
decades. In my initial approach
Communist International in
to rhem I could n't distinguish
1943 and the ' revisionism' of
between them and a 10 1 of
rh e Soviet Union. Represenliberal Democrats.
tatives from Ceylon. Ind ia.
IFhol about the tactics of the
Nepal, Colombia. Tu rkey,
Red Brigades of Italy ? Arc they
Haiti, New Zealand and even
the Dom incan Repub lic were
revolutionary ?
Frequently revolutionary
on hand-in London. along with '
violence gets slandered as tcrthe RCP's Carl Dix. Their
rorism. We'think tht· people in
ded aration was to be released
the Red Bri gade were fig~ting
on May Day in 22 languages
for revolution bur our difand distr ibuted worldwide. We
ed to war but the missiles keep
ferences with them don't come
spo kero Dix last month .
down to the use of violence,
gett ing built . Peop le of GerFirst, how did you gel
many registered overwhelmingbut do they have a st rategy
~
p oliticized?
that will actually lead to the
ly thai rhey didn ' t wan t U.S.
Growing up black in America
missiles there, but the missiles' ,. overt hrow of imperialism? We
and being dra fted and thrown
are there. People here never '
th ink no t . because it fails to
into the Vietnam War. It was
base itself on raising the condecided lhey wanted to send
at that point that I decided I
the missiles there! Anoth er step sciousness of large numb ers of
had to fight aga inst what
towards World War III.
people and unleashing them in
.
America is doing in the world
,
struggle at the proper lime and
the proper situation
Are the Sandmistas revolu ·
tiona')'?
They lead a genuine national
liberation struggle' and threw
out the puppet of V,S. imperialism. We don't th ink the
conlinued on 64
(hat their probat ion reports.
which revealed extensive FBI
surveillance of their personal
lives, wou ld refure anv
suspected " d andest in'c
contacts. ' .
In her opening sta te me n t. in
Brooklyn Federal Cou rt , Shelly
Miller of the New Movement
in Solidarity with Puerto Rican
Independence and Socialism
angered the prosecution when
she said, " O n behalf of our
movement we send our
greetings to the FALN
wherever they might be. "
Charles Rose. Assistant U.S."
Attorney, leapt to his feet and
sneered , " We'd like to greet
them in court with long prison
sentences. ' ,
-c-Spencer Rumsey
~
f
LL-"",:,::,- --::--.---l
Carl Dix
,•
MAY DAY MAN
By SPENCER RUMSEY
ad Oil' is a nice
guy with a hard
line . The 3')·ycar·
old Oil' first (arne
to national an enlion as one of the
Port Lewis S'ixG. I. 's who refused
to go to Viet na m in
1970 - and was
sentenced 10 t WO
years at Leaven -
worth f ed eral
Pen itemia rv. Th ere
he served 1'6
month s in solitary
confinem ent after
being cou vicred of
"co nspiracy to over
throw the
legitimate aut hority of the
stockade . "
Toda y O ix is the an icutare
spokesman for the Revolutionary Commu nist Pany . the
small group of radicals best
known by their allegiance 10
Chairman Mao. his widow, and
the Cultural Revolution that
rocked Chi na in the '60s.
Unde r the guidance of Chairman Bob Avakian, who was
hounded OUl of th e coun try
aft er the government accused
him of plotting to take over
the W hitt, House in 1079 (the
charges were later drop ped) ,
this communist parry finds
fault with the Soviet Union
(' 'Socialism in word, imperialism in deed ." said Dix )
and the People's Rep ublic of
China ("Ca pitalist read ers")
and . of course, they have
unk ind things 10 say abo ut the
U.S, government - not to •
mention th e U,S. police with
whom they've banl ed at countle ss demonstrations over
the years,
Dismissed by some as a
splinter group: the RCP
publishes the Rellolutionory
Worker. and here in New York
runs the Revolution Books StOH:
at 138 W. 10th . But something
happened with the RCP in
London recentl y that you
didn' t read about in th e New
York Tim es. Dix was in New
York to spread the word about
ir in time for May Day (His
favorite holiday, he says, " I'll
be celebrating it in app ropriate
revolut ionary tradition !" ) Dix
• EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914
"1 decided I had to
f'!lht agGinst what
America is doing to
the world."
THREE YEARS
FOR CONTEMPT
rand jury resistors
Sylvia Baraldini and
Shelly Miller were
both sentenced 10
th ree years in jail for
"criminal comcm pr '
-c- refusing to answer
questions on their
alleged conracrs with
the Puerto Rican indepen den ce r no vcrn cnt FALN.
hot'. :'The Trouble With Harry"? A real estate operatto in one
act presented acro•• 'N)m ttle Helmsley Polace Hotel by the
Solon Bon Ton troupe lost April 21st, under the guiclance of
former Eye art editor Eric Darton, A hundred people witnesses
fbe 20-mirH,lte performance lambasting Harry as the greedy~
speculator supreme with such classic numbers os " Don't Cry
For Me , Loisoida" and " My Leona ." The piece - which got 0
good review in The Times - will be repeated ot 88.(. on May
2nd (11 p_m.) and at a 2 p.m. demonstration May 6th in support of the harassed tenant. of Helmsley's Porit West Village
who are fighting condo conversion.
(Set' Eye, Feb . '84). Sylvia will
now serve 43 years-t hanks \0
her previous ao.vcar scrHCIlC('
for her involvement in rluBrinks Case (Sec Eye. Sept.
' 83),
Both wo men deny an ~( direct
links wirh th e underground
group which tht" govcrnmvm
holds responsible for a series of
bomb <mac ks. The women say
NO PARKING
eople will han to stop VI ing the park for DImost 0
' ....1.. ' Idalmed LHftOIW
Cekteron of the Lower lost
Side Joilrt Planning ("neil
(IPC) ....., Mayor Kudo' .
" piau to 'opatId .pwordo of ,
U ..HIla. 'a ...... 'a.pld",
Squcft Perk . hidt pa,sed
till, co....Jlity boonI 20 to
I .. April 2~" , G,..nd hoi
ahaady """ ..........1Ido.....
end trees choppH doWn for the
$1 milfiott onmaul of URion
Squore which won't be .,.. to the
pullIi, ........, ... and of
'
1985. Davie! Piafu, '" ordritect.
would do the H M to T."ifts
Sq..re Itvt its trees won't cOIle
tumbling !loW" until the eM of the
nut year Itt ttl, earlielt. The
vote Iplit the JPC' I .... mbers who
on the board. Some,
CaW.ron said• • ont.d to lpend
ttl. money on lpot repoirs,
upkee, .116 s,aui" rattMr than
tearing ttl, pork apart a II Union
Sq. ... . But ttl. pod.., pas.d
thcmk' to the persuasive lecture
by _rdmak, Jade'lynn" who
worb .. aiele to Conti Bellamy,
City Co,uldl president.
I.,. ,'
RICH ARTISTS
ONLY
ByJEFF GOlTESFELD
BULLm 'N' BRIE
" yJEFF GOlTESFELD
race yourself bu t city
businessma n Lewis Imperaro wants to ope n a
"gun boutique" in Tribeca this Au gu st. It
could become Ih e p lace
in to wn to p ick u p th e
latest in fashionable •
firearms like a C ucci gn:.
nade-lau ncher. pe rhaps.
o r bu y brie a nd bu llers.
Im pe rato . who o wns a nd
operates t he Joh n j ovino gu n
sho p an d warehouse downt own
on Center Street. has filed his
applicauon with the City Plan ning Co m m issio n 10 o pen a
retail SIOr t in the: warehouse: he
own s at 4 16·424 W ashington
Street . In th e baseme nt he intends 10 SCI up a pistol rang e .
"We 've alread y got a lax
a bateme nt for the property. '
Im perato told the Eye. " but
I'm no t sure abou t City Plan ning. " Im pe rato is a m illion
dolla r-p lus professional ar ms
de aler whocoums private
gu ard services. po lice depa rt mem s. correct iona l insrin nions
and even foreign cou nt ries
among his diems. He has 4 2
employee s dow nt own but
hopes to add 30 with his
planned move to Tribeca.
Howeve r. h is proposal has
come u nder fire from Co m mun it y Board No . 1 wh ich
recom me nded to t he comm ission that it be denied because
it vio lates t he present zon ing .
" It 's zoned 10 protect large
man ufactu ring bu ild ings: ' said
Paul Goldstei n . CB# I di str ict
manager. " and he want s
ground floor retail space !"
" W hat he really warns 10
-do." said Ca role DeSa ram .
vice-chai r of CB# I . " is use
•
three of t he five floo rs at rhe
wareh ou se for back-offi ce op eratio ns where he can cha rge
office-space rent . Th is bui ldi ng
has been bought and sold seve ral times ove r t he past few
years . O ur records indica te that
Im pe rato bo ug ht it in Decem be r 198 I wit h $645,000 of the
pri ce loa ne d to h im . Edwa rd
Katz of th e Katz parking empire h as a com pany t hat made
t he Joan ."
.
Imperato scoffed at these
he plan 10 sell rwo cityowned bu ildi ng s for one
do llar each and have
t he m eve nt ua lly convert ed 10 "artists hou sing "
(see Eye March 1 9~4) was
tejer ted by Com mu nity
Board #3 at irs Mard i
27th meet ing . T he con version plan was opposed
by several com mun it y groups
an d art ists' collectives . all o f
who m were re present ed at the
Lower East Side meet ing which
was m ended by a crowd of
' nearly 100 people. In effect the
CB#3 reco mmend arion -c-rhe
decision of its hou sing comm itconcerns. " W hat we' ve gOI
tee -k ills the plan .
he re is two or three people who
Oppositio n 10 t he plan was
live t he re . .. who think we're
tr iggered by certain de facto reo
destroying thei r litt le haven . I
q uiremems of the prog ram . To
th ink they' re t rying 10 create a
purch ase th e a bandoned buildzon ing pro blem . " he said .
ings. located on Ludlow and
The Plann ing Com mission
East 11th streets. purchasers
were req uired to have " good
will ru le o n t he gu n sto re application some t ime during the . cred it. " and offe r assurances of
next several wee ks.
private fu nding for rehab bing
t he buildin gs which could cost
$70.000 a u nit .
T he Lower East Sid e Joi nt
Plann ing Co u ncil, wh ich lo bbied against t he p lan. said t ha t
the city p rerequ isites mea nt
th at " pract ically no Lower East
Side family o r arrisr will
qu alify: t'nt')' can' t afford it.
and won' t be able to get a
loan . This is an other at temp t
by Koch to sel l o ur valua ble
housing stock 10 specula tors
and high incom e peopl e from
outside ou r commu nity."
Spea ker afte r speaker echoe d
rhat posit ion . suggest ing rhar
th e real goa l of th e art ists'
hou sing plan was to d ivide the
Loisaida com munity by pitt ing
affluen t art ists agai nst
residents.
T he primary p roblem with
the p lan . said ph otographer
Brian Rose. was rhar it did not
offer a com prehensive art ists'
ho using alterna t ive. " There art"
plenty of art ists who can afford
th e 170 .000 need ed to ren ovate
eac h un it. " he said.
FREE SPIRIT GONE
ByJOSH GOSCI AK
incem Titus. a
ra-vear-old East
Village poet. a
volu ntee r in t he
Abraha m Lincoln
Brigade du ring t he
Spanish C ivil W ar .
and one of the first
cont ributo rs to The
East VzJlage Other.
d ied sud denly o n March 16
at Second Ave . and SI.
Mar ks. He was hit and kill.
ed by an MTA city bus.
T itu s. who was in and OU t
of the early East Vi llage
scene in rhe'sixnes-c- involved with such grou ps as Th e
C razies and .sOS- was best
known as the lover of j ean
Harlow and roommate of
C ha rlie Parker . At a
memorial service for h im at
Wash ing t6n Sq ua re: C hurch
on Ap ril I he was eulogi zed
as a frce spirir. the last "of a
dyi ng b reed , a man of old
\V ASP stock who chuc ked it
al l for a life of a bando n and
poetry.
Coca Crystal. a prod ucer
of a N.Y. cab le talk sho w
and in t im ate of Titus",
recalls her first m eet in g with
him . " I was wo rk ing ar
EVO in 1969 ." she recalls.
"a nd he' d do occasional
poe ms for t he Other. II
was one of his last sto ps and ..
he' s spend hou rs and hou rs.
He was 60 somet hing and
had ca ncer and leu kemia.
•We even d id a major
biograph)' because we
thoug h t he'd d ie then . He
was very fun ny and when
he' d come to an EVa
meeting he'd do a willin
mass and read some poems.
He had Ihe corr~CI line on
any given th in g and was an
expe re on sniffing out po lice
- altho ug h he was occasiona lly wrong ."
Titu ~ was o n his way 10
gi ve his wife some money-
his last five bucks in fact whe n a bus swung around
and clipped him. It was an
anticlimax to a long and illustr ious career which began
in T itu sville (a [OWn his
fami ly found ed whe n rhey
struck o il - t he first well in
Am cri<;a), o n to ba uling
Prance-in Spa in. study ing
theology ar Harvard . becoming a Franciscan monk and a
Hollywood scriptwrite r. H is
career ende d in 1946 when
his family, t hinking him a
litt le tOO eccent ric committed hi m to Rockland Sta te
Institution . T itu s was soon
released an d he fou nd ed
Fountainh ou se. a right s
organ izat ion for mental parierus. Throughou t h is last
da ys Titus cont inued to
write and be active. As Coca
observes, " The last t ime I
saw Vince was on Feb ruary
n nd o n m y show. He never
m issed a show except whe n
he had a heart attack O!
burned his beard. He always
opened t he show- he eit he r
read his poems. d id j:all or ..
dan ced , "
· 0
In faCi . the pe ripatetic ",.
free sp irit mi gh t st ill be
da ncing somewhe re out
there on the s:alt flats of
Nevada . H is laSt requesr was
for h is fi shes 10 be sca tlc r~d
bclween Win ne mucca an d
Lovelock . And . as evc:ryom'
knows. in W innemucca you
could da nce up a sto rm .
B BANK BOOKS OUT .. - ,.tt-y only in it for the _y1 It's I Mft Mt tt.t COIH
Mey l ' th M••uf.ttwert:
., Ynst wiI dose fh ~ ~
ft 3111
_wing thou
of lowI, Eat $Wen witItout I . . .
_
bl
.
" It • • Id IMl disa.trou. for tIM community," IOid Father Jodt IKen·
Nngton of the Holy R•••1ftIt Churd! on fast 3111, Jineetit'. the ony
banIt IMltw"n 14th and Deloneey ... t of 2ndl, . ...... h en a
. .tint with City C..ftCilm• •, MirilnIt Fn.ct' " In Febtvary
IalIH to dis...... _
Manny-H_
puIiog .
"' hey ••,. doIItn·nd·celth ,..,a.," ...._ FetMr I
·
toll, no IIso
tIM low" Eat SitII c.thoIc l rM COIIftftfICI•
''l1Ioy .....,
, - ., .., of _ ..._
:.
dted
l ion of $1",000 in 1913 ... . PROJECTED lou of $300.000 for
19&4. FatNr 1•• ••tOll otWecI filet M.Nty....., is
to do..
.... 1tIter ~. -"st " " poorer MighhrtaOIlQ lit. . . l .....
loot lWo.
" It'• ..,.,.... tt.t thy
WIMl do.... now," ... tM prilst, referring to ttlo ...... ..,
,.. '')vot .hoA tIoings . . looking .....: . H.
IOid tIIIt . . CatftoIc l rdtdioc..e, . hidt repreltrrts 22 city churdIe., is
" COftCilt'lMd and ..ary upset" about tftI bcn*'. pIoM, their interest covld
,.p', '"""
no. -. _
,_My
odd up on the bottom line
'*"••MlNlny·Hanny'. their bonkl
- Spence, Rum•• y
•
MAT 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 9
."HE DOESN'T
THE'PIMPS
LIVE HERE
ANYMORE"
OF WAR
ByJEFF GOTIESFELD
By JO SEPH NECH VATA L
n Eye investigation
has revealed rhat
Manh attan Borough
President Andrew
Stei n's lat est appo intee 10 Co mm u-
nity Board #3 listed
a Lower East Side
,
add ress on h is a pplicatio n to the
Community Board
Io,GtNCV ll~ DiSTRICT se,RVlCE CABINET
which he on ly uses
""a"
infrequently and in
fact neither lives,
nor work s in the
.d isrrict.
A co mmo nly acce pted prerequisite
is thai th e ap po intee must eit he r
hai l from or have a bu siness in
t he district which he or she
re present s.
Carm ine Musumeci. a 29yea r-old attorne y. practices law
in a mid town Man ha tt an office
and lives with his wife in
Queens. He was appointed
.
d Yov r Commvl'uty
to
by the l eo gl)e a
i,!
Eye. Musumeci ad mi tted t hat
he lives in Q ueens and th at th e
35 Montgom ery address is his
parents' . " But I st ill receive
mail there and am registered to
vote there;" he stressed in a
te lepho ne interview.
Musumeci has no present ties
10 th e Loisaida comrnuniry save
for serving on the Par ish Council of 51. Mary's Chu rch on
G rand 51. He does. however .
come from-a politically wel lconnected fam ily. According 10
Rich ard Ropiak. curre nt cha irperson of th e Co mm un ity
Board , Musumeci' s fath er is a
to
Mi ke
Rosano. a press aid e to rhe
Manha.ran Borough Preside-Ill .
Musumeci ind icated on his applicati on t hat he maintai ns an
add ress at 35 Mont gom er y
51., within the CB#J disi ri..
W~ en q ue st ioned by tbe
THE LOWER EA~T SIDE BUSINESS f
AND PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION. r
in conjunction with
~
-
THE EAST VIllAGE EYE
' .•
announce the jim monthly
,
"GIMME" AWA~D FOR LANDLORD "
GREED AND COMMUNITY DISREGARD
• •
Prc,fenJed thi.s mo"th
' v
/6:.
-,
> , MR. SIDNEY WEISNER
For t>s.hibiting cp~plete lack ofconcer»
fo~ hIS commerdol te114nts aT,,1f or,the
l Lower £tSI 5"It, Commuttity
.
. ,'M
IIE ....
~;/~
.,t·. .! -:
.....(
.1..
'\I'.
I
,
y
rhe Lower East Side board on
March l Sth , according
~ d"
Boo'
do led h om "VOl) ,0"
Grophk 0 P f w o me n vo,ef~,
~
. '
. .1i
'\<
.,
_
.,
<
forme r member of t he Co m rnun ity Board.
~
Ste in spo kesperson Rosano
said th at accord ing to th e City
C harter, there is a litt le-known
cat ch-a ll exceptio n wh ich
allows ap pointments of non resident s 10 a Community
Board , who have "osber sigmf
icant interest in rh e com munity" (emphasis added ).
Rosano says th at Musum eci' s
in volvement with t he parish
qualifies h im for mem bership .
" He is th e excep tion 10 the
rule," Rosan o said.
" No o ne else 10 my know ledge has been appointed to
CB#3 du ring t he past len years
who has nOI been a resident o r
hasn't a business in th e d istrict ," said CB#3 cha irpersonRopiak . He also said th at
Musumeci had not brou ght h is
out sider stat us 10 th e att ent ion
of the boa rd . Since Musumeci
listed his Loisaida " ad dress "
on his.applicarion to the borough presiden t , th ere wou ld
have been no way, apart f qJm a
special investigat ion , of de te rmining th at he ind eed reprcseme d serio us d eviati on from
ot he r appointments.
" I grew u p on t he: Lower '
East Side," said Musumeci defen sively. " I was appointed to
.se:rve part icu lar in terests.
There's inadeq uat e represen tsno n o n the boa rd by members
of the middle-class. T he re's no
non -j ews." Musumec i said.
'W hen asked wheth er he: had
informed CB#j chairperson Ropiak of his t rue address. Musumeci replied that he hadn't
even me t him yet . " But at the
t ime of m y application I was
st ill living on Montgomery
Srreer."
Ropiak said he 's fearful that'
Com mu nity Boards wou ld become: a launching pad for th e
poli tica llycon nected and t he
po lit ically ambitiou s. "We
don 't want a board based on
45 people not living in th e
com mun ity," Rop iak to ld th e
Eye. " O ne: o r tWO mig ht n.ot
cont am inate the board , but
I'm conce rne d if it becomes
more of a problem. "
Wi th the possibiliti es for
su bte rfug e so appa rent in rhe
Ci ty Ch art er' s "catch-all" provision, and wirh so littl e: invesrigario n of a ppointee s by t he
bo rough president , Ropiak's
night mare cou ld beco me cold
fact . and the Lower East Side's
commu nity boa rd another cog
in t he pohucal machi ne .
10 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914 .
onald Reagar. will
in four years have
hi ked the Pentagon
budget from S 178 .4
b illion in 1981 to
man . a srrrali. single-warhead
$30 5 bi llion in
IC BM that may follow the
1985, an increase of
de ployme nt of t he MX , moves
71%or $ 127
forward . Co ng ress accepted th e:
billion . And if he is - MX last year as a " Bridg e"
reelected in 1984
toward a world of sing le• warh ead m issiles.
and his futu re
budget p lan s are
"BI bomber : fiscal 198 5 re-realiz ed . he will inq ue st for $8 .2 bi llion . The
crease t he Pentagon
8- 1 is the ,single largest
bud get another
wea po ns pro gram in the: ' 85
79% to S446 .1
budget , with most of t he
bill ion in fiscal
mon ey go ing for 34 brand new
1989 .
bo m be rs, At th e cost of $227
Th e: -t -ycar
m illion pe r bo m be ro rhe BI is
figures are even
th e most expensive of all l im e.
more imp ressive when com' Star Wars: fiscal 1985 req uest
pa red to th e fate of othe r
for $ 1.8 billion . The Pentagon
federal pro gram s. D uring th is
has lum pe d a number of
tim e, energy conse rvat ion funballistic m issile defense prodi ng wil l. declin e by 44%,
grams toget her under the label
pollution cont rol by 19 % .
01 Strategic Defen se In itiatives.
training and emp loymenr by
T hese p rogram s const itu te a
47%, and ge neral revenue
d irect violat ion of'rhe 19 72
sharing by 11% . Spe nd ing for
Ami-Ballistic Missile T reat y.
eleme n tary . secondary and
'Trident II Missile: fiscal 1985
vocat iona l p rog ram s will inrequest for $2.3 bi llion . T he
crease by on ly 1% over 4 years,
T rident II sub marine-la unched
ballistic missile shows a great
jump from last year' s $1.5
b illion as it moves int o prod ucl io n . Th is missile is-designed 10
ad d a first -mike capaci ty to our '
sea-based forces for the first
I
lime.
food an d nu tr it ional spendi ng
will.rise by 5% and incom e for
vets w~ 1I increase by 17 % .
The Reagan budget for t he
next 5 years req uests a total of
S1.9 ·Triliion . (198')· 1989) .
Every American fa m ily wou ld
be taxed on the average of
$30 ,P9~ to go to t he Pentagon
over t he next 5 years .
.
New weapons procurement
or p rod uct ion totaled $47.8
billio n in fiscal 1981. For t he:
1985 fiscal year , th e Pentagon
has set t he procu rement tota l
at S107.6 bi llion, ' an increase
of 125% .. After adjust ing the:
budget for in flatio n , next
.
year' s ou tlay tot al will sur pass
the rota l ou tlay for t he peak
spe ndi ng years of bo t h th e
Viemain and Ko rean wars.
Here: arc: some of the '
highli ghts in this yea r' s budget :
'MX missile: fiscal 1985 reo
qu est for $5 billion . The: Admin ist rati on is requesting
anothe r-large chu nk of funding
for th ?: MX, perha ps the most
cont roversial weap on in the
budget : $3. 2 bill ion is slated
for the pro d uct ion o f 40 additional m issiles. Co ng ress approved the first bat ch of 2 \
missiles last year.
' Small IC BM (Midg crman):
fiscal 1985 request fo r $465
m illion . Research into mid get-
' Nerve G as: fiscal 1985 request
for SlO 5 million . Th e Ad ministrat ion has been d efeated
over rhc last 2 years in us- attem p t to 'end '3 14 year
moratorium on th e producti on
of dead ly nerv e gas . Th is year.
th ey arc tr ying to esta blish a
production line and begi n to
m ake: compo ne nts for th e next
ge ne rat ion of nerve gas
weap on s.
' Toma ha wk cru ise missiles:
fiscal 1985 request for $670.5
mill ion . Th ese small, 20 foot
sea-lau nched cru ise missiles can
be lau nched from a variety of
vehicl es.
"Pershing II missiles : fiscal
198') request for $472 mill ion .
Prod uct ion of the Pershing 1I
ma rches forward even as t he:
flap ove r its d eploym ent in
Europe cont inues and th e
Soviets make advanced
cou ntermoves . It was t he ini t ial
Persh ing an d grou nd- launch
cru ise m issiles de ployed last
Dece mber that led the Soviets
to walk out fro m both t he
strategic and the: intermediate:'
nuclear weapons .
So t hose are th e fans . Have
a n ice' day.
I
I'
I
I
I
J
.....
, ~ mai\ana presents..,
..
• :Y£NU£ 8
'STH£ PLA
TO
8£~
--- ;-::
., ::::::::::=:=::~
. . . -~ /j-
" -~
~~-~EYE~"': lJJ
I !!--~"~~_~--~'_"- ---1
I'
Reading j eff Ge nes~/Now
feld's and Spencer
Rum sey 's cover sto ry on
the latest Alphab et City
police smackdown"Operation Pressur e
II
Poi:;;," is it now?-I
peered ( 0 be bored and
disgusted. Here are the
city and state and fed eral
narcs. linking up again [0
tell the same lies [ 0 inquisirive jou rnalists as
they were te lling 20 years
ago . I was writing exactly
the same heroin-sweep
lawsy-c- and the on ly
horror sto ries in the Sixgood it ever did was to
sicken and depress bleedties, fu lly believing the
tripe the cops and politiing-bean liberal types
cos were feeding us, and
like me . But at least I
believ ing it was new.
could think . back in the
Sixties: •'Well. when our
And here it come s
around again in 1984,
generadon gets in there ,
we will ord er th ings prothe sam e lousy record in
the same o ld juke: box,
perly, and do some good,
right ?
and not be so fuckin g
. But you r people: broke
mean and stupid and
out of that , by getting a
racist and everything ."
G iu liani assuredly has
20-ye:ar perspective out of
Ed Sanders and Allen
some H igher Purpose in
Gins berg and th e neighconduct ing thi s sord id
borhood people . Th ere
" O peratio n Pressure
really has been an effort
Point " ent erp rise: like ,
under foot since th e Sixbam boo zle th e public
with a lot of u ltra-tou gh
ties to mu rder th e com . ant id rug drama , and ge t
munitie s of th e Lower
E3St Side ; concent rate on
h imself elected Gove rno r,
th e junk traffic rhere ,
when maybe he can sta n
dri ve OUt the middleclass
doing some th ing real.
and even the poor, enAnd hell , by that time
the developers ough t to
courage th e area to rot
into uninhabitable: havoc, have turned Alphabet City into a br ight 'new
and then sell it off dincheap to real-estate devel- high-rise Valhalla for reo
opers. And the on ly reo
specta bly-em ployed leasedeem ing effect of thi s
hold ers. That will mak e
latest fly-by-night
it easier: I su ppose . to
"Operation Pressure:
forget t his current
Point " smackdown will
episod e of ugliness.
be to get Rud y G iu lian i's
Again, thanks for a
name ali over th e pap ers
great dope article .
and television . so th at
Dean Latimer
we'H all rem ember it
High T imes
when we go to vote: for
Govern or a few years
To th e Editor:
hence.
Wow. like. I got th e
And now he' s got fedApril issue of th e East
eral narcs OUt bustin g
nickel-ba g vendors in AI- V,IIage Eye, righ t . and
th ere was thi s ad in t here
pb ab et City, and federal
for a record called Basket
prosecu tors send ing up
Case by t h is band called
th ose poor sorrowfu l
Bab y Boom , righ t . and I
jun kies for 15 to life in
said to myself. wow.
Danbury , just because:
what a gross picture . like,
they had t he bad luck to
t his like de ad baby splatfall afou l of Operat ion
over t he pavetered
Pressure Point . Exactly
ment and stu ff. Th is
that sorr of th ing was gomu st be like some cu rtaing on 20 years ago rem ember th e Rockefe ller geous band , right . so I
UC".u
he's got
federal narls out
busting nickel.bag
end
ex- . ors. . . '
all
went dow n to Tower k ecords and I said wow,
wbere's that record by '
that group Baby Boom ,
you know. it ' s nam ed
after my favorite movie, '
B" ,ket Case, right . about
this guy that carries his
deformed brother around
in rhis. like , big hamper.
you know , and like all
these freaky peop le get
cut up and all. It' s a really wild flick. right. All
mx friends got like: totally
grossed out by it but I.
like. rea lly dug it.'. you
know . All those people
getting blooded out and
making all these like
strangling noises and alt."
It was real ly neat and th e
lad y veterin arian. when
sh e gets all th ese knives
:in her face, it's like: so
totally great because she
like you know, rea lly
deserved it . And you
know , so [ bought th e
record. and on my way
home , like , I was remembering my favorite scene
in the movie where this,
like, motorcycle lady gets
thrown out of thi s che ezy
hotel by th e man ager and
when r get t he record
hom e, I like put in on
and it ' s like really
out rageous and like 1 said
to myself, wow , I want to
be JUSt like j.D. Rage,
you know, and like I to ld
m y mom I wanna be JUSt
like J .D . Rage: and she:
liked screame d and broke
a plate over m y head but
like th at was nothing , my
old man brok e both my
legs and like rock 'my
record pla yer and th rew it
ou t the window but like I
.don't care. I'm still glad
I bough t it.
- Tommy Teenage r
,
Saturday and Sunday May i9th and
.
(Ra in Da le
M~y
26/27th )
.
20t~
~
3 pm at Tompkins Square, Avenue A and Eight Street.'
• Two days of music; performance; dance and •
'Soundings' a special magazine for this weekend
~-_:...--
ALL FREE!
SATURDAY, MAY 19
lON .
HASSELL
~SO LO)
·,h IUCH",RD
. . w..iENDERSON
THE ORTHOTONICS
COLLIN
... WOLCOTT
and
FAREL
lOHNSON
..
.. -
for info 4'75-4395
MAY 1914 EAST Vil LAGE EYE 11
,
JT'$ ALL LIES
A Mixed·Up Med ia
Co lumn
By TUU KUPf ERBERG
.
LOST LEADERS
nee agai n th e bem used and be nigh ted d en j z el~ ~ of
these Disuni ted States app roach th e quadrennial
vOJ:ing fren zy. of the Pres ide: nt ial ~reCli ons >.
_
Think of it as Con st itutiona l D ictatorship Wit h a
choice (?) of D ictator every ~ years. (W hy not I year ?
And why not . in t his age of electronic marvels. at least
have d irect electron ic vot ing of till the citizens on
eve:ry piece of ma jor legislations)
.
Once u person is put in churge ofa community . be
he Ihe most uonbless, he is regarded as the mightiest
of the mighly. .
THE SPORTSTER
By GLENN O 'BRIEN
The good news is th at t he
Mers look great with all t hose
watched Ja ck Morris o f
kids in th e lineu p . Su re it 's
the Tigers p itch h is noApril. but what was th e last
hitter on nati on al TV. It
time t hey were in first place on
was very exciting past t he IRS day ?
sixt h in ning and Detro it
T he bad news is th at they' re
looks like th e team to
go ing to pu t in Astroturf in
beat in t he AL East. I
order to improve Shea
also like the runnin g In- Stadi um . If th is ha ppens it
d ian s, th e o nly team with me an s tha t in t he N ationa l
five leadoff men in th ei r
League the game of baseba ll
lineup.
will he played on grass only in
Speaking of no-h ill ers. C hicago . San Diego , Los
th e best spo rts story in rc- An geles and Atlanta . I wonder
cen t weeks was t he
if Rogers Hornsby wou ld have
revelation by fo rme r
played ball in St . Louis if he
Yan kee Dock Ellis that
h ad known th at one day t hey'd
he pitched his no hitter
be playing it on p last ic. Rogers
for the Pirates in 1970 on Hornsby didn ' t eve n know
LSD. 11 seems that he
wh at plastic was and in 1922
h ad d ropp ed some hou rs he had 250 hits. Baseba ll not
before th e game , not realizin g
pinball.
th at he was schedu led to pitch.
Accor ding to Bill j am es in
Although he allowed no hits in 1983 the Mets were 54-60 o n
the game . he did walk batters
grass, bu t 14· 34 on astrot urf.
and hit th em with p itches.
Did you know that , Ed Koch ?
loading th e bases a few rimes.
Mooki e W ilson hi t 57 average
Ellis also revealed t hat o nce in
points lower on plastic last
1974 he intentionall y beaned
year, George Foster hit . 168 on
the first th ree batt ers he faced
it. Mike Torrez had a 3.93 ERA
to show hi s fellow Pirate piton grass, 5.28 o n green p lastic.
che rs th at t he Ci ncinna ti Red s
So JUSt when you th ou ght it
were hu man . He clobbered
was safe to go back into Shea
Pete Rose . j oe Morgan and
Dan Dreissen in order and
I think t hings are go ing to
tri ed to hit th e clean up hi tt er .
be okay with t he Yankees.
who ma naged to dodge th e
Love t hat Yogi . Ge t a copy of
th rows. before hi s m anager
Roy Blount's article on him in
removed him from th e game .
a recent SporlI IlIuIlraledHe said tha t if he hadn ' t been removed he wou ld have kept
on throwin g at them . Ellis was
h igh on "pep pills" at t he
tim e.
' C razed , yes- but ma ybe effecrive. Teammate Dave Parker
said . " H is purpose was fu lfilled . We went on to win t he Na tional League East . . . Dock
won 12 gam es for us."
When I was a kid I used to
be scared just watchi ng Ryne
Du ren come in to pitch relief.
He had like a 95 mi le an hour •
fastball and glasses as thi ck as
th e bottom of a 70z Coke bottle. Sometimes he 's m ike guys
out on th ree pitches:
somet imes h e'd bean the he ll
OUt of ' em or t hrow t he ball
way over th e catcher' s head . It
too k a brave man to bat aga inst
Ryne Duren , or catch h im , o r
ump hi m . r JUSt th ou ght it was
th at speed com b ined wit h
those glasses. W ho ' d have
guessed thar h e was act ually
roa ring drun k?
Maybe the hinerskn ew. bu t
what a way to get on base.
Tha t. as N ixon wou ld say, is
playing hardball.
_
Doc k Ellis is now a d rug
cou nselor.
He pitched his nohitter for the
pirates in 1970 on
LSD.
12 EAST Vil LAGE EYE MAY 1914
,
Talmud : Rosh Hashan a. 25b
Don ', f ollow equestrians tracing souard the monolith)
WIJlch out f or the pedestrians, (avoiding fecolithI).
it 'll make you r d ay- even if
you are more inte rested in
phi losophy t han in baseball .
Plus with Clyd e King tak ing
over as General Man ager I
thi n k th at Steinbrenne r will
bun ou t more th an has been
h is pat tern.
And th ere are plent y of
posit ive signs. Oscar Gam ble is
back and the Yanks have: got
him . I' d love to see him ge l
some real D H d uty. Baylor
lead the league vs. lefties last
year and Oscar co uld do the
same vs. righ ries. if no t in
average: in sluggi ng and on
base pe rcen tage.
You 've: got to love Ph il
Niekro . t he: oldest guy in
baseball at 45, t hrowing th at
weird spi nless p itch with great
effectiveness. Righett i and Rijo
are working like: a charm in th e
bu llpen . I'm not going to m iss
Nett les. T ob y Harrah has been
o ne of m y favorite players for a
long time . He 's sma f!: and has
aged well: he m igh t not make
those spectacu lar-looking Nettles di ves at third , but be'H h it
a Jot better and be just as effective: in th e field , if not more
so, and run berrer and not
b itch .
Th e on ly guys I'm really
missing are Cam pane ris and
Mumphrey. I' m st ill pu zzled
by th e casting ofOmar Moreno
as leadoff man-centerfi eld er.
but Yogi ma y know how to use
him effectively. I'm no t missing Andre Robertson . now
workin g on h is arm at Co lu mbus. Robertson is certainl y a
fine sho rtstop and he: hit okay
last year, but you know I like
T im Fol i. He' s no flash wirh
glove: or bat but he seems co be
a win ner who makes things
happen . I li ke th is Keit h Sm ith
kid 100 . Th ey say he 's all field
and no hit. I' ll tel l you . I'd
rather have an all-field no-hit
shortstop tha n an all-field noh it centerfield er. Cou ld Keith
Sm ith possibly be worse at the
p late t han O ma r Moreno ?
No.
But you know, I' ll tell you a
secret : Sma lley isn 't t hai ba d a
sho rtsto p .-(As of this writ ing
he's leadi ng th e: league in huting roo .} If I was ru nning·t he
Yankees. an d str ange r th ings
ha ve happen ed . I' d put Hur rah
at th ird , Smalle y at short , Ran·:"'"
dolph at second , Man inglef 'a1 .
firsr. outfield of Griffey, W in field and Kem p - st ick Lou
and Oscar OUt t here a few
l imes a week for a wh ile: and
lei Ceron e play once a week .
Moren o ? Long relief man .
T rust me.
.~
"-"
J ob, Billin
" t am nOI a labor leader. I don ', wont YON /0 follow me or .
anyone else. If you are 100Ring for a MoseI to lead you oul
oftbe caplialiIt wildem cS! YOll wi/I Slay righl ~here you are.
I would not lead you i1110 tbis promise.d land If I could. be ~
cause if I could lead you in, someone else could lead you 0111.
Eugene V. Debs
, Thou seeeest foiknoers. Then seek ciphers.
Nietzsche, TWllighl oftbe Gods
Yes. th e average: American 's political life consists of going
into a polling boo t h for 2 minu tes on ce every 4 years. pull jng a cold m.erallever for " .Ieade rs" ~mrone else has
chosen for him or her. com ing OUI with a Bengav-glow of
having do ne some t hing important , and th en f? rgertlng
about effecting poli tics at all for an oth er hopping 1461
da ys.
,
That' s the way " t he system " works.
·It is abdication (not even " delega tion" ) of powers.
" Leave: it to th e: lead er. " He knows. Kn ows what ? How
10 Reep the Ihit in place.
>
.
All the current Presidential candidates speak of th eir
" leadership capabilit ies." W ha t is (or shou ld be) the place
cfvThe Leader" (Der Fuhrer?) in h isto ry?
" The- Hero in H istory." (Hero incident all y is d erived
from t he same rocr as Eros) . W ould th e Russian Revolution
have: been different (or been at all) without the Ge rmanspo nsored Lenin Express from Switzerland rc St. Petersburg? Has everything grown too large. too com plex, tOO lost
for uny of us (espec ially t he President) [0 co~trol his-or .her
o",n destiny - let alone th e fate of huge nauons of an IO~
cred ib ly in terlinked earth of nearly 5 billi on hu mans?
(Don ' r look at th e boo t m of this colum n, for the answer
is no t rhere .)
.'. ,
"
.
Reflect on how easy it IS to ha nd your free wdl af\d actron
to someo"&. eire- (Or God j -c-to a Maximum Leader who h ~
all th e an swers. Conside r th e awesome power of The Presiden't. He has become like Sh iva, th e. G reat Destroyer Qf
Worlds. And consider whether yo u want th at pqwer in an)'.:
J d iot's hands, As Devo sa ys:~ ,. Aft' We Not: Id iots ? ' ~ ,
, For-President vote " No " ? For Governor vote: "No"? For
Mayor vote " No" ? ;,,;;
'
.
,
~,
~
We have to flnd 'some ~ay to devolure the power J>a~k
down "again to th e com mo n folk:That!s wh~t;.th(: RUSSians
were trying 'to d o in 191 with th eir Soviets (Co un cils) of
Work etS; Peasants. Sold iers and Students. Somehow th ~
never mad e it - for very lon g anyway.
"
.
More's the pity .
r
•
•
•
41,
•
•
(lO<n'M!'IOIl 'flip un, UIllImI <l'WI u.Illl,
.......... l",-n
--..
.. . , . . " . . . _
·. _
,--" _ U . IlKftUl ( OM'71Olt _ _ .'toM"
.._
...,.IU. _ _ ....."I .... S ... ito
·. . . . . - WIllIlO'tlWfw""
IU
s-_
_ ... ~
. . .. _.
OPEN EYE
By CRAIG BROMBERG
Noose-paper Time ?
or sup poses th at with
the de mise of th e Su/w
Weekly News th ere wcrc '
JUSt too many hungry ex-
staffers in {Own
10
leave
well enough alone .
•
Two years ago . some
folks tried to start a free
weekly called Me/ro. The
project failed -the
publishers seemed to thi nk
starting a newspap er was sim ply a matter of moving numbers
aro und - bU I as almost
everyone knows (or a least
th inks the y know) the city
seems ripe for a free weekly.
After all. goes the argument.
Los Angeles, Ch icago . an d
several ot her big cities have
free ahe marive papers. Why
not New York?
At nearly th e same time as
the Metro fiasco was raking
place (over a period of a year
and a half) two cx-Soho sraf-
fers. ed itor David Hcrshkovirz
and writer Laura Cotti ngham .
were working to revive what
am ou nted to a virtual copy cat
version of the Sobo Weekly
News. That project also failed
but Hershkovnz and Cottingham kept plugging away
and ironically, not 100 long
ago. they were d rafted by Harris Publications (which published Block.treu and other
celebrity magazines) to start
you guessed it - a free weekly
with an uptown slam : New
York Talk.
Hersbkovitz never made it 10
the starting gate. Replaced
(unceremonio usly, we understand) by Nee Go ldwasser and
then by current ed itor Bill Poeaik, Hershkovirz now freelances
for several publications and is
said to be planning a mon thly.
Cou ingham rem ains as listings
ed itor. an important job on a
free weekly.
The only other new entry in
_"")4
.. _---....I.,
lt"
_
....
......, .......... II .J.
~_
to..,
-..-
..,
...
lMo~
~
_prt
.......
.
"""""'"
ten t graphics at any rate . Now
if only VF ran more interviews
with Michel Foucault (I' ll bet
the folks upstairs had a fit with
rhat one) .. .. It'll probably only
a matte r of time before we see
anothe r new look for the book
too.
to the weekly market is Dozier
Hasty's NY Beet. Hasty. you
may bi aware, is the fireb rand
publisher of several Brooklyn
newspapers. who may now see
rhe East River fo r the ocean it
is. It will be inte resting to see
how the newly weekly Beat.
anot her Sobo derivative.
costing 75( and with next to no
listings. can compete against
Harris' free Talk. with its beefy
listings. chi-chi layou t and
copy. and -c surprise c--Merle
G insbu rg. whom Talk " stoic"
from Beat ed itor Howell's
stable. (Ironically enough,
Merle has, at one time or
anothe r. been on the staff of
Metro. Beat. Sobo News and
nearly a!1y other start-u p o r
upstart In recen t memoryeven the Eye!)
Wa lch th is space fo r de tails
on the upco ming newspape r .
"
war.
NEWS NOTES
As repon ed in the N Y
Times. Washington . D.C. will
soon have a new weekly tabloid
(The Washington Weekly)
and , surprise, the money
I love a band wagon .
especially when rhosesr raggling at the back should have
been leadin g the way a 10ng ,I
long time ago. J' m talking
about Dance Magazine's April
breakdancing issue. with no
less than five (count 'em) articles on hip-hop and breaking
- includ ing the cover story.
[This month 's fave and
co urtesy McDonne ll Douglas
Corp. who took off Monda y.
April 2 in honor of the founding of N ATO , " THE
TRUTH . SO STA RTLIN G IT
SOUND S LIKE PROPAG AN ·
DA. The truth is rhc last n
years have been one of the
longest periods of peace in the
European roruincn r in recorded
history.. .The truth is NATO
needs your support . And rhc
(ruth is. you need NATO ."
Like a hole in the head . I'd
sa)'.
.
... Passion. the fantastic French
mont hly printed in English in
Paris. now has an equa lly wo rthy counterpart here in New
York for all the Frcncbics with
great graphics if nor necessarily
the latest breaking news (currendy lead Story: "SO HO
OUT . E. VILLAGE I N , Ex plosion Crealrice a I' East
Village. " ) Passion itself seems
to be growing by leaps and
bounds. Latest ish is 9 5 pages
with several fou r-color full.
page ads. Not only gre at
fashion coverage (e.g. excellent
SIOry on the Com munis t party
paper Liberation's fashion
editor) but also in-depth intecviews with Paris's leadin g intellecruals .
Some like it hal. Take New
York POSI Metropo litan Editor
Steve Dunleavy, who recentl y
caused qu ite an alarm downtown at the Post' s office on
South Street when he was
found in the fifth floor sauna
Rupert had installed for the
elite. Trouble was. they
thought "Ole Blood ' n Gut s"
was dead. NO! so. The man
was "medi raring" - his guru :
John Barleycorn .
behind the paper isn' t from
Rupert Murdoch, but from The
New Republic (Martin Peretz).
The Attantio (Monon Zuckerman) and a "Georgetown activist. " Joa n Bingham. Does
this mean vacations from now
o n in DC?
.. Can' t imagine why people
are so down o n Ti na Brown.
Ms. Brown. former editor of
Conde Nasr's British ultra-slick
The Tatter. is Leo Lerman 's
successor at the foundering
Vanily Fair. The-first ish under
Brown's ed itorship seemed
lively enough to me: better
organized: clearer. more consisMAY 1914 EAST VilLAGE EYE 13
EAT IT
By CA RLElTE McMULLAN
Cu rry Ma hal
78 2nd A venue (be /ween
Fourth and fifth Strut)
Lunch and difl1ler:doily
777·9070
he au rhc mici ry and qualirv of a n Ind ian restauram cou ld be-suspect
where tun afish cu rry is
the Frida )" night spec ia l.
But in IhC' C~ of Cu rry
Mahal . the SV;O (" 01 1('('
is a l ip-off 10 t he esrab lisbmc m -c-o ne rich with
ba rgains a nd var iet y. This
bouse is d ist inct from nearby
brot he rs on " Ind ian row," 61h
St IC('! between l SI a nd 2nd Av.
e nu cs. with chea pe r price s a nd
a lighte r at mo sp her e .
At first glance the scene is
remin iscent of a New O rleans
bo rde llo . guarded by d ark
suspicious-loo king wait ers.
Told it ' s a br ing- your-own
rest au rant . we cross the street
10 a liq uor store neon lit o nly
with t he lett ers IQ . forcing us
to wonder abo ut the' su rround .
jog me nta lity.
T he Cu rry Mah al d ining
room is a small. long , na rrow
corrido r lined with elaborately
pat ter ned red velvetee n wallpa pe r. Tables fo r tWO a nd four
arc pu shed alo ng t he walls a nd
spread with red colton tableclot hs and white pap e r placemats. Th e fake bri ck floors a rc
spo tless. Several o blong- shaped
ph oto re prints of Ind ia han g
on the walls. An orna te gold
clock ticks above a row of
ba ngles on t he kitchen doo r
where a cut-OUt pan el allows
t he waite rs t.O whisper throu gh
t he ir orders.
Th e eye stoppe r is the mulncolored p last ic flower ed bou quet dangl ing abov e the tab le
tops. W hen seared. the tall invariably knock thei r heads
aga inst t he ill-po sit ioned arrangem ents t hat also b lock a
view of your date . But th e- oddly shaped H awai ian -looking
morass or corer IS somehow
am using . As weirdl y homey a re
the pai nt ed me tal fish heads
th at serve as the light fixt ure s
at t he sid e of each table. An-
ot he r seemi ng Hawaiian derivat ive is I he mu sic - not t he
mourn fu l plink and wh ine- of
record e-d sou nds normallv
heard at nearbv Ind ia n row restauranrs. bu t a' sped u p .
(wang}'. funny versio n .
Th e menu is all exp er ime nt e r's d rea m - nearly everyt h ing
is well un der $6 . An orde r of
lam b kab ab d inner includ es
appe tize rs. Vegeta bles pap adum , nearl y weightle ss wafer s
a nd vege tab les pa kora. bot .
mild ly spiced, cr isp Inners su bd ue the violen ce of del iciously
hOI sp iced o nio n ga rni sh an d
accom pa ny ing gree n chi li
sauce. T his version o f mulligataw ny sou p is mi ssing th e usual
ch icke n and veget a ble b its a nd
tastes like ca n ned tom ato so up,
thi ckened with flour. Good
sweet man go chutney is also
supplied from the seve ral condimems avail able .
Their ma in cou rses a rrive in
small sunken bo wls- in fai r
proponion to th eir low p rices.
Th e lam b kebab com bines
spicy, te nde r chu nks of lam b
wit h o nion, to matoes and
green peppers . Th e accompan yin ~ parat a . a solid pan cake
of baked wheat dough . is 10 0
greasy. A stri ki ng d ish' called
ch icke n shag m ixes sp icy me at
wh h fre-sh coo ked sp inach t ha t
is at o nce ca nby and delicious.
h's accom pa nie d by sim ple
bo iled cabbage [d ai}. T he
warn in g t ha t rhe vind aloos arc
terrifically hOI is unfounded in
th e- veget able om" we- ger . cvcnhclcss. the mixtu re of firm
po tato . zucchin i an d carrot
chunks wit h peas is sarisfymg.
GOod yellow rice in a bu ndance
is doued with green peas a nd a
single bay leaf. A t h ick ler nil
sauce also a ppea rs 10 com piemcnt rhc rice and lea ven th e
would -be fiery spicin ess of rhe
vindalo o .
T he Indi a n dessert of Man go
ice'crcam is diffi cult 10 ap prcciall' as it is Floury rarher th a n
sugary. O n a gold pai nte d li n
arrive s a mo re inr eresrin g e nd ing -c-licori re swee tened fenn el
seeds a nd toot hp icks - a teo
m inde r of a down to ea rth . but
at
sam. e lime celest ial. d in .IO~t he
expenence .
•
Arbiter of the Taste
The $6 - 8/hr. studio
Where tomorrow's music
is rehearsed today
at yesterday's prices. 67~3763
14 EAST VilLAGE EYE MAY 1914
DOCTOR
ASK Dr.
MUELLER
I'M
DUBIOUS!
By COO K IE MUELLER
PLEASED TO
MEET YOU,
MR. DUBIOUS.
nly at th is time of
year arc all New
Yorkers uni ted in
one co mmo n cause
an d preoccu pati on .
Old . you ng . rich
poor. red . yellow.
b lack . white . br ight
and stupid are all
do ing th e same
th ing as they walk
down the st reet.
They' re 3.11 cruising
· . . experienCIng
the pangs of th e
vernal sex mot ivatio n brou ght about
by th e wea ring of
skimpy. clinging
outfits. Even sick
people do ir.
O f course the O lym pian way
to
do it is to wear rhc dark
glasses so thai you (a n op en ly
stare without being caught.
Here 's th e best method : As
yo u' re walking down the street
with your su n glasses on your
face and you .S('c a person who
arouses you r mterest , aver! your
he ad a linle in th e op pos ite
di rect ion . Th en )'OU can watch
the person all you want by
look ing from the corner of your
eyes. T hcy'H never know
because your head isn't aimed
at them . But then again )'OU
mi ~h t want them to know that
you' re inte rested . In th is case.
when )'OU ~e someone you
really like, you might as well
do it with some osten raio n and
Babylo nian splendor. StOP
.dead in your tracks and la)'
down at the person 's feet to
bar their way.
All of my recent letters and
phone q uestions arc about sex
and how good peo ple arc feeling about the " beautiful"
weath er. I hate to dam pen the
enthusiastic spi rits but I personally find spring rat her offensive. The reasons? ( I) l rruly
love the sun and warm weather
bUI not in New York Cit y
because I'm indoo rs at my
typewriter o r doing research in
some d usty Gothic homeopathic hideaway. (2) l thin k abo ut
leaving New York the minute
the tem peratu re hits ') <)0
because what good is it if there
is only concrete? People and
their new o utfits have to sup plant flowers, [fees and
beaches. This is not easy. (3)
Sp ring is always the harbinger
of summer which you'l l have
to ad mit is sickening in the city
when it gets so hot rhar the
cytoplasm in the cells of rhe
human body can cook JUSt like
the whites of hard boiled eggs.
Dear Dr , Mueller.
I' ve JUSt return ed from
Berlin where my finger nails
grew the longest thai they' ve
ever grown . Now I don ' t chew
my nails o r pick them but the )'
never Rrow as rapidly in New
York City. The climate was rhc
same. I did change m)' diet. I
ate meal because I JUSt
could n' t find 100 man y
vegetarian restau rants. I do eat
lots of chicken in New York
and beans and rice. I d rank lots
of beer there. and you know
abo ut the beer in Ge rmany.
Should I give my secret to the
peo ple that run the Revlon
Nail Bank?
. Love.
J ohn Heyes
is less full of toxins. as the
grass and fodder rhe meatbearing anim als ear is not
satu rated with poisons from the
air. Tal king about air ... the
q uality of the air )'OU breath e
anywhere outside of NYC has
Rot to be better. I noticed that
my nails and hair grow ben er
whenever I leave New York for
extend ed periods. Remember
tOO th at it 's 'I tot al holistic
thing . You were probably mo re
relaxed there. free from career
pressures and able to breath
deepl y (Iilerall)') . I believe thai
one of the most impo rtant
th ings for a person who lives
and wo rks in New York is to
Ret away from it fo r at least
two mont hs a year. There is
just such a bombard ment 10
rhe senses here thai it gets taxing, Even walking OUt o n the
srreet for a leisurely stroll can
be hair-raising. Car horns
blare, people scream at you.
you walk in dog shit, your feel
gel tangled in garbage. people
bu mp right into you and don' t
even say excuse me , buses will
mow you down. bicycl ists will
play chicken with you, taxi rab
doors open in your path and
some people will even laugh at
your shoes.
Love.
Dr, Mueller
Dear J oh n.
The answer is obvious. All
the food you consumed there is .Dea r Dr. Mueller.
I' m still not thoroughly
richer in B vitamins and protein, even the beer. Also. u's a satisfied witb the suggesrions
you gave about increasing pen is
well known fact th'lt the food
size. W hat's the deal?
Signed .
Dissatisfied
Dear Dissatisfied .
Wh en men are born without
the normal amount of male
hormones (testoste rone). hormone shots do increase all
secondary male characte ristics
includ ing pen is size. Now
don ' t run O UI and gel th ese
ShOIS, perhaps you should first
ge t a blood test 10 :see if the
ho rmone level is normal. Applying a 0 .2 % water miscible
o mtmcn t of testosterone 1I1t1J
produce some pen is growth,
but since testosterone is uriliz ed by the bod y through the
blood stream this is like trying
10 gel nutrient s to the brain b)'
wearing a Tcbone steak on your
head . Suction devices tha t you
sec in ads in magazines might
swell il up for a lill ie while
(not yo ur head , your pe rus.)
Love.
Dr . Mueller
lions. Th ere are so man y
considerations here that it
would lake me th ree o r. four
pages 10 tell them all to you .
Raw garlic. a veget arian diet ,
rutin . potassium . magnesium .
vitamin C and eating less are
some of the first suggesricns
you 'll read abo ut. Also. you
have 10 get rid of the emorional stress befo re any nutritional cure would be successful.
Maybe you should see a
psychiatrist ... no. lake a vacation . That 's an order.
Love.
Dr . Mueller
Dear Dr. Mueller.
I have hypertension and I'm
laking cata p res to redu ce the
blood pressure. I' ve noticed
that my desire for sexual relatio ns has decreased since I' ve
been laking these pills. I asked
my doctor and he keeps telling
me that I should see a psychiatrist instead . Do th ese pills
have any bearing on my problem?
Sincerely,
Unable
Dear Doc.
Last month I sent you a letter about 'I very famous person
who had his asshole removed . I
read it in th e POl l o r somewhere. I wondered where the
a~hole was taken and what was
left in the spo t. I was serious
and I want ed an answer. Also
what happen ed to your old
logo? It was greal.
Signed
A Person Wh o
WlInlS an Answer
Dear Unable,
Oh. please StOP laking this
stu ff. Ca ta pres causes im po renC)' . O ne of the other antihypertensives, Ismelin. causes
d ecreased ejaculation and renograde ejaculation. Reserpine.
another type of medicine used
for high blood pressure. causes
difficult ), with erections and
loss of libido.
High blood pressure is not a
disease, it is the body's comxrive and defensive measure 10
cope with things like o besity,
kidney disfuncrion s. toxem ia .
gland ular problems, fauh y
calcium meta bolism, Stress and
nervous tension . etc. You have
to go to a health food store
and buy a hook about hypertension and follow the d irer-
Dearest Person,
I answered your len er bU I
my ed itor didn 't prim it . He
always vetoes letters about
assholes.
I thin k thai this famous person's asshole was claimed by
adoringfa ns. As to what is now
in th e spot .. . the person must
look somet hi ng like 'I Barbie
doll.
Here's my lett er:
Dear Mr. Editor
W hy do )'OU always exclude
th ese kinds of letters? Also, I
want my oid logo back.
Love.
Doctor Mueller
THE VILLAGE-EAST
DENTAL GROUP
•
•
•
•
Quality Care at Reasonable Fees
The Most Modern Equipment & Services
Pediatric and Cosmetic Dentistry
Sports Dentistry & T.M.!. Care
•
•
•
•
Nitrous Oxide Available
Emphasis on Personal Care and Anxiety Control
Immediate Emergency Care
No Charge for Consultation
COSMETIC BONDING AVAILABLE
Many chipped. discolored or malformed teeth. as well as teeth with spaces between. can now
be repaired in one visit without drilling by the new conservative technique of bonding.
ALL UNION AND DENTAL INSURANCE PLANS ACCEPTED TOWARD PAYMENT
THE VILLAGE·EAST DENTAL GROUP
158 East 7th Street (be l. Ave . A 8< B)
Tel. 254-7459. 228-7112
Me
VISA
MAY 1' 14 EAST VilLAGEEYE 15
4 St. Mark. PI., NYC II101i3
982-3590
Rock & Roll 7b Wear
l
172 Spring St., NYC 10012
Send for Cata1<>,gae - $1
PHOTO, GENE coo.
•
u,
'"
(
i
It
t •
..-
226-0590
• , . -----=-~
• ETC.
tha t timeof the year
again, an fans-Apri l
{' S
showers br ing May club
openi ngs . Slated for
spring unveiling is Save
the Robo ts on picturesque A venue B between 2
& ; . Ab . yes, spring
does co me to Death
Valley. It ' s th e mir acle
of one StOP shop ping:
ge t your works in progens when you pic k up
your wo rks. Mean while.
over on su nny Aven ue
C. that connoisseu r of
the au courant . Veri
Parnes, is convert ing his
humble abod e int o a
mu lti-le vel nitespot to be
ch ristened Club Cha ndelier.
Maybe you can pin Mr .
Parn es down on an opening
d ate if you catch h is slide
show "Violating the
Frame ." Th ou ' s on May 5 at
SSC, As photog Mr. Parnes
has a "more the merrier" altitude towards a number of
'exposu res per frame . Last
show fea tured mobs of mud
wrestlers bursting OU t of
Cuc hifruo sta nds.
As the Lower East Side
continued to sink benea t h a
tidal wave of gesso.
Ano nymous Prod uctions
mad e a heroic effo rt to
cata logue me debris. It was a
one-size fits all fet e: a preview
(avec cataloguel} for the limbo Lounge An Au ction on
April 2, as well as an o ppcrtu nity for bridge and tunnel
cultu re vultures to hobnob
with th e valedi ctorians of the
School of Tompkins Sq uare.
Performances on the cavernou s l st floor by the likes of
the Sleazeb uckets, Karen
Finley , and a duo of volupruous torch singers on a
tra peze helped round OUt th e
evening . Another successfu l
Anonymous bash -thou gh
one question lingers in t he
mind of at least th is spectator
... was m is an or April
Fools?
Co mi ng u p in June , P.S.
122 is sponsoring a worst performa nce festival . Emc~~d.. by
th~ u nsin k abl~ Jim Four:m,
judged by P.S. 122's Mike
Russell and Ho lly Hughes of
W .O .W., th ~ f~stiva l is aimed
at scrap ing th e absolu te bot to m of the barrel . S ur~ ... it 's
been d on~ .. . but not wit h
BC is gett ing so popular, wha t
with Toul ouse Wom en and all,
that huge lines of cultu re
fiends are lining up ou tside the
door on weekends so get there
ea rly fo r goodness sake.
Th e old TR3 space on We st
Broadw ay has gene t hroug h a
few incarn ations since m en ,
Srillwende. Clu b Masque. and
now Pep Lounge mastermind '
Frank Roccio and fashion figure
sup reme Sally Beers have teamed up to recreate the space as
Nig ht Gallery. wh ich features.
" .
NST IN THOMAS
you guessed it - paintings! .
O ne unusual t hreeso me seen
chatt ing toget her - director
Pen elope: Spbeeris, Laure n
Hutton and Dcmiaiana Gio edane (th e female star of Andrei
'Tarkhovsky' s NOllalghitJ) at th e
open ing pany for Sphee ris'
SuhurbitJ at Area. .
Those sticky patch es on the
floor of W .O.W , Cafe are th e
aft ermath of Karen Srroker's
recent performa nce . which
ended with Strokes an d Brier
,Arbelius dow ning a couple
cans' wonh of Hers hey' s
choco late syru p. Watch th ose
waistlines, honeys ... Wasn 't
that full page picture of Ann
Some joken at A nn~ ~n'5 Hanoi Rocks party.
Magnuson in the last Vanity
opened the B-Side Gallery with srudly stuff on Florida' s
Fair spe ll. bind ing ? Bigshct
balm y beaches ... Bobby
writer and editor David Hera Shafraai-hk e fren zy- it 's
Bradley' s Fellini party at
righ t beh ind nighti ngal e Pat
shkowitz is sta rti ng up his own
Limelight was even bet ter
Hea rn's gallery on 6th and B.
. monthl y mag , to be calle d .. .
than seing Arma(ord. You
The Paper! An other mom enRick Prol and Bobby G . w~r~
wou ldn't be lieve the decadence tou s occasion in modern jou ramon g the painters she
An nie Deon and ou r own
nali sm occured when
assembled, and the resulting
Richa rd Fantina threw a lavish
Newlweek covered th e Life
party at Dancereria was sim ply
party for Ha noi Rocks at Anall-scar. O utsi de Radio City
Cafe and Gracie Mansion nie' s fab loft. Annie was really
Th e fabul ous Franz List was
' Mw ic Hall where john Sex led
perhaps the foremost expo nen t
turn ing th e dud es on in her
.an expedition to see Liberace
tight black span dex ... D ian e
of me ritocracy, excelling
th at include d Keith Haring
Brill- a well kno wn femme
aristocracy. Before th is most
and Bobby Beadley, th e
fata le - is in the new Car' s
charismatic of geniuses , artists
reformed pom Stat was signing
video. ah. let 's get m at
usu ally entered th e palace
' autugraphs and-lovingly
straig h t, the Cars are in the
th rough t he servants' q uarters.
' smooch ing ado ring gran nies ,
Yet aristocracy still prevails,
land even d id a spot for Live AI new D ianne Brill video, afte r
all the Eye and Details are in
witn ess the pages of publicity
·Fi" . An dy bought Mr. Sex a
the Brill Buildin g , aren' t we??? tha t do-nothing David Kenlovely p resent for his
Ace carrocnist james
ned y got for dep arting thi s
birthday party at th e
Romberger just finished up the
mortal veil while Count Basie
Pyramid . . .
animation for Bob Dylan 's new
himself wh o died the sam e
Liberace 's performance,
video. and it 's go nna be real
da y, was relegated to a half
besides bein g a record buster.
ugly. Ugly-beautifu l, ya
page stashed way towa rd the
was probabl y one of th ose
understand ... The sixties
back of the dailies . Of course ,
one in a lifetim e th ings. His
scenesrer sad ly seems to have
the Cou nt 'S music will still be
jokes were timely an d wiit y,.
lost h is sp iritual stri vings and is making me pany lively c~ n ·
His C hopin was xnsitive and
once agai n saving thi ngs that
tu ries aft ~ r th e Kennedys no
fed ing-provoking , h is sets
will
probably
land
h
im
in
lo ng~r fascin:n~ . Would that
with the fabl ~d d a nc in~
hellfire for sure: . ..
society cou ld accord ou r Bachs
wat~rs, candelabras. shifting
Erik KiUi O~n ' s New Math
and Chopins th e appreciat io n
backdrops and Rockeue:s
opening iIIustrat~d JUSt how
our d esc~nda nt s will . . . W~ ar~
were eye clean ing , and h is
popu lar goth ic and spoo ky
pleased to annouce th at Hen ry .
.costumes are q u ite justl y, tax
motifs a r~ with your art lov~ rs
dedu ctibl e . . .
Beck, v~t~ran of hundreds of
... Th e Roxy is heating up like
. If yo:u notice a few barely
l~gendary high.financ~
th~ a fo r~ me nt io n~ d hel lfir~ .
busin~ss d eals has signed on
muted sobs coming from th~
hon~y s . . . How can you tOP a
with us as ou r new ad
uSUsal cast, it ' s cause Tanya
bin hday part y for Chaka
man ager , and h ~ ' s a l r~ady
,Ransom is threat~nin g to
Kh an ??? O f course: sh~ sang! 8
makin g us rich !
d~xn . Hummph ! The
ou trageous mural in t he J ohn
Lydon Memo rial Lounge . True .
he and illustrious Stephe n .
Kroninger w~re sported in the
mufal reading the Eye, but
seriously folks, Davis' shadesof
G rosz on da yglo has begu n
eliciting a variety of visceral '
reactions at Colin de Land ' s
new Vox Populi gallery on
Clinton Street:y' know Piezo
Electric ' s o ld home .
Roll over gallery gals! Here
comes Karen Scarp ulla, who
prizes and a m andatory swim suit competition . Festival
organizers Robin Epstein and
Sarah Schulman cau tio n th is
event will not be for the
squeamis h.
J ust when you beg an to
think sp ring in N .Y.c. was
heralded by litt le more th an
th awin g dog turds, Kamikaze
. rem inds us of that ot her fine
sp ringtime trad ition . Th at' s
righ t. They're pla nni ng a
debutante ball. An all star .
committee featu ring such
luminaries as Rud olf, Diane
BriU,Jacki While of Fashion
Moda , Michae l Limbo - 21
(cou nt 'eml) in all-is co ming up with th e coming out.
Fo r t hose of us who JUSt
can ' t swing t hat summer
sha re - don' t despair . Th ere
is life beyond j ones Beach .
Dancereria will open a branch
i " the Hampt ons . ..
No w it can be told! The true
story of how the Eye taught
Robin (" Mork Meets Moscow" )
WiUi2ms the me aning of gentrifkarion . " By accident I happened to be standing next to
Rob in d u ring a break in
shooting MOICOW on the HudIon o n East 7th," recalls Eye
reporter Arlene Hellerm an.
" 'Nice neighborhood .' he
remarked . To which I rep lied ,
' But not for long - it 'S being
ge ntrified.' Hear ing t his new
word aroused his curiosity so 1
. had to exp lain. H ~ got t he
message. ' O h ,' he said , sou nd ing l i k~ an old codg~ r in
Tom bstone, Arizona . 'that's
when all th~ rick folks mov~ in
an' kic.k all t he poor folks OUt .'
' You got it ,' I said . Bf th e
way, Robin said he liked the
Eye a lot - can w~ g iv~ him a
su b?" O nly if h~ come} to th~
office! .. , Eye art dir~ct or Mark
Michae lson insists th at t h~ only
great thing about Steven
Sty le>s r~c~nt grou p show :at
Kam ikaze wasJ oe Davis'
;======~iiiiiii
coward ! Th e girl h as gone n
not io ns of Hollywood in her
head and the re is no Slopping
he r ... Um bo Lou nge was
aided , but despite the repression of the fascists militaryindustrial complex , th e spirit
of the t he lou nge is in.
domirable ... Steve M2SS is
innccend , .. Craig
Vanderberg rocked the hou se
with mu sic and laughter pany
at the Cat Cl ub . He has JUSt
returned from stru tt ing his
ALL OF US AT
EAST VILLAGE EYE
INVITE YOU TO
CELE BRATE OUR
FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16TH
DANCETERIA
30 WES T 21ST STREET, NYC
PE Rl'ORMANCES BY
;~ B USTER
"',.
POINDEXTER
WARMUP BY GLENN O'BRIE N
NE WCLEUS
("JAM ON IT' ~
COMPLIMENTA R Y ADMISSION WITH THIS INVITATION
•
MAl.'" EAST VILLAGE EYE 17
WE.ST 14TH STREET
/
SUBWAY
I
"'::>z
"'><
~
I
c
;;;
ROCK HOTEL
113 JAN E STRUT
1 ::12:
THE JANE WEST HOTEL $18
929-8632
'"z
I~
" In t h e Village on the Hudson "
DAY/uP
$79 WEEKIUP
WEST 12TI1 STREET
Carlton Arms Hotel
"ww
0,
8
~
~
~'
%
•
,
z
n
N
~
<
w
o
~
val ue the p restige associa ted
CARL"'~ A~'\S
C O " ..1 1l 311C ... .. r....,'
__
with staying at a inJ.lon Hotel.
.
896185
.
~~./
•
o
~~~
Whether holdin g co nferences
in the grac ious surround ings o f
their hotel room or
cont aeti~ g
CA1t,-1tlN'
clients at their offi ces, they find a J.Wl.4en
1§~~s enhances their business standing.
Th e convenient loca tion!. modern accommoda tions
,
~v'll:;'
K,-lly
c_.~<'lO""""S
and distinctive character make J:H+ten HotelJ the
ideal headqu art ers for men and women. .....
BUCIMAGE
THE UGLY ,'
APRIL 15,1-6
People & Places
Christopher Sippel
May 17 to June 21 Two Photo Shows April 19 to May 16
Through a Lens Lightly
Ann Sanfedele
11 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914
..
...
•••
,
"
DI\'[\,E TIIE.\TRE
I lH E S E ~TS
ZASTROZZI
THE MASTER OF DISCIPLINE
hI' ( ; E( »(;E \\AUi.ER
MAY 3-26
Thurs-Sat. HPM
Sal. Matinee 2 PM
Sf>nr TI JF plll~ 5 l.S0
477·llIi,7
Ik'>C r\ ;H ~ ,n~:
) JI VI r\I ': TIII,:tiI R E
:; 0 E. 71h Strc-c·!
'
,"YC : 1000.>
,
MAY AT FRANKLIN FURNACE
Exhibitions
ICELAND: THE ART REVEALED
JIM PRIDGEON, Inside the Brain
FOUND LANGUAGE, group show
curated by Larry List,
opens May 30, 6-8 prn
Perfonnanc88
May
'May
8:30 pm $5
3 ALEX MAVRO
4
MAGNUS PALSSON with
Alison Knowles. Rip
Hayman, Philip Corner, and
Vivien La Mathe ·6:30 pm
May 6 SNAP with films by
performan ce artists
May 10 RON LlTTKE and
BENITA ABRAMS
May 31 LIN OSTERHAGE
112 FRANKLIN STREET 925-4671
20 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914
You are c ordially invited to
FRANKLIN FURNACE'S
8th ANNIVERSARY
A speci al eveninq featuring
BENEFIT ART SAL E,
PERFORM AN CE S
and VID EO SC REEN IN GS
by tooa v's lead ing artists,
MAY 21, 1984
6:30 - MIDNIGHT
at Ronald Feldman Fine A/Is . NYC
Gall tor reser va tions & Info
925 ·467 1
. ......
-.:-~'fH
_ by f 'Ktiow
0IcI0n41
00';"
co' er
~ Jeff a."'.:~
2000.
mnr... ..
MAY 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 21
---
I"e
ct One, Scen~ One. An apartment on the third floor of 13 E.
Third St., three floors above the decomposing railroad flat
whe"re Bill Rice used to live, and where he still has his painting
studio. In 1978 the downstairs space and backyard area
tarted being used for productions 01 The New York Theater of
the Obvious, whose original members were Bill Rice, Terry!
Robinson, George-Therese Dickenson, Mag gie Higgs, James
Presley, Bruce Rich and Gary Indiana. later production s at the
Mudd Club and The Performing Garage also featured Tina
l 'hot sky~ Vicki Pedersen, Cookie Mueller, Taylor Mead ,
Sharon Niesp, Robin Harvey, Allen Frame, Patrick Fox, Kirstin Bates, Donald west, John
Heys, Kevin Bradigan, Betsy Sussler, Viva , and Mary l ou Fogarty. The original theater had
an upright piano and a defective phonograph, crooked 1I0ors , eccentric seating and many
paintings by Bill Rice. The upstairs apartment is lull of bOOKSand memorabilia, more Bill
Rice paintings , and overloo ks the Men 's Sheher.)
.
Indiana: We 're supposed to
. . . travel down memory
lane a bit . Maybe I can
begin by asking about
Patricia Highsmith's going·
away party.
Rice: '52. Summer of '52.
It was at Provincetown l anding. and they were all
wearing trenchcoats. That's
about all I remember.
Indiana: What was the East
Village like in the 50s? •
Rice : I never got east of
Broadway . I was living in
the West Village in the 50s.
In the 50s the lesbians were
much more out than the gay
men. And the lesbian bars
were more interesting. I
seldom came over here . .
There wasn't much beyond
the Cedar Tavern. and that
was on Irving Place . In the
50s I was painting. I moved
over here in '1960. I lived on
Great Jones Street , above
the Great Jones Cafe. I had
a 10ft there. I wasn' t involved wIth theater at all.
Indiana: When did you first
do theater?
Rice : In 1976. Gabriel
OCean's mime drama called
Raisin Pie and the Hermaphroditic Umbrella . I
played a gentleman of a certain age who picks up a
hustler in a colfee shop and
lakes him home. The
hustler steals his umbrella.
This was a story by Elmer
Klein, that Gabriel adapted.
I've heard that Rosa von
Praunbelm fifmed it, but I'm
not sure. Something called
Foreigners and Immigrants ,
orArtistsand Immigrants
. . . like a collage. Vaccaro,
Jackie Curtis. maybe even
Bill Burroughs, 1did it on a
dare. Then t did Plebians
Rehearse the Uprising , and
there I met Eric Mitchell.
because Eric was in the
play,
Indiana: Was he a plebian?
Rice: Yes, he certainly was.
He said he was making a
mm and he was interested
in using me, but it never
worked out. Then I mel
Scott and Beth (B). Eric in-
traduced me-to them. They
were getting' a film together
and Eric had recommended
me for the part, so they
wrote me a letter. Then I
did G-Man. That was my
first film. I fell into it. Then
Letters to Dad, which they
got together in a moment's
notice . . . I love that ftlm .
Indiana: When did you meet
me?
Rice; I think it was in '78,
wasn't it? I think we met at
Max's when we were showing one of the episodes of
The Offenders . No. we met
at The Bar. Somebody introduced us.
Indiana: Maybe Tina
L'HOlsky,
Rice: I don 't think it
could've been . not in the
bar.
Indiana : Tina went in The
Bar in those days. They
had1t hose lillie tables.
Rice : That's right. That's
when it was La Boheme.
'78,
Indiana; I think you were
one of the first people I met
in New York. I came in '78,
and t met you and John
Lurie. 1met John through
Evan. because I'd met Evan
in Boston. Oh, you did
Voidcville, that year.
Rice: Right. With Fred
Bessec and Ruby l ynne
Rainer, Richard Weinstock.
Indiana; And IhenRice: Then, that was the
summer of '78, Terry
(Robinson ) told me you
were interested in doing
something in the back yard,
and he wanted to do his
piece. so we did those
things in - what was it,
four days?
Indiana: Four days, tops.
Rice; Red Tide. that was the
first .
Indiana: That was done in
four days, with P(OPS from
the novelty shop on Second
Avenue, and dry ice from
somewhere.
Rice: You got your sheath
off a fire hydrant on the
Bowery for Anne Flaubert.
Indiana: It was tied around
a parking meter in front of
Phoebe's
Rice : We did Terry Robinson's Second Thoughts. we
did Red Tide, we did Anne
Flaubert. and we did Minding the Store. That' s the
picture there from Custody.
Gary , you're supposed to
say something in this interview. That fall was Alligator
Girls.
India na : It had to be '79.
no? Alligator Girls Go To
College. That was the epic.
You played. let's see, how
many roles?
Rice : I played a teacher. [
also gave a lecture . . . I
was also a biology professor, and I was Eddie
Indiana: Eddie the guy next
door. who gets a pie in the
face - and every time you
gOI Ihe pie in the face that
little brat who was my
assistant didn't have the
towel tor you. Oh. God remember Monte?
Rice: Uh-huh.
Indiana: Monte was so interesting. He was a merchant marine. and he was
also a staple gun queen at
Bloomingdale'S when he
was in town. He was about
to ship out to Hong Kong
again when I met him, he
spoke Chinese Rice: How on earth did that
come out?
Indiana: Sometimes at
rehearsals at the Mudd Club
we would steal out to
Chinatown and Monte would
order in Chinese. I was so
impressed. Monte Streitfield. I met him in The Bar
one day when I was com-
•
2HAST V il LAGE EYE MAY 1914
... .
Rice : I think somebody
should say something about
Jeff Weiss .
Indiana: Jeff is one al the
truly fantastic people , I've
seen him do things that
nobody can do. like going
up the side 01 a wall , he 'd
generated so much energy,
I saw him one night in How
The Rent Gets Paid just
walk up the side of a wall ,
the wall wasn 't enough 10
break his momentum and then sometimes Ethyl'
Eichelberger gets that way .
too . . . and they all have
so many imitators. AI Pacino
has, in his bedroom , hundreds of photographs of
Taylor Mead. pinned up
. but there's something
about Taylor that 's just too
much lor the American
public. Maybe it's 100 real
or something.
Rice: I don't think that
bothers Taylor . II never did .
lndiana: American society
makes it so advantageous
and attractive for people to
conform to its own boundaries. They like homosex·
uality now, I gather .
R~e : They're learning to
like it. God help us when
Ihey tinally do.
Indiana: They'll probably
have these machines you
can put on your head to
change your sexual orientalion.
Rice: In the 50s. in the
West Village , the girls were
all over the place, the lesbians travelled in gangs.
There was the meat rack in
Washington Square, and
then those deadly gay bars
- Mary 's, the old la ndmark, almost totally dark in
there , everybody was standing around in attitudes, not
making one move, There
was only one integrated bar,
that was the Riviera, The
only time you could go and
relax with black people was
in the Riviera. It was a
wonderful bar. There
weren 't very many, it was
all coffee shops : the San
Remo. There were some
mixed bars , almost like The
Bar.
Indiana: Well, I came out 01
such conformity that I reatly
believed that there were
maybe ten or fifteen
homosexuals in the entire
world .
Rice : So did I, what else
were you supposed to
think?
Indiana: Then when I saw
them in reallite. I was so
scared!
Rice: Dh. they turned me off
completely . It took me nearly two years - I came
down to the Village because
I was gay, basically, and 1\
wanted to find other gay
people that I found attractive. But there was no way,
because of the repression .
I'm sure they were no different then than they are
now, but my attnude was so
shaped by Ihe world I'd
been living in, there was no
way I could even make
physical contact. 11 wasn 't
until I met the lirst black
person that I was able to do
that. and that wasn 't
because of me, it was
because of him. Because he
wasn 't hung up .
. 4 .~ . . . . _
. ~ . . .. .. . . ~
- -~" " '
-
'
- "
.'
- - - - -- - - '!l-
• -
'''''::"11'' .-.-,..... -
our members.
Indiana: As have we aiL
Rice : But we expect they 'll
very clearly at all.
be back. (Pause) BUI I
don't really have what you'd Rite: It's the scene where
you give birth.
call a point of view .
Indiana: No wonder I don't
Indiana: I think that's
remember it. Bill. what do
refreshing, Bilt .
you see as the chances for
Rice: Oh , do you?
a major nuclear war in the
Indiana: Yes .
next few years?
Rice: I've been shopping
Rice : Oh, pretty good! No
around lor one , but haven't
problem! Glad you brought
come up with anything.
that up. High time, from
(Act Two , Scene Two.
what I gather.
Later, that same evening.)
Indiana: People seem conIndiana: You know, I think
cerned about this topic.
we 're lucky to have lived
Rice : What. nuclear
long enough to see a
Renaissance 01 mediocrity in destruction?
Indiana: Yes, nuclear
New York .
.destruction
. .. and also ,
Rice : I don't like that cube
whether or not to buy a
on SI. Mark's Place, I've
home computer.
been meaning to mention
Rice: When you put the two
that. Can I take this opportogether, you get dynamite.
tunity?
Indiana: Please do. I've had , Look at thai kid Matthew
my own difficulties with that who made thai War Games
film, he's making a million
cuoe.
dollars
now.
Rice : Now, a friend of mine,
Indiana:
Don't you think
Paul Thek. has wonderful
we
'd
be
better
off?
ideas for outdoor enRice: We could be.
vironments, and I don't
Indiana: The young people I
think he 's ever been listeninto, they worry so
run
ed to, in that respect, 1, as
much
about their cuticles
well , have ideas. Using
..
.
let's
get back to the
bricks. Found objects, and
real
estate
empire you've
one of my great crusades is
been
amassing
down here
to reconstruct the Third
in
the
l
ower
E
ast
Side.
Avenue EI, using found
R
tee
:
I'd
rather
net
talk
materials from the streets of
about
it.
the Bowery and just all the
Indiana: Well, I think the
Bowery, and I think if we
public has a right to know.
just brought it back from
Rice: When Channel 4
Houston Street right up to
comes down here I'll talk
14th Street. it could be like about ii, but not until. I
a Bar Gar, sort of a l ucius
have some holdings.
Beebe type of thing, and it Indiana: Well, I've heard it
would all be done with
said that Bill Rice is " sitting
neighborhood work and
pretty. " What exactly does
community cooperation . We that mean?
can just construct jt. I'm
Rice: It must be a reference
sure that somebody down
to Clifton Webb of some
here has the original plans. kind .
II wouldn' t be an ambitious
Indiana: Is it true that
thing to do, I think just lrom you 're playing the Clifton
Houston Street 10 14th,
Webb role in the Brian
that's limited . That's one of DePalma remake 01 Sitting
my great dreams.
Pretty'?
Rice: That' s right.
Indiana: You also have
ideas for a cosmetics firm?
Rice : Yes , I do. They 're sort
of in their germinal phases
right now. I have some girls
who are giVing me a lot of
input . . . it involves rouge,
I'd rather not talk about it
further. People don't use
rouge any more, you know .
Indiana: They realty don 't.
Now, Bill, you've appeared
in a lot of movies recenltyR~e : Then there are
depilatories. I'm planning to
get into that in a big way .
Indiana: Is there any truth
10 the rumor that you 've
found a kind of napalm base
for depilatories?
Rice : I found a cache of
napalm in upstate New
Indiana: And that Tuesday
York, I was up there visiting Weldsome friends. Kevin
Rice: We 're filming it in
Bradiganliberia.
Indiana: Kevin Bradigan Indiana: That's an excellent
the last time I worked with
choice. I was in liberia last
you I had to have plastic
year, just for a few days. I
surgery.
Don't order the shrimp.
Rice: That film is coming
Rice: I think over the years ,
out. The snon. Happy life
a lot can be said for many
of Sissy McUpton.
things , don't you?
Indiana: Oh , my God.
Indiana: I would say so.
Rice: With l arry Ray , Jackie The longer you live the more
Curtis. Taylor Mead.
there is 10 say about
your scene with Taylor iseverything. And at the same
Indiana: Huh?
lime. the less reason there
Rice : Your scene with
is to say anything.
Taylor isRice: But I would say Ivy
Indiana: I dan', remember it Cornpton-Bernett. and
Thomas Beer, thai about
says everything. about
reali ty.
One of
my great
crusades
is to
reconstruct
the Third' "
Avenue EI.
here on East 3rd street .
Rice: Hither and yon , Here
and there.
Indiana: Is this like the
Crackerjack box , where
there's a hidden surprise?
Rice: We hope so , anyway.
I'm not quite sure what that
would be. How did you lind
out about that?
Indiana: I always try to do a
bit of digging before I interview anyone. To tell you the
truth, I can 'I keep anything .
straight withoutRice : Spade work?
Indiana: Spade work , I
guess you could call it that.
Rice: Don't you have a
pause button on th is thing?
lndiana: No, this is just going to run on continuously:....
This is the kind of tape
recorder you just don 't turn
off. Bill, you and I have
both been.kickinq around
the East Village fOF:a long
time, and I guess we've
seen people come and go,
haven't we?
Rice : I've seen a lot of them
come . More of them go. aCT
lually.
Indiana: More come than
go. but then more go than
come , in a funny way too .
Rice : 1I's like sperm warfare.
Indiana: I thought it was
odd when aU those galleries
began springing up all over
the place that you had n't
been tapped to show your
work. And the only thing I
can think of is, that
everybody stole an their
ideas from you .
Rice : Well , my work is
stale . That's basically it.
Indiana: But that's what
makes it so fresh, Bill.
Rice: You think so?
Indiana: I think the
staleness of your work is
really its originality.
,
MAT 1914 EAST VILlAGE EYE 23
The Way
I Was
ill·
reicn
year ,
q itied
o rile about
life on the Lower East Side a
quarter'cenl ury ago. I moved inlo
239 East ~ n d Street, between
Avenues B and C. in early 1960.
Gelling a pad wasn 't all that difficult then. I was tipped off about
the possible availability of the
apartment and went to see It.
Muller, the old German-American
who was the super for the bu ild'
ing showed me the two room ,
$25-a-month place. a fairly
average rent then. later I found
out he had been born at the turn
of the century , on board a small
German Ireiqhter which plied the
Pacific captained by his lather.
The price seemed right. There
was the obligatory bathtub in the
kitchen-dining room-bamroom
, . . the loilet was on the staircase. The rent included central
healing and the few slicks of furniture there: the place laced
south over Houston street and
was flooded with light. I took it
and lived in it till 1977.
Af the dawn 01 the sixties the
Lower East Side had not, as yet,
achieved its later, hippie-born
notoriety. It slumbered on , not
much disturbed by the scattering
of bohemian spirits who were attracted by the low rents, cheap
space and nearness 01 our mecca ,
the Village -Greenwich Village .
W.H. Auden lived on St. Mark's
Place. William Burroughs had a
place on Avenue C. and Claes
Oldenbu rg's pop an creanons
inter 01
d been
rt. by
arch
re was already t at Iu summer
energy in the air. People
just went out all the time,
and nobody complained
about boredom , because
the scene never had been
*better than that. And there
was so much going on !
I
adorned the store window of his
" Ray Gun" gallery and happen ing scene on East 2nd Street between Avenue A and tst. .
If you want to know what the
area looked like in the early sixties you can ta ke a stroll on the
blocks on both sides of tst
Avenue today , north from East
2nd . Except for the lew cafes.
boutiques and little art galleries
which have crept in. the neighborhood has.not changed that
much. Further east it was dillerent then: on Avenue C between
2nd and 10th Streets there were
still many pushcarts in the street,
selling pickles, notions. hardware. everything that had been
peddled in the area for decades.
Most of the inhabitants were
Jews. Italians. Ukrainians. Germans. There were very few
blacks or Puerto Ricans. There
were still quite a few people left
over from the decades 01 the
great melting pot. lrom the many
years 01 the mass migrations from
Europe in the nineteenth century .
My landlady, a Mrs. Brecht. had
been born in the house I lived in.
Her grandfather had built the
building in the 1870s; the family
had boughl the ground earlier
Irom the Peter Stuyvesant estate.
As a lillie girl she remembered
being taken to lenox Hall down
the block to see and hear Theo dore Roosevell campaign lor the
Presidency.
peared . Where are tl'ey?
It would be the last
What were their names?
summer of grand old
Studio 54. The club was at . . . Gone with the Wind
... 1979 marked the end
its pinnacle and parties
01 the great loll-parties.
were wild and luxurious
A time when everybody
like belore the- fall 01 the
Roman Empire. And all the
was wondering what was
fags in town filled their
going to happen 10 Soho.
Now we know .
moulh every time they
mentioned SStudio FFFiftty·
It was also the last year
in which everybody could
fffour! Interview was their
Bible, and they were
still live in the East Village
glifter·blind followers.
for a $120 rent. One could
At the same time, that
alford to be a bohemian.
was the year to frequent
Then. in the middle of that
the Mudd Club. Being
'79. I saw the lirst issu e
there was so glamorous!
01 the East ViI/age Eye . I
New Wave was " beloreremember all the Irendies
mainstream" and we were on the second 1I0or 01 the
the only ones to know. A
Mudd Club talking about
whole generation 01big
it! Everything was so unegos that " should be fapredictable- including lhe
mous by now " was hanglact that you never knew
ing out there . . . .. every when it would come oul! A
nite! every nite 01 that entotal surprise! One used to
tire year 01 1979! Then
bUy it at a newsstand on
there were all those other
2nd and St Marks, after a
people who were there all
royal dinner at Ihe old
the time and then disapKiev , when the lirst lights
24 EAST V.tUAGl' EY£ illY ItI4
Up on 10th Street run Kupferberg, laler 01Fugs fame. was
publishing his delightful pamphlets with Sylvia Topp. Another
later Fug. Ed Sanders. ran the
Peace Eye bookstore on , Oth
Street and scandalized the authorilies with such poetry magazines
as Fuck You! The Beat poets 01
the time read their verses, sometimes to jazz accompaniment. at
the Metro . a cavernous and
antique-stuffed cate on 2nd
Avenue . A sealood restaurant
now stands where Tuli , Allen and
the late Ted Berrigan strutted
their poetic stuff. Jazz drew ils
devotees to Slug 's and The Old
Faithful. both on East 3rd Street.
right next door to an old movie
01the morning were approaching and all the
bums were snn-coicasleep. Then. one would
go home, preferably with
somebody . and lay the
paper aside. to read it lor
breakfast at 5 in the afternoon . . . slowly getting
ready for a nocturnal and
now sporadic stop at
CBGB 's .. . Rough Trade
was the arbiter of mu sical
taste , and Wet magazine
and File were required
reading .
You r general culture
would also not be complete
without the ritual research
01the pag'es of Soho
News. a mu st! To be terminally " In" also required
consultation with Addix.
Manhattan Catalogue and
all the weird pamphlets
that were comi ng out all
the time: Bikini Girl.
..
Smegma , Praxis. etc. . . .
It wa s so wonderful to
read about ' 'the world of
tomorrow" ano once . a
whole issue' was dedicated
to " Fashion in 1984."
The predictions were. naturally, as accurate as the
ones 01 Popular uecnen-
•
theatre , the New American Cinemaowhose slogan was " Always a
Good Program for the Whole Family." It cost 25" 10 enjoy the show
in the highly uncomfortable wood en chairs. The l oew's on Avenue
B was the first cinema built by
Marcus toew . the founder of the
Metro Goldwyn Mayer empire.
Below Houston. at the Winston ,
you could enjoy three leatures.
plus the coming attractions for
the next three programs. nine in
all, lor the princely sum of 60'.
Orchard Street was just another
shopping street, but Katz ' already
anracteo the throngs pi pastrami
devotees; the fancier crowd went
to the elegant Ratner' s on 2nd
Avenu~ , which stayed open all
night. The basket of rolls they put
on the table was a meal in itself .
As the sixties progressed and
the Village grew too expensive to
live in, more ano more of the
avant-qarde discovered the joys
of cheap living on the l ower East
Side. The term " East Village"
was coined by sly.real estate
brokers such as 0.0. Stein on
Avenue B. whose weekly ads in
the Village Voice promised cheap
pads in the Wild East. In 1965
the East Village Other was born.
The summer 01 love, the hippie
invasion and all it brought with it
were 'round the corner. And now
the damn area is being Soho-ized
and gentrified. Oh well, damn
nostalgia. or, in the immortal
words of Mort Sahl. " The Future
lies Ahead ."
ics. many years before.
As a mailer of fact, Pop
Mechanix was the style to
follow. Everything was
supposed to be austere
and post-industrial. certainly it was the design inspiration 01 f raserhead.
And that him just drove
everybody crazy .. .
ertaln places tried 10
anticipate the Brave
New World lor fun
and no profit: it was
the most creative
year of Club 57 on
SI. Marks Place , as
well as 01 Tier 3 in
Tribeca. II anything
new and revolutionary was experimental in
these 5 years. it certainly
started out there. Those
were the real events with
anliclimaxes! Plus ears
ringing becau se 01bad
loudspea kers! The lack 01
air-conditioning was de
rigueur . . . Conceptual Art
finally agonized and , of
course , noboely noticed .
1979 was also the year in
which Manhallan Sleaze
was at its best! All those
bars in the West Side, and
the Mineshaft at its
highest-lowest poinl !
Fucking was so simple
and harmless in those
days .. .
We also were blessed
with real scummy afterhours clubs. Lots of them!
Opening and closing all the
time! How can one forget
the Crisco at the peak ?
And the eternal Nursery
(then at University Place)
and, underworld-supreme .
the Club 82 or Stickball.
Sex and drugs in the
dungeons ... no limits!
Sleazy discos were also
everywhere. The king was ,
of course , G.G . Barnum 's
with its all-tran svestite
show -and clientele! And
Inferno, really trashy, was
on 19th 51. and 5th
Avenue. The Fu nhouse
also opened that year and
Quickly became what it is
now - just that this wasn't
fash ionable then ! So many
other places to go! Remember Studio 10, the
yippie place on Bleecker
and Bowery? And the
Tomato, on 27th and 8th
Ave .? And Heat down
there in Tribeca? And the
conlimted on J4
·.. . er Times
. ies was the decade that extended
1958 to 1973; nwas pretty busy and
ed a few extra years to meet hs deade. he fifties were McCarthy repression,
s, Barbie, Barbs, Beat and Booze . There
were n e sp pers and the onty professional was A.J.
leibling; Wobbty voices in the wilderness crying , " Oh the
epiphanies, Oh the epiphanies." Kerouac sucking his Bud
and Ginsberg sucking his buddy, cried , " Oh wot a bad
boy I be," and on an island named Bikini they exploded
the Bomb; fifty million wimps jumped Into the closet , some
creatures crept out 01 the woodpile to service their
daughters. The word was YOU .
and spotted Jaakov Kohn , survivor of the Holocaust, exIsraeli commando, West Village (ava nt-garde) jeweler,
socialist and editnr-in-chlef of the f ast Village Other. EVO ,
klddles, was the counter-cuhu re newspaper of New York
in the sixties - hallowed be hs name.
" Wotcha' gonna be when you grow up ?," I yelled to
Jaak back then . " I'm gonna have some fun , change a
nelghborhood rag into a political powerhouse, make a
cuhural revolution and get high." "Wotcha ' gonna do
when you grow up, Nat?" " I' m gonna shatter the windows and knock down the walls, help in a revolution, get
high and splh." Recentty I visited Jaakov at his apartment
in Gateway Piaza . The sixties ' revolutionaries are n't throwing bills on the floor of the stoc k exchange anymore.
The seventies didn't exist, everybody was too tired.
They're working at their papa's stores or raking bills off
There was, I suppose, Masters and Johnson, masturbathe noor of the stock exchange .
tlon and Watergate, and some other critters who crept out
Jaakov is alone, but not lunety-neither bloody nor un01 the closet . .. The Word was MEbut cum between the
bowed . he is looking forward to kicking more shit. We
fingers , like the queens, is a drag and I booked earty . .. 1 rap ped about the sixties. Also in attendance were Ann
returned last year.
Quinby, my 2o.year-old assistant, and Judy Roland , a
On the crawl out of the woodpile I looked to my right,
longtime mutual friend.
Nat: Well , the fast Village
Other came into being
about when ?
Jaakov : Starting late '65.
Nat: When did you take
over?
Jaakov: Didn't take over
until '68.
Nat: No. you were there for
the party, the famous '66
party, the fundraising party.
Jaakov: No, I was on the
West side of New York .
There was a big division .
Between the East Side and
the Village, if you remember. II you were a Villager
you were never seen on the
East Side and vice versa.
So where are we? In the
mid-sixties?
What really brought it 10
lite was when a lot of them
went down to the South to
march in the Civil Rights
marches. They came back ,
nothing else happened,
then the anti-war thing
started and that 's when
everyt hing solidified. Then
they accepted dope, you
know.
N.t: In 1984 dope means
heroin.
Jukov: O.K.. but I' m talk·
ing grass. Grass, hash,
which was a pariah as far
as American consciousness
is concerned. But that 's
when Tom, Dick and Harry
first heard the word joint.
That was when they first
started and it was indeed,
thaI was like 67, '68 and
then Chicago (the Democratic COnvention) happened.
There was a meeting in
Peggy Hitchcock's penthou se apartment and that's
when Dick Gregory declared (lor the presidency].
In '67 or '68 he was living
on Uncoln Park. Uncoln
Park became the thing. That meeting took place
and there were l eary.
Rubin , Holtman. Hitchcock
and that nighl we went to
see Dick Gregory and there
was a regUlar meet and in
the back room of the Village Gale. Oick GregOf'/
came arou nd and shook
ingaside Irom buying
and ;Selling things on
Fifth Avenue?
Jaakov : That' s what they
were nutured on. You can 't
have it all and you can't
have it on the tlrst lap
either.
Nat: So, if your function
wasn 't to organize, wasn't
to prepare ground. wasn't
to achieve long range ob·
[ectives . exactly what were
the motives?
Jaakov: Conveying and settling information- be
stoned . if possible, have a
good time and try, above it
all to survive. somehow.
And all those points can be
achieved somehow and it
was a glorious experience.
But you cannot expect
children who were raised in
!
hands like we were all col leagues, and then Leary
ogy. II doesn 't relate
said, " Have you thought
because there was no revo- Nat: Doing something that
lution there.
about cornlnq to Chicago
will upset the apple cart is
and celebrating in Ijncoln
,Hat: There was always a
not revolution. Revolutfon is
revolution. If you're a .
Park?" And Oick Gregory
seizing power.
said, "Great ! I live right on Marxist-Leninist. you beJaakov: Nat, you weren't in
lieve that there's always a
Uncoln Park." That was
New York in the early '70s
the begInning of Chicago.
revolution.
atter Cambodia, when in
Jaakov: That' s the problem the middle of the week,
N.t: The beginning ot
Chicago was the decisive
with Marxist-Leninism. No
Fifth Avenue fitled , uptown,
point Which broke the back constitution in the world
downtown with groups of
of the movement, but the
mentions the word revpeople from everywhere
olution as much as the
beginningof Chicago was
from five to fifty marching .
American constitution_So
1965. In san Francisco it
demonstrating , right here
was the Summer of l ove.
revolution is something that in New York. Nobody can
And of course, the beginthe American conscioustell me. Nobody can negate
ness is very akin to. They
ning of New York was in
it with Marx, Lenin, Stalin ,
April 1967.
have a frame of reference,
all of them -don't mean
their perception differs from shit. It happened here . It
Jaakov: But Ihe Chicago
convention was very conthe Marxist-Leninist interhappened for one glorious
structive.
pretation.
moment.
• Nat: How can you say that
The thing is that there
Nat: And today, Ihose peoChicago was very construc- was a whole set of values
pie who had their one
tive? All that Ch icago did
that simply don't relate
glorious moment on Filth
was to propel such finks as anymore. One of them is
Avenue, what are they doAbbie Hoffman and Timothy that we're going to relate to
the very narrow interpretaLeary.
Jaakov : No, at that time
tion 9f what Is a revolution, ~ .
they fulfilled a very imporyou 're going to do some- I" .....
tant role.
thing that 's going to upset
Nat: As counterrevoluthe apple cart. you're
tionaries.
going,to cause
Jaakov: That 's all terminol- a revolution.
fJ1
---_...11
an environment where they
were told, you're going to
become an MBA and you 're
going to have a bowl of
cherries until you pass on.
10 create a true revolutionary environment. II
doesn 't go. They've had
too much, they've been indulged too much. You can't
expect that they will suddenly turn their back just
because they went to Nova
Scotia , that it enlightened
them.
Nat: Ann. you're twenty
years old . You were born
during the sixties - what
ellect do you think these
events of the sixties had
upon you? Do you support
a revolution like this?
These cultural revolutions?
Ann : I don 't know . I'm so
ignorant about what the
revolution has achieved , all
I know is that they were
very active. I don 't know
how much relevance it had
on the stupid mainstream
blondes that I meet today.
MAT 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 2S
,
4l:-5HOPI.-II:: 1ER.
ARCHITECTURE and CONSCIOUSNESS
.:
DAN COMA
MAY 19 -
J UNE 10
WED SUN :1I 7 RECEI'TION:MAY I9, 5 - &
STORH RONT FOR ART AND ARCHITECT URE
51 PRINCE
NYC
26 EAST VilLAGE EYE MAT I'••
GlENN M1LLUI
ALPHAB ET ClTY'S AMO S PO E
Famous
Amos
,
ur of
undernd films
as Unmade
, Bia k Generatkm and
Subway Riders. has just
compleled Alphabet City, a
Hollywood-financed feature
based on our own " Toilet'
section of the lower East
Side. The action lakes place
all in one night. when
Johnny (Vincent Spano,
Baby It's You, Rumblefish).
rebels against the Malia's
orders to burn down his
own mother's building and
decides to cash in his ill·
gotten chi ps for a chance al
lile and love on the outside.
This is lhe lower east side
gone Apocalypse Now.
eroding buildings etched
against purple and pink
haze . the eerie morphine
landscape pu nctuated by
trash fires and junk ies, arson and drug busts.
Alphabet City is a strange
hybrid of art and exploitation. with sometimes
laughably'cliched plot and
dialogue overlaid onto
awesome camerawork and
flashes 01 inspired vision.
Produced by Andrew
Braunsberg (Being There.
The Tenant, Chinatown) the
film show signs of real liIe
in the directing . acting , and
camerawork, but me
underdeveloped
charactertzatcns and a
shallow treatment of the real
issues at stake keep
Alphabet City trom going
past a, b.c.
Choreography by Lori
Eastside, music by Nile
Rodgers, cameo by Miguel
Pinero, ciuc scenes shot at
Area, and a great shooting
gallery-bust scene give the
_ film local color and interest.
But will ~ play in Peoria?
I had a chance to ask
Poe, who when his beard
finishes growing out will
look like a younger version
of his mentor, F.F. Coppola.
this and other questions:
How did you get hooked up
with the producer?
He saw Subway Riders and
I guess he liked it. Then
later he came to New York
and we looked lor a proper-,
ty we could do. Then I
heard about a treatment lor
Alphabet City.
Did the film tur" out the
way you wanled it to?
All in all the film has
something 01 what I'd
perceived it to have in the
beginning . which is a cerlain kind of vibrancy, but I
would have liked it 10 be
maybe evenmore vibrant.
But I can't really quarrel
with il. it's done and I
learned a ct.
II's a step up from the
home movie arena.
Yeah , up from the
underground, into the
mainstream. Working in 35,
with a crew, a production
designer . ..
You come prettymuch trom
that part of town, don't
you?
Yeah , I lived there .
l think 01 myself very much
as a regiooal titmmaker. All
my films have been about
New York, and basically all
my films have been about
somebody trying to get out
01New York in one way or
another.
The Lower f ast Side looked
beautiful.
Well . now it's cha nged
since they cleaneoJt up. I
think it was almost the last
time you could do
somethi ng like that.
Almost an anthropological
document.
Well. lt's a fantasy.
Was Vince 's family supposed to be Spanish or Italian?
In the original script it was
commercial.
Spanish, but the producers
Did you study any other
thought that was uncom-...
commercial movies?
mercial , so then-we tried to
We~t Side Slory,
make it both. Once it
FJashdance. all ihat kind 01
became an issue I wanted
slulf. We played with colors
10 avoid it as an issue
a lot.
because I wanted to go
We wanted to create a
beyond that. I had an .
dream feeling, like Black
idealistic idea of what the
Orpheus. Play off the hardfilm was about anyway. that ness, but use the architeconce can avoid being a Vic- ture to create an iridescent
lim of one 's environment.
beauty. It's there in some
And that's what he was do·
scenes. in some frames. To
ing that nigh!. sort of compeople who know the Lower
ing 10 manhood. like
East Side, they 'll recognize
American Graffiti, it au hapsome things, or they'll say '
pens in one nigh!. all these
that' s phoney , that' s real,
icons of his lile playing off
that's beautiful , but most
people who see it won't
of ooe another. I saw Gino
as being his Darth Vader
know anything about
lather.
Alphabet City. So you 're
I think of myself as an excreating in a way a mythical
perimental filmmaker in the
place , like Chi natown, or
narrative sense, and I
•
Alphaville.
always try to find out in a
The stylizedacting is one of
film, what is the experiment the problems for me of the
here? And generally tnat
film . In some scenes the achas to do with the producting and the dialogue are so
lion method . And the exstylized that it's a cliche.
periment lor me here was
II you can get to thai
whether I could make a
degree , you can get an ar~ ew York , underground.
chetype which almost ~
experimental new wave
transcends your cliche then.
whatever, movie , but in a
But il you dan ', hit it right,
commercial sense.
•
you can get down to a
My lilms have always been
cliche which is almost like a
seen in Europe, have been
tattoo, or something, and so
on a cult level somewhat
that's the chance you lake.
, wish we could have done
popular. but never in
America, outside of New
a little more writing lor
York. It's Irustrating. That's. some 01 those parts to give
Why I identilied with
them a littfe more of a hook.
Johnny. Johnny's trying to
Do you feel that you've
get out 01 Alphabet City,
escapedfrom New York
and I'm trying to get out of
with this film?
that. So the experiment was No, I son of leet that I'm
to see il I could make it
gettmg out 01underground
.- ......
\
•
filmmaking to a degree,
because underground lilmmaking can be very
frustraling. It's great on a
creative level, but I always
thought that I was a commercial filmmaker, I just
didn'l have the distribution
or the means. I think the
idea is just to make good
films and those films will
eventually be commercial .
like Blank Generation was
made torabout $15,000
and a lot of people saw it
but still, it's a minor cult
film.
I hadn 't always approached
it in that way. Unmade Beds
had nothing to do wlth peopIe seeing it. in a way. It
really only had to do with
the tact that can a lilm be
made for that much, and if
~ can be made, there are
people in my immediate
cunure who can pick up on
that and make films on that
level too . So as a group,
people like Beth and Scolt
(6) and Eric Mitchell and
Jim Jarmusch , whatever , as
a group we could come out
of New York and then that
could alfect the cullure. And
it wasn 't until years later
when that actually happened that I actually understood
what Unmade Beds was all
.
. ,. . .
about and that on thai level
it was successful.
11 was more a dialogue bet·
ween filmmakers?
Yeah , At that time I was
enaroored 01 the French
New Wave , and how those
critics eventually made
movies Ihat came to the
U.S. as a Diock. So what I
was trying to do was 10
make another wave, from
New York to Europe. And
that's happened. In Europe
we 're viewed as a group.
even though there 's a great
disparity in our styles. Now
~ 's a question of going to
the next step , which is
America. It Alphabet Cily is
successful, perhaps people
like Eric Mitchell, Beth or
seen. or Jim Jarmusch . will
be able to make films thaI
won 't just be viewed at lilm
festivals in Europe.
This is a different movie
from most of those that I've
seen of yours. Most of Ihem
are about while alienated
youth.
I wanted 10 try something
altogether dillerent. In tact .
none of my cast, none at
my crew, except lor the
producers, ever saw any of
my lilms betore, So accor-
ding to style , or whatever
I'd done before. it was a
complete blank. I didn't
want a reference point.
One part ot Alphabet City
which wasn " mentioned is
the influx of white kids into
the neighborhood.
Yeah . well , one 01the
limiting actors of the lilm is
that it all happens in one
night. So everything 's com- _
pacted . So there's no real
character development on
that level, like what nappened last week? Because
you;re always going forward
in time. not backwards. And
the idea of always going for'
ward in a movie and almost
like never showing the same
shot twice keeps the film
going. moving. This is
somelhing I learned from
lhis film , if you keep changing the visual, you'll move
forward. Which is
something you can learn
from Road Warrior. This is a
whole new thing in movies
now.
I heard that you were
friends with Coppola.
Yeah, we see each other .
definitely think that
Apocalypse Now and The
Godfather I and II are the
two best movies of the
seventies from America, one
dealing with America and
the war. and the other dealing with America 's whole
thing with success. I think
they 're both very important
movies, as important as
Cifizen Kane, or a hell of a
lot of other movies. l think
the Einstein movies that I've
been working on tor the last
lour years, are my big
movie, that Einstein is 10 me
a Citizen Kane of the realm .
And if one is to do a film,
who's the one person
whose humanity or
philosophy you can most
readily ascribe to? it hcis a
lot to do with his feelings
about life and death. As you
approach the end, it's like
approaching the speed-of
light, you never reach it.
Your mass stops. In a
sense your immortality
begins before your mortality
ends. so you never have
that finishing point. II has to
do with energy and mass.
And then the film also has a
lot 10 do with light, Ihe
speed ot light. Time and
space are relative. as in
litm: time is not always the
same. space is not always
the same, it's where you're
standing, it's where you 're
measuring from. I want to
explain the theory 01 relativity. lor example. in the most
simple terms, so that
anyone who goes to see the
movie, will understand that.
And that's worth five
bucks .
,
TERN was born on October 27.1 949, of a German Jewish
Puerto Rican mother in Hoboke n, N.J., directly across the
rom New York City. She still lives there , alone where all the
n this book were written over a four month period in the summer
a f 1911. She ha s since devoted that 01 her time not spent in flip·
ping coins to eemneslnq a love story, Thin Skin. It describes the murder, in ten
chapters fired by Theresa, 01 her closest friend. " WANNA GO OUT? is a question ohen I
asked on the streets around the cheaper bars in New York and Hoboken ." So goes thr
CHAPTERTHREE
A rock sits gathering
ba rnacles at the bottom of
the ocean . Fish, an inadequare word , suggesting a
bass on a plate, walk their word for swimaround it in perfect grace .
Our urge to anthropomcr phize and project preventing us from ever seeing
these creatures in their
unselfconscious , independent and unique splendor.
A person feels more in
common with a plant than
with the sca led , gilled ,
necklesses of the seas.
But they are there , like the
other side of the mirror .
Odd to think that we travel
on the surface of their
world in a fashion similar
to the beings who use the
upper layer of our atmosphere for a " skijump."
Not a very high proportion
of fish ever experience the
sensation of air against
their scales. They not only
don 't need us, but for the
most part aren 't aware
that we exist. as they say
of the debuta nte queen . II
is very dangerous to gel
emotionally involved with
such a being. It's probably
insane. a deliberate tntliction 01 pain on oneself. II's
at the least " unfortunate."
unlike loving a wall in your
own apartment. On ly a
very sad person wou ld
love a fish I think. But
that 's hea.rt -rending matter
far from the SUbject. (No
one could really love a
fish, with the possible exception of aquanauts for
whom . even men, it must
be love at first sight since
they aren 't likely 10 see
the same fish twice . A fish
outside of water isn't the
same nsn . Of cou rse peopie love ' 'fish, " a species ,
but that's like loving a
fish-like person.
These are huge creatures circling the rock.
With eight -loot wings of
flab, jowls, and jewel-like
lill ie inscrutables lounging
by the grotesques - all un knowing characters in a
suspense novel about a
girl pumping bullets into
Frank t he chi mp is btt
and now the robo ts arc taking ova Lexin gton .
Ah , there 's Frank now . You can (1:11 Frank
becau se the knock sounds like it 's co ming from the floor.
Bue who has the eoungt to answtr the door
at 4 in the morning when she knows she'll find
a chi mpa nzee all alene in rhe halt ?
WeB, I'll do it.
OUC H eocksucking littl e prick! Kiek you r
- fucking head off!
Morn ing. T he mil kman gets out of •bed saying
''Time to stan prete nding!" Says
" How can you get up and read a book }"
It 's because I'm the other half of a book.
I remem ber the robo ts who infiltrated
distan t Lexington , I remembe r Fra nk the hairy chimp
and slc:c:ping in th e flyskullshaker .
But now the su n has come up
behind me his hands around my th roa t,
her best friend. Each outlet seems to put her friend
one inch nearer death but
she won't die. It 's a book
and screenplay by Theresa
Stern. She began writing ltat the age of 19, conceived
as an acl of revenge
against Sam Pecktnpah .
Arthur Penn , Sergio
leone, herself and humanity. It soon became apparent , however, to her and
God, that she requ ired no
excuse for writing the
book. II embodied her visian and her dream and
she had obviou sly been
destined to write il lrom
the first moment that
she 'd shed a tear, in other
words: from birth. A
Puerto-Rican Jew from Heboke n, she was most at
home in her adolescence
in the huge abandoned
warehou ses built on piers
that faced the new York
skyline. A skyline like etabolieal pitted building
blocks interspersed with
erect needles in a cloud of
gagging smoke. A parody
of science fiction visions of
biographical note to Wanna lio Out? (Dot Books, 1973), the only volume of Theresa 's
works yet to appear. It's absolutely brilliant - pure hilarious despair, with a lot of good
sex and heresy. Below is attached a further description of Theresa excerpted from my
novele"e The Voidoid which will appear in the book of my own works, tentatively
entitled Unrequited Narcissism, that I've bee n compiling and revising and ignoring for
a year now. (Chapter two of The Voidoid appeared in " Slum Journal #1 in the Eye #5.
Further below is a selection from the 17 poems Wanna Go Out? conta ins,
•
the futu re. II seemed to
her outrageous that she
was regarded as a victim
oflhese circumstances
rather than a new microbe
bred in the filth, a mutant
radiant oracle , like a new
disease for new limbs.
Who was to say which
preceded. the limb or the
limb 's disease? They're
Siamese twins, or Vietnamese twins, Namby and
Bambi. The disease or the
disease's object? Thank
God , she thought, something appeared for me to
prey upon , or I'd 've been
doomed to be a trivial cell
with a passing reference in
lhe textbooks , rather than
a chapter. Tomorrow. a
book! . . . Today's garbage
is tomorrow's culture, and
on that slide,.below that
microscope, l'rrrthe
premier sneer in the
smear , you Queer! She
loved to slide . As twelveyear-old she played in
these Hoboken pierhouses, whorehouses on
the doc k filled with mysterious twenty-foot mounds
How come no o ne forces me to do what I wo n't do?
All the boys and girls lie dow n in th e boulevard
and hug an d cry for a long time
on receipt of my subliminal a pology.
The ptrson you de n's know whispers goodbye to you on
his dea th bed
th e waves from his eyes carress my swolle n back
in return you strip the out er paptr f rom you r to ngue
revealing the cha w of pulp.
Then I unbuck led his trousers
I saw Illal he was not a m:H1 .
Between his legs was the Addams Famil y ma nsion
, . .no . . .maybe chis is what mt n loo k like!
l l hought th ey loo ked like herons entangled in airp la'lt
pmpcllors
and 1'm never wron g
the sadistic brick drugstores of Main St reet.
But she was older now.
Her friends of old , with
whom she spoke like a
tree to dirt, would misinterpret her presence. Her
only friends were the ones
she wrote . Her first and
so-far only novel a
190-page rendition of the
murder of her best friend
committed by herself on
the average of one bullet
continued on 64
The str::anger and the moon I re good bu dd ies.
Th e stranger is a puddle
and th e moon is th e moo n's reflec tio n in the puddle.
Th is is as d ose: as wt poets call come ro life.
I depend upo n you r mercy as a gOO$(' upon a cigar.
Close:this boo k I scream and come look me up so we
can fuck 3.S long
as I don', have to talk .
I'm no t abcu r to pay any of my debts ever.
G o~J b)' Beethoven , yo u should know what It's ijk('
10 be built
inside a little: honle OUI of wood.
The stranger has u cigar anJ is obsc:rving geese
pass across rhe moon like an inlril,....tc model ship
or sy mpho nic violins, and all I can do is drea m of mud,
oh mud , mu d .
© 1973 Richard Meyers
And furthermore, I' m here to reveal that Theresa is in fact a colla boration between
Tom Vertaine and me. Above appears the evidence in the form 01 two of the pictures I
had taken of us in drag In ord er to superim pose the ima ges and arrive at Theresa 's
- -------- ..
of white powder (some
sort of waste?) where
crews of pacifistic Hoboken queens would romp.
Gangs of ten or twen ty
faggots would come , their
shrieks absorbed , into
these abandoned caverns
originally built for the contents of now-obsolete
ships, their windows high
small v's smashed by rambunctious teens . Slapping
each other on the ass and
giggling in anticipation and
Pavlovian adrenalin rush ,
forgetting and confusing
and substituting male and
female hug , they would
stroll and prance through
the trash like children
while Theresa watched , a
perfect unobtrusive but
stunned audience. The
queers wou ld separate and
rejoin dreamily in the enormous box 01 the warehouse like a rocket assembly line, their bodies accumulating white dust, as
Theresa flirted around like
a Utile dark Annie Oakley
in her back yard playhouse , much better than
_~--
cool. cruel visage. A few copies of this book, originally neglected by consumers at
$.95, are . v. ilable Irom me c/ o the Eye, 611 B'way, NYC 1001 2, @$10.00 each.
Signed and numbered copies, litty 01 which were printed . are $25.00.
..
\
".
•, •
KNOW THE STARS
Taurus: Sacred Cows
and Burn Steers
ces of
re are
n us:
p 9 is
sprung and
all's 9 n and it' s Taurus
lime agai n. where power's
the name 01the beast. The
cycle 01life is kicked off
by Aries at the equinox .
and il's in Tau rus that its
initial lire is brought down
to earth and reinstated.
" In the beginning was the
word and the word was
bunsfut ." Tauruses are always bullshill ing and have
a burning desire 10 head
herds, states and money
monopolies.
Taurus doesn't always
opt out for titles or deeds
and frequently dominate
the territory 01the mind.
Mostly cun-wineo and bed
bound , they make an incredible organic substitute
for sleeping pills. A great
exceplion 10 the rule was
found back in ancient
Athens where Socrates
mifled the city lathers with
his " bottoms up" philosophy. living in a " free
state ." he utilized his
rights lor free Ihought and
free speech (and the right
to be a poot)- and look
where it got him. This unfort unate Taurus was
forced to take the Greek
persuasion , in the lorm 01
a cup 01hemlock . (Ironi cally. lellow Taurus Jungle
Jim Jones also practiced a
"bottoms up" philosophy.
He milked his devotees dry
and fucked the lot. proving
it with the old Kool Aid
acid test .) Socrates later
reincarnated as I. Kant
(though he did). Kant established the thought " Be
as you wish to appear to
others," a credo mat was
given a more practical
twist by Taurus " Big
Mac" Machiavelli with his
golden arch theory in The
Prince: " Appear as you
wish 10 be to others. Never
mind how you are. This is
of no relevance to the
world and in politics." His
was the vice of vices: hypocrisy- and this inspired
~ the next step in political
conscious ness when
French revolutionary
Robespierre used his reign
of virtue to fight hypocrites.
Royal headh unter Cromwell was anot her puritanical boar with eoough balls
10 kill an English king, but
the herd turned against
him and had his head. He
opened Britain to Jews,
and one 01the subsequent
immigrants was on-me-ism "
entrepreneur Karl Marx,
who wa s a big fan of
Robespierre and an even
bigger hypocrite. He fan- •
ciec himself the darling of
bourgeois elitism , and
went to l ondon not to look
for the Queen but to shoot
his mouth off. He managed
to shoot his wad at any
rate and fathered,. seven
children. How's this for
hypocrisy: he married a
baroness, three of his kids
died of malnutrition, two
committed suicide, and
meanwhile maintained the
services of a maid who
moon lighted as his mistress. However. the gods
didn'tlet him off lightly as
he suffered from writer's
cramp. boils on the butt
and other capitalist
ailments.
Then came lenin who
beefed up Marx but lefl
out Ihe part about free
speech. Since 9/10ths of
the people don't have
property, he said, let's
have a revolution and
make it 100%. Ultimately
he had a stroke and toodied around for a couple of
years until he was poi·
soned by Stalin, becoming
an embalmed museum
piece a ta Evita Peron .
Known for giving great
head, ole Evita bulldozed
her way to fame on her
knees. She went down on
nobility lor upward moonity. Evita prodded her mate
to power in the world 's
largest supplier of tinned
beef, and with their combined efforts amassed the
support of the working
class. She said, " Peron is
a condor that flies high
and near to God . All that I
am , all that I have , all that
I think and feel belong to
him." He said. " She gives
the. best blow-jobs in town: '
Other famous Taurus sacred cows and power
groupies include former
Parisian busboy and len in
disciple Ho Chi Minh. who
was so impressed by Harlem during a visit here that
he wrote a Ian leller 10 the
U.S. government. The
Ayatollah Khome!nl is a
Taurus, as was Sigmund
Freud. He praised the
q ~a li t je s of coke as a pa nacea. and developed cocai ne pa ranoia . Famous for
recreati ng sexual guill and
rediscovering the su bconscious mind, he never
quite found the light. In
the end there was only
guilt . .. and a couple more
lines.
Read below for further
hints to astral mysteries.
•
CANCER Nepiune oppo
tlon brings thu mbs
ARtES Retrograde Pluto
brings sex in confinement
and a needed break. Aries
should be eeries. Boyfriend goes on rag on or
around the 19th, dumps
you in the hamper soiling
ragtrade aspirations. Hung
out on the Hne againpressed out in the press.
You think you 're on the
way to the top , but the
only time you 're on top,
baby, is in bed. You don't
have to bare your breasts
to be important, but it
might help il you want that
title role in porn farce .
\O""
, lf/
d ;;; :;;J...
(~~J
To ~.l.i! V S
TAU RUS Mercury in retrograde: muddled mania and
possible Ethiopian cocktail
table . When intellect bogs
down , never mind, as people are barely aware you
have one. Eat what the big
boys eat. Mars transit incurs locked horns with authority figure and probable
aUditing . You may think
you' re living In carefree
lite of Nanookie in bed
with married partner, until
you realize it' s more than
oclopussy in the afternoon.
Don't worry-possession '
is 90% of the law.
s
and chipped pat
accentuate the obvious .
Search ing high and low for
inspiration, you'll find it
lower than you least expected. Revelations on designer sheets until you
find what' s underneathyou may uncover a relative
(mother perhaps?). Expect
parental blackout . No
sooner have you achieved
relief than you're too cloistered for comfort by some
drip you picked up.
mon you leel d
when you notice
runs, and a certai
ness. Fear not, all
toms will dissipate in
approx. 2 weeks along
with all discret ion in sexual matters.
SCORPIO Forbidden ev·
ening with she-devil finds
you cavorting with carnivores and witnessing animal sacrifices - but have
you ever met a macrobiotic
Mexican in the park, especially alter dark? You're
just a figment in your own
eyes, a prick in your finger
and the punchline of your
own jokes. ' Your thirst for
life tirings new job leads
and a super-B safari to
greater adventures. Remember God is not a fairy.
IJ
AOUARIUS Full moon
square in Scorpio means
it's no treat to trick. u's
time to lighten the reins,
dear, as your wedding
album is beginning to look
moldy and rather like
wanted posters wallpapering U.S. Post Offices and
F.8.1. files. Your fingerprints are spotted on photograph ic negative by secret government agency
I
. .. what does this lead
to? You gef the attention
you 've been looki ng for
'.
when fondled by the I.R.S.
' I ~ Vacation break loomsforget Europe . Rent a l ear
I T T1\ <'
jet and take the gang thrift
shopping through the Bible
SAGITTARIUS Life will seem Belt. And if you're not inprincipally stylistic until
dependently funded . get a
the 16th when Uranus
job and get out.
forces you to look more
deeply at the nardcore.
But there 's time to repent
' l ( (
on the 20th before all sub·
VIRGO Extra points for
tlety fades and liberace
( {L{ ••
belting atheiststhis month . syndrome sets in. In the
You used to chant namdictionary sympathy is ber:mycho-reneqaoe-kyo . but tween sh it and syphilisnow you wake up morn.s( 9 ~
don't ask for it.
ings unable to utter anyPISCES Springtime junket
thing but "where's the
beef?" Then you return
on sampan nodding out in
the sun on Chinese junk.
home and realize the counDon 't you just wish . Wax
try's been taken over by
Bolivian . Beware of noctur'crooked politician s and gay
nal injury on the 23rd when
Maoists from Vermont . .
socialite-hostess starts
baiting her boobs about injuring several, including a
CAPRICORN Since Neptune reporter. love life will
will be your houseguest for force you to consider a
the next 15 years, and you satin straight jacket during
late nights at Area.
being the astrological seat
Dress down during ovutaof self-aggrandizement,
you may be in for a lew sur- non. Wear white and curb
prises. In the middle of the artificial penetration ...
lEO Venus, Mars and
Saturn square you head
on: a geeky month ahead
and a barrage of Cole
Porter. Think beige and
uncultured pearls. Contemplate fun-filled evenings paper training bull
dogs in a condo, and a
perm on the 18th. Bad sex
may lead to a green card
and long sought after in- .
sights into truth and visions of world peace, but
it may be more apocalyptic
than you anticipated .
\~~ .)~ .~ ':
.
~
. ..
S " .s
~
(('.\,,0:,
1]((
~
U ( l<,l~
, p ..
GEMINI You may be
naughty but you 're not
bad . Even electric eels do
it. Solar eclipse on the
30th in your sign: brace
for unexpected conncntalion with yourself. II you
don 't put you r foot in your
mouth someone else will.
Egos fight lor control and
you'll feel club sandwiched
somewhere between the
pastrami and tongue.
Oon 't fight it -sink to
your own level.
MAY 1914 EAST VtLLAGE EYE ft
pur FOOD OUT I" THE SAm~
; LACE EUERV OAV A"O TAL~
"TO THE PEOPLE· WHO cnmr J
o EAT A"O -DRCA"12E THEm
. .ENNY HOLIER is ...... familiar
to the New York pubic than it pralIaIIIy l'llCIizel. During 1979 ...s 1980,
1tIou...... of flye.. bearing what lhe colis "trvisms" w.... plastered a. avo< the city, giving pedeltrianl a .....
stant supply of contradicting ..,er1iaaI 10 punle over. They've since.,pecnd on walll and bl-..-u in E.rope,
and in galleries Oft both sidelof the Atlantic. Now lhe'l working ...... with electronic: IIghtboants; a number of
her pieces ho.. appeared Oft the SpodacoIor baanI Oft nmes Squcn.' Holler plans to rent a trvdt·mountod ,.per
digital video syllom to display her and other ,..,Ie's audio/visual pieces, s....where in MmL.... n..., right before
the electlans.
- LeonanI Abrams
color one hour processing
color xerox
.
black & white xerox
black & white contact
black & white custom prints
slides same day processing
HAHD,COLD AND HEAt
TOM _, , S • FREDDA MEKUL
ROGER TIBBETS. STEPHEN WESTFA'
OPENING
MAY 16 FROM 6'9
8HOWDATES
MAY 17TO JUNE 10
0-'
I
FRY HOU_
TUESDAY ANO WEON ESOAY6'9
THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY 1·8
GARRISON
fast service
sO EAST VIllAGE EYE MAY""
1$ S E COND AV E NUE, NE W YO RK CITY 10003 l Zl a } 505-.'38
I
..
t
'.
ABC NO RIO
..-,,.
f " ,
, \
., .t"t.." '\ .
•
•
. .~
t
""•
By ALAN MOORE
n N~ar' s Day , 1980, a show opened in
• an a
ooed city-owned storefront on Delane ~ re et. Named the Real Estate Show .
13 was to expose the dangers that en'II\''M'<\'r':;;>'
oaC
' hing development, compounded by real
estal s 'eculation and indifference to human needs , was
beginning to have on the local populace.
The city qu ickly busted the show , confiscated the artwork and began wrangling with us, the artists, over our
right to address the public. Out 01 this historic confrontation wa s born ABC NO RIO , the best deal we could extract from the city government , a cold , leaky but nominalrent storefront on 156 Delancey Sireet that gets its name
trom an old peeling ABOGAOO NOTARIO (Lawyer/Notary)
sign that hung on a tel1ement across the street. The
building ha s now been renovated , the sign painted over.
But No Rio 's still there , looking pretty much the same, as
a younger group 01 restive artists plots and works inside.
This place has seen a 101
of action in four years.
Nothing anybody planned
on , just what seemed
necessary at the time .
Shows , parties,
workshops: paintinqs.
poetry, performances . All
t.he tal k and people meeting
up; and the trouble, alway~
soumething -lires , thefts ,
official schemes. winos
making trouble.
The gallery began in the
contagious lever of political
commitmern . We were going to bust Ihe chops of the
status quo. But artists
make indillerent politicians
in the long run unless Ihey
put their art behind them.
and in time our central
committee went back to
their studios. But the place
remained. an institution
rtespne itsell ~
A seemingly endless procession of people came
along needing it. Over the
years , No Rio became a
way station lor hundreds of
artists, and a particular kind of lens on the renascent cultural scene in the
lo wer East Sirfe.
It is Irom this conception
of the gallery rather than
from any sense of its
transcendent importance
that ou r-catalogue has been
prepared . The book, 01fidally scheduled lor Fall
'84, records the life 01 No
Rio through texts and hundreds of photographs. As
these excerpts show. this
book is an in-depth look at
the cultural and political
currents at work in the East
Village today , at the forces
tnat have shaped the
growth Of the Eye as well
as No Rio and the artists
who live here.
The book begins with a
look at artists' organizanons which influenced No
Rio's development, most
notable Collaborative Pro[ects. In the introduction.
editors Moore and Marc
Miller write : "Colab
members were closely involved in the emerging rock
music and nightclub scene.
X MagaZine was printed
wilh the money raised from
a benefit featuring new art
rock acts: the filmmakers
used rock songs and rock
stars as actors; and Cotab
participated in the " Punk
Art " show in Washington,
D.C . The confrontational
performance styles and
corresponding "tu ck you "
life mode of the musicians
ec~~ed the unsettled
political developments in
Europe. Imagery and
themes relating to the terrorist movements in Ger·
many and Italy popped up
in films played in the
nightclubs, in segments of
the All Color News cable
television show and in the
pages 01 X MagaZine.
Overtly political posters appeared in the streets, vying
for attention with the flyers
01rock bands. Restive artlsts endorsed populist
goals- discussing .and attemptinq to actualize ways
of changing the art auoence through cable television, low-cost mu ltiple art-
works, and different kinds
01 exhibitions. "
Shelley Leavitt quizzes
No Rio's directors for Bomb
magazine shortly alter the
gallery opened : " II' s not a
dictatorial situation at No
Rio . II's not. 'You can only
make your works if .. . '
Nobody's saying that at No
Rio . We 're saying what are
your ideas really. l et 's
reveal them , let's expose
them and then we'll be
able to see if they stand
up, if they hold water . No
Ria is a laboratory lor art
ideas . People bring their
chemicals and mix them up
and that's it. And we 're not
going to,say. well we can't
show that stuff because it
stinks . We don 't say that.
but some of the work may
say that."
Kay larson wrote in the
Voice of John Mortons '
Suicide , Murder & Junk
show; " For Morton, art is
a bare act of exorcism .
He's the one who painted
I'M GOING TO KILL YOU on
a wall at the Times Square
Show. He says he was
feeling particularly angry
that day: suicide is now on
his mind . ' I was thinking of
killing myself. so that' s
what I wrote ,' he says of
his piece on the wall at
ABC No Rio . 'Writing iton
the wall helped me to deal
with u.'::
Tim Rollins interviews
" Richard" of East 13th
Street. exposing the other
side 01 gentrification: "You
know, we know each otner
and get along and talk a lot
together, but you 've got to
admit that'we're both
straining to relate. like you
can 't even speak Spanish .
We're not enemies but we
do have different histories.
And I can tell you right
now, we can relate and
shit, but we don't see
things in the same way.
like I look at Celinda and
you look at Celinda . Now ..you probably see a tough
th'irteen-year-old girl and 1
see that too, but I also still
see a tough little six-yearold cursing everybody out
right in front of their laces.'
And I see her as the gjfl
that got hit by that lucking
ANTHONY BUCZk O • AVA HARh
k EITH CHRISTE NSEN' PATRl eJA IeElLY
JAM ES CONBOY • NEl SON OCEUNDI
SHOICHI SHIM O TSUGU
CON
wi th
F[MINI NE FAMI N[ Sl ACIe HORS[
Anl ipodu n Room - Robe rt M()flto,.~
Courtesy 0 1SHOE R[P AIR , 74 E. 7th St . N YC
••
•
---
TOP: n.e Cardboord
Band at the Iskmd
Show, From left,
Wolter Robin.on,
Ellen Cooper, Bebe
Smith, Ud Smittl,
Christy Iv" and
Bobby G, (INTlR,
Rebeeea Howland
pa.tes ttle octopus
on ttle fran tof 123
Delanee,Street
dvring ttle Real
btute Show, 1910.
BonOM: Cop and
passerby out front
of ttle lodeed lip
Real btate ,
cab a couple of years ago.
And when 1look across the
street at those buildings
. being renovated I don't see
a bunch of burned-out
buildinqs. I see where
Oscar and Noberto and
Rafael and all my buddies
used to live before they
and kids
took their wives
,
I
and left after the fires."
The catalogue will retail
for $12. During the month
of May Eye readers may
preorder the boo k for $8,
taking delivery in
September '84. Post
checks to ABC No Rio
Book. 156 Rivington Sf.
New York, NY 10002.
••
,•
CAIDOZ
M..,. 4111 . lune 2nd
Ope ning M..,. 41h 7 10 ') p.m .
226 EAST 3RD STREET IA\'t. BI NEW to RI( CITY
HOURS: THURS. _SAT. 1·6 P.M.
OR BY APPOIN TMENT (212) 673-3)(J$
•
MAY 1914 l AST VtLLAGE EYE 31
You Call Yourself Barbara Kruger
By SYLVIA FALCO N
How do )'0 11 relate 10 t he
,
notion ofarllJl;r illspird-
•
/1O,,?
11 's SOrt of like trial and
error. I ~(' my .....o rks
~rom the verv beginning.
l
~
diener of men. The idea
is of a series of 3HC'm pIS ;
t her e is not one work.
o ne masterp iece. I' m nor
a " great anis r. " I' m not
int erested in thai not ion
of greamcss: I find ir very
questionable . I don ',
In m :m )' Wa)'5, :IS a scnes
wail for inspiration 10
of an cm prs ( 0 ruin cctrain repr esem auons and
ro welcome the female
spect ato r inro th e au-
knock on rhc windowpane and come tOOd linJ!; in and knock my
bete l off my head .
Do l'OIl
_ _ _ . _ _ .. ...
. "..-~~-
_.
..... . -c
-.""- ----
..---
.__
-" - - _........-."
u '// !l1 10
qualif)'
)'o" r 1t.'Qrk as "politica!
art ?'
The problem is that rhe
not ion of art is such a
rcsuicted rerm . There arc
JUSt certain th ings you
can do rha r are an. W ha t
I' m interested in is
gene rauve work: rhe
q ue st ion s and no tions of
wha t is an. I' m more interesred in how images
work in society. that freeflowing e bb of image and
of words and sound, and
how rhcv either
reccn sr r~J(1 and
per petuate or d isp lace
ce rtain con ve nt ions.
W' hUI abolll categories
'like " social artist" or
"political artist ?"
I can su ppo rt a lot o f diffcrcn r kind s o f work
because I don ' t want to
d estroy d ifferen ce .
There's norhing wro ng
wit h paintinJ:: tha i ' s no t
. jssue-spec ific in a pol itica l
wa)'. Thai kind of
aurhorirarian view, rhar
kind of moral designa t ion
of what's righl and
wron,g is exactl y what I'm
not imcresrcd in. I'm nor
illl ~r:st ed i~ bi.nar)' o pposiuon : pamnog \'S.
political an or men \"S.
wom en . Th at ' s rorallv
convem ional. I'd lik~ 10
break th at down into
pluralit ies. There is a very
divisive mode within the
Left that is based in rhe
not ion of co rrccmess. I'm
not interested in rhe kind
of ort hod ox Left line that
disallows issues of gende r
and issues of feminism . I
fecl thar an y discourse
th at docs not take
fem in ism into consid erat ion is rc mplicir.
Somet imes yo u have a
kind o f Ame rican
boo tstrap femi n ism rhat
ignores eco no m ic and
class issue s; so what you
have is like Pau l Mazur sky bullshi t or (..a,,\H:n ce
Kasdan bullshit . tlnmar-
ned Woman. Big cu«
big sh it like th at: who
cares whe the r these oco pic went 10 college and
they remem ber each
ot he r. t h is woma n t hrew
up in Bloom ingda le' s. 1
mean who cares. O n
anot her level. 1 am also
suspicious of th e more
rigorou s econ om ic
ana lysis which doesn ' t
ta ke gende r int o con sid erat ion . W hat you
want is a cooflarionary
fem inism wh ich
unde rsta nd s issues of
class, Th ird Wo rldi sm ,
32 EAST VilLAGE EYE MAT 1914
'------------------------------------------------iE~~·;;; -- ,
domin ance as it is and
th e market rhar accomthe accusative: bill, as a
panies it , to pigeon hole
woman, I don 't feel (IS 1/
work and 10 say, "Well.
you're attdcking m e. Are
thai work 's political so it
yotl ollacking m en ? The
doesn't enter rhe
capi/alist p ower stmc discourse."
For me, as a woman
tore? ThaI while m id dlefirst and th en as an artist,
age 'male menratity?
it was important that my
Well, I want 10 di splace
work-which J ho pe is
something. I JUSt want to
critical and is read
cha nge a ste reo typic a l
critically- enter th at
viewing and to make for
discou rse. So it' s not only
a mo re 3(1I\'(' spectator III
posters, which are imporsome way. If anyrhing ,
tant but they are (Overed
when a male viewer says
two minutes later by a
"t hat's nor me" maybe
John Cougar poster: they
rhat makes a place for a
become fugitive and abo
third te rm o r a th ird
figu re or a rhird 'person .
sent right away. If you
Your work is inflamdeal with galleries, you
motor)'. btll it 's nothing
enter an art historical
personal? I, 's 0 11~.r a
d iscourse which has been
device fa arrest allen/ion ? the domain of men, who
Are )'0 11 dog matic ahou l
up unt il recently wou ld
the " Us " om/"Th"","
still look at my work for- ,
mally and say, "Oh. _
syndrome?
I use that as a fixture
Hearrfield .-, They.- .-...........
because il cxisu . Tha t
wculdn 'r undefS tand' the "
binarv-ness is a dominant gende r-device and the
mode of address. ir's a
gende r-add ress because
dominant mode of rcccp- the y couldn't afford roo
uon . n's a dominant
They don ' t want to lose
mode of behavior.
their power. " Hey,
How aboul cOlll lllc lllmg
listen, this ain' t me
0 11 specific texts. like
babe." It seemed impor"Y01lr p/t'aJ1lre 11
tant 10 address that.
IPOWlOdic and
sboruived: or ., You
reenact the dance 0/ insertion and wounding, ,.
that address the male
very specifically.
Some of them do . bur I
don't think that those
do. The one th at says.
" You construct intr icate
rituals that allow you to
touch the skin of other
men." has an implicit
address in rhe re . I think
those works had to be
said only because we arc
being held hostage by a
libidinal device that
displaces aggression , that
turns the whole world into a theater of aggression
and -some son of armament . Sometimes you
have to be explicit like
that.
I always felt that I
wanted my work to alternate between assorted notions of implicitness and
expl icitness. I didn' t
want to JUSt show a
photograph because I
thoughI that whereas the
art world might be cool
10 a certain " read ing ,"
Some ofyour works do
verbatize certain rages
that women have. fo r ex .
ample. " )'Ollr gaze hirr
the side 0/ my face. .. For
women that is very mecines.
Being only the object in
tha t su bject /object relation . when I say that I
want (0 construct a
female su bject. I want in
some way 10 have women
look at that work and
say, " That's the way it
is." knowing then that
they can de ny that address because they're hip.
to certai n construc ts.'
The" would ,Vo u sa:rlhot
essentially you make work
for women?
. -~~'F .
have (0 make some
movement . You have to
be active. Hopefully your
work can slice th rough
the an- world smudge . It
can be on the SHeets.
J like the idea of a plu rality of activities. l m
working on a film; that 's
a mystery, but it's also
about wome n and their
relation to consumpt ion,
to murder, love, sex,
food and it's a comed y.
race, ge nde r.
You phrase your text i"
Since we're talking about
tbe art world and since
art is a commodily, do
you sell, a lot?
Yeah, I've been selling
my work. The problem is
that my expenses have
always been so high that
it's always very difficult;
photograph y never sells
for the prices that paint ,
ings sell for.
You are froma different
generation than t hese
people coming out 0/ the
East Villag e now. It;;hat
do y01l think 0/ it?
at all thar. tl s In cvcrv
gallery, so if ther e 's one
lin lc smidgen that makes
them feel. " Hey. whc rc's
this chick at ?" I' m sorry,
but I'm not sorry.
Ba si ('~ll y co.nre?"pt. of
women ISan Institution
in pat riarchy: it's sanctioned . If's somet hing
that you do like
b reathing . If a wom an is
critical. not hateful . JUSt
critical. she becomes
apologist for a particular
reading of my an . It's
irn pon aru to conside r the
reading of a malt, voice
and what irs judgmem of
m ~' work is: hut becau se
mv work is about a
female voice, it's expected that the male
voice would try to silence
a female voice when it
becomes vocal and it
becomes seen in pictur es.
~
tu re. so it doesn 't have
anything to do with a
particu lar area, it' s the
same all over. You know
I' d rarhcr go to the
movies personally.
I don ' t go to that
many galleries. Film and
TV are more powerful
cultural forms to me. It 's
not ~h " t 1 c,an:r ap precra re pamnng or
photographs but to me
film and Tv arc where
images constitut e social
life. NO! in some atelier
which is really a reaction .
it' s a step back into
history. And the reason I
might locat e some of my
practice there, but
nowhere near all of it. is
because I still see thai as
a site of the meeting between spectator and picture , and J wouldn' t
want to aba ndon that site
because it's st ill a viable
one on a very minimal
level.
I feel about the East
Village the same way I
feel abo ut most of the art
world. There 's no difference to me bet ween
the East Village and
SoHo. It's not wheth er
you get pub licity on a
particular artist or a particular area which is
pheno menal; it 's t he
constructs thai need
phenomena which is the
phenomenon .
You have this r d ucaYou 'fie been called a
non al system thai is
gum/la semioiogist . How
spewing out
much theory does o.ne
undergraduate and
need 10 underitond your
graduate art stude nts
every semester and it 's an work?
Hopefu lly none. I'm not
incredible amount of
" a theorist , I'm not an inpeople. Ten years ago
abrasive. she's difficult .
she's a troublemaker. If
~ n r th ing .I' m interested
In
rrnperunent corn-
mer us. in impertinent
Absolutely not, I'm not a questions, I' m more inseparatist. I really deny
terested in qu estions th an
the idea that men are
in answers. If peop le arc
bad and women good.
going to say. "She' s
Moral d ivision is never
abrasive," well. that's
biological: men suffer
JUSt convent iona l for
from the pat riarch a l con- them to say that.
text as much as wo m en
People always descn'be
do . Certain men have
" dl!filllll " '/llomen as b,'more of an investment in mg sel/de/cat!ng beca1lJe
perpetua ting it because
o./,their anger.
th eir desire is located
Anger is self-sabotage.
there. A man can rake
anger is being pulled
back into childishness
and ab sence and silence.
I'm interested in ill/pertinent
Or what men call
" hysteria." I think that
comments, in i,npertinelJt quesrion».
we have' to be very aware
of these srcrvor ypes. So if
someone
savs I' m this or
I'm more interested in questions tba»
I' m that . I 'know where
that 's corning from. Mv
til ausuers,
work is a provocation on
,
a cen ain level 10 displace
if you were in a certain
advantage of the o ption
those convemions and
gallery, but for me I
andsa y. " I know what
those accusations with a
wanted a more secular
she's saying bCTauSC we
kind of circula to ry ron reading. I wanted a lot of know what rhc structure
versanonal device . I
people to be able to
is. I know it's not me, "
would rcallv like 10 work
understand those words
right ? That 's fine if thcv
out of a position of
and pictures and nOl 10
Want to do that , I mean'.
bl'nevolenn'; it's in·
be issue-specific, like
they ha\'(' p lt· nt~, of
tert'sling how m an~' peo·
"Shoreham Power Plant
things to look at thai
pie gel upset berau se
Go Home" or something makes them fed likt·
S(\lllChow whl'n \'ou
like that. I was irllcrested gods. that makes tht' m
scratch till' surfa;T . sex1n something that played feel that thC\' can shit
uality is lO ur h a pOlel11 in·
around with thost, dtvict·s eggs. and w~ l k into
dicator of that libid inal
of criticalit\'.llh ink that
temples and , affy seroUs
and psychological con·
it's so easy 'for the
and look like Gt'rman Ex- stru('f .
cultural structure in
pressionists. So tht,y look
I don't want to hI' an
.m
cO"'l'k t",1. " "',,\ iou,
l ....f"" J " ''''L < 1
" ,,,,,.j 1... " "
'''''.
• •oJ
.1'.
h ~.l
'" , • \" ''' ''' ..r '\'f' ~~,. ""n . "J
571h Street could not accommodate them. So it
resulted in the growing
of Sol-lo. The East
y illage is (he .same. I see
It as sysrcmauc . as
(JTI?inal illUlgt· mixht
generalized cultural pro'
.ruhmerxe Ihe im/dicit
critif/IIt' in the /j/ork. am/ duction .
I was talking to one arfhal anorber is that a/I .
/mipnatirJ1! can rein/ ora tist and he said, " I want
it 10 , like, disappea r."
rllllt.i!.l!('J.r in the all'
He was th realened by it
dinge. 00 \'011 l/'flllt If)
befause he didn ' t unders,
conllllNlt?
lf you' re petrifiC'd that
tand Ihat iI'S just part of
the readings arC' going to the phenomena of an
and the kind of desirous
be reconstituted , Ihen
object and site tha t Ihat
you remain ab.senr, un ,
plays withi n society. It's a
seen unheard~ and
kind of bohem ian advengenerally crippled . You
So I exp ect it and I' ll
take' the' rap if I have 10 .
Y01l hOl/f' said thai ()11l'
pmh/" '111 of appro/mll/iot]
if tllll! thc'/1 9 /l/('r 0/ ti'f'
t ~lJ eclUa l 3 nd I'm not a
theorist. But I' m not interested in a language
that is defensive about
theory because it 's intimidated by it. I would
rather suspect authority
with a defensive
petul ance. Th is kink of
ant i.intellectualism that
happens especially in 3rt
schools is very unfor!tlllate. Theory has a very
impo nam pl:tce, but /'
hopefully no one has to
read l acan 10 undCfSt and
my work. rm not interested in illum :tting
theory.
MAT 1984 EAST VILLAGE EYE 33
."
.
""
f f i t . If "
"
.,.
.1'
"I
I
t y • • I.
"
.'1
1'"
. ; " 1 ' 111 '
r~ n
~~II "
I"
, I.
' . ' .' •• I I
~
·' .' .' ." " " " ' -
BLACK TIE
may 16
optional
H AL BROMM
90 W EST HROA UWAV AT C II AM HERS 7)2-61%
.
........
_
,$>"
#'
Ill'\"~ .•
"~
~ .""
w..,,·
~
~~ ..""
I ~~
y
'/
ROB HAMELLINE
TIM DUCH
ROBERT GOBER
'Slides of a Changing Painting'
May 10 - June 3
RECEPTION
Friday May 11 7-9pm
Tuesday I May through
Saturday 5 May 19H4
6:30 pm No late admission
Jus de Pomme
338 E 11th Street
NY, NY 10003
212-674-5389
GALLERY HOURS WEO-SUN 12-6
PA U lA COO PER GALLERY
155 Wooster Street
New York 212 ()74_0766
GR IICI E
M IINS IO N
G li t t ERY
-;
Gallery
DAVID SANDUN
TED ROSENTHAL
3 May to 27 May 1984
-"'- -
~
--­
337 EII S T TE NT H ST - N YC -N Y - 212 -477 - 733 1
.
36 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914
BACK DOOR MAN
by TIM OTHY COHRS
d ies of vo m it.
In the 1960's Nun's wo rk
was co ntras ted with N ew Yo rk
Po p . bu t tho ug h N Ull and h is
fellow exh ibito rs from Hyde
Park. th e n la bel ed th e " Hairy
W ho ." sh ared sou rce ma te rial
with the Ne w Yorkers. there
was in fact no co m pa rison .
Wessd m an ' s nu des were no t
poc ked a nd co rrupte d : O lde n bu rg's humor did no t t urn
sto m achs: W a rhol's coo l had
littl e in com mon with juvenilia
and th e o bsessio ns of the naive .
Writing in 1966. C hicago
criti c Fran ze Schulz e d escribed
New York Pop as an an o f
" cr isp. well-tailored elegance"
from " the sta nda rds a nd va lues
of th e m iddl e an d upper
classes." The Ha iry W ho and
re la ted Chicago art ists wr re
classified b)' Schulze as SubPop. d erived from sources in
th e working- and un d er -classes
th at wo uld p rohibit th em from
beco m ing irue rnariona l cornmodiries (Arl in America. No v.
'66),
Schu lze was of COUf'S(" correcr. N UH a nd hi s Ch icago colleagues have retained a co m pa rat ively low prof il e, despite
ict u re a n exh ibit ion
in an old sro refrom
a b rief stro ll fro m ;J;
sect ion of se rio us (1 1\'
b lig ht. In it the
.
wo rk of six young
a nists. all d iffering
in st yle bu t link ed
by com mo n sources
-c-co rnic books.
rhings scat alogic al.
na ive a n. ad ve n isin g. and a burlesque of hi gh a n
pretension . The
work is hu ng o n
wall s co ve red with
garish linoleum a nd
is catalogue d in a
co mic boo k.
No . th is isn't a not he r closet size ga llery prem iering o n
Avenue C. Instea d . it is a n MI:hibition at C h icago's Hyde
Park An Center and it introduces the wo rk o f. among ot h ers. Jim N UH . The year is 1966.
and thi s is art history ta lkin g .
N u n 's work from th is period
was m anic and viru le nt . U nder
the punn ing m ant le of titles
such as De {;reepy Lady. Dam -
JIM Mvtt. Which Ever
m il (A Lonely Girl is an A wsum Site). and I' m Da Creepy
Roomer. N UH p rese nted single
j!o Your1.
1''''
repeal ed showings in N ew
Yo rk. whi le' Wa rhol' s an nam e
and ima ge fire inte m a rional
co m rnodines. But in a st range
figures th at had suffe red ampu tat ions. mut ilat io ns . a nd any twist. N un 's wo rk itself has
go ne o n to influen ce the
varic tv of serio us deviat io ns
fro m n o rm alcy. O n ple xiglass o r g raphic am. illustra tio n .
m agazine work . a nd t hro ug h
paper. these figu res co u ld at
th is back doo r has co me
t ime s see m co mposed of the
a rou nd to spark m an y aspects
gra ph ic-a n eq u iva lent of pud -
•
of the' co nte m po rary sce ne . To da y it can pl ausibly be stated
t ha t N un ' s influence is pro foundl y mo re widespread th an
h is own recog n it io n .
NUll ' s cu rre nt sho w a t Phyllis K ind reads like a cha n of
his impact. bo th stylist ica lly
and in te rms of content . In his
colo r pe nci l d rawin g. If/hich
E,,~r /J YOUTf . a n aked wom an .
gazes into a ha nd m irro r wh ile
co mbing her pu bic hair. The
sell ing is a thea te r stage where
she is co nfront ed b)' a sm aller
naked m an holdin g a test tube
and an envelope. o r is it a
di ldo and a valise . T he scene
appea rs na rrati ve. but t he o nly
explicat ion N Ull pro vides is a
slap -in- th e-fac e ut te red as
Richard Homble'on a'
Salvatore Ala
"ob!" In One Good Look.. a
By YASM I N RAMIR f.Z
H ARW OOD
ho woul d sus pect that
Rich ard Ham bleton has
a sense of humor ? H is
fa me d srrccrworks
" Mass Mu rde r." chalk
o utl ines o n th e pa vemcm simulat ing a
mu rder site . and
ne ar naked woman faces a sicklooking casa no va in a cram ped
interio r. H ere th ere is a sense
of carica tu re and d u m b sm ug ness reinforced by the giant
two-faced he ad t hat do m ina tes
[he background . Th e hu ge eyes:
of the head are echoe d in the
eyes of rhe m ain and lesser
fig ures and t hen re-ech oed in
their prominent nipples unnl
every item d rawn seems to be
peering from vacant eyes in
wonderment .
NUH' s wo rk has no litera l o r
nar rative se nse. Instead . his
ram pan t sen sibilit y is pan
naive art ist. part exq uisite
d raft sma n . pan ba th room graffi nst. a nd a lways prorraying an
inability to co mmun icat e o r
co m p lete anion . It is a se nsibiliiy that. as Max Kozloff
has writt en . " can ca ricatu re
itse lf and t ha t thumbs its nose
at its own ang st" (Art/ Drum .
O CI. '72) . In th is respect
N Ull ' S wo rk ap pears a defi ni te
precu rsor 1'0 much o f the a n I
have previou sly labe led New
H umorist . li ke t ha t wo rk. N UH
uSC'S humor as med iu m but no t
as me ssage.
In the jam- p aeked crea t io ns
of Greenblar. Scha rf . H arin g
and O J Rosa . a self- refe re mia l
pose of mockery is struck a la
N Ull . Like o ther N ew H umo risrs. they ha ve bo rrowed from
co mic boo ks, have been infl u :
enced by na ive o r juve ni le boys
an . a nd sha re the sam e man ic
claustro pho bia and di sconnection th at is N Ull' s influen ce. In
the clu nercd ca rtoon scenes of
Elaine Wander (th is month a t
Mo David ) o r Ph yllis Bram son ' s
tilting world (last mont h at
Kn o wlto n) o r t he Iour-Iimbed
gro tesques of J onathan Ellis (Ex.
ecu rive ~ t Fall). th e shadow of
Jim NUll is also availa ble -s-and
th is is an histo ry ta lking .
wa lls -were maca bre a nd actuall y frig ht ening . But his o neman sho w at Salvatore Ala wa ~
a variew sto re o f kuschv
seascapes . m aps. rodeos a nd
Marl boro cowboys. batt le
sce nes a nd toy soldiers. and
lu m in escent painted m irrors .
Although all thi s wo rk loo ked
so fresh it co u ld be co nsidered
experime ntal . H am bleto n 's
em brace of such div e rse su bject
mail er poses q uest io ns abo u t
his a rt ist ic d irection . No law
says an anis r's sta te m ent has to
be co he ren t. bu t great painti ng
sho u ld n ' t rel y solel y o n surface
ma nipul atio n to achieve depth .
Ever since Ha m b leto n mo ved
from his one-no te shado w
paint ings to con d uct ing conccns o (ny i n ~ paim in a cacophon y of visu a l tu nes. his
un iq ue vo ice has bee n Illumed
by the clamo rous rcxrurizarion
he po urs o n can vas.
Th e cata log cla ims that
" H ambleton ' s paint in g di rect ly o n t in Marlbo ro sig ns rcpreSCntS a dev elo pment of post modernist co m me rcial im age
a ppro priat ion int o the co nce rns
of textural. rhrce -dimcu sional
ex pressive' pa intings." To r nc,
ho wever. th e fan ih ar Marlboro
Alfln is painted o ver a gen uin e
Marlbo ro ad does lit tle to e nhance th e paint in g' s metaphor.
Th is uimmicky concept of " a ppro pr iati on" o n ly su llies the
im cg rn y'o f Ha mbleton 's images. when in fact the force of
o ne sincere st roke has the' power to o bliterate a ll Mad ison
Avenue lies. Likewise . rhc fre nzied brush -vinuosiiy of AJ the
If/ orld Berns a nd Bailie lncident g raph ically d escribes the
bi g bla st but goes no fu n he r
nothing o n causes or afte rm ath .
The seascape Secret 5 10011
c-
(named , like man y o f H ambleto n's paint ings. afrcr a daytime
TV soap) is the most successful
wo rk in rhc sho w. Ha m ble to n
deviated littl e fro m the stand ard fo rmu la of roaring se a
" N ightlife." lurking
figu res o n out doo r
c-
lithotd Helllltl,toll. Ve nice
crashing agai nst th e sho rel ine.
exce pt he ad ded a flat . b lack
ban d a t each e nd of the ca nvas.
T hese bands, Rorh ko-like
mo urn in g lines. act as Min im alist int rude rs o n t he o t herwise hype r-exp ression ist wor k.
The ir presence un co vers Ham bleton 's wilt ), sensibility wh ich
uSt,Ja llr hides un de r a ll the
pam t.
OPEN STORAGE
Sculpture and Painting
MAY-JUNE
,.
Protetch McNeil 214 Latayette Street
New York 10012
212,226 ,8957
MAT 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 37
DE N I S E
RECENT
CORL E;-'
WORKS
THIERRY
CHEVERNEY
MAN1·JUNE'lO
Ul CULD lI.'1''IIEEI lJau..n .utIl 1lOO STEB OJ GlAND
4/24 - 5/12 184 O.l'UIlG TUEs 4/ 24 b - tJ
BOUBS' tUlS ... SAt 1 - 6
MAR\<.-
k(l~IABI
1)~AWIN&S
"SA'I LeSS ,ANP SAy YeS:
H AP~IL - 2b MAy /984-
HAL BROMM
90 WE ST BRO A DWAY N EW YOR,K 1()()()7 (212) 732·6196
CHRISTMINSTER
sketches
after
piranesi
S\l)~ l;,ALL~.\l.'i
,
.'"
CD
.
.JOEL HANOORFF
.
,.
,
.
,.
•
may 23, 1884 to ju n e 18, 1884
•
I
opening wed e ve may 23 7 to 8 pm
fine a rt
.
<
336 east 5 street ny ny 10003 212 475 8369
h ours: wed - fri 7-1 0 pm s a t and sun 1 -6 pm
steve 8CBW'artz paintings
max gallery
r626 east 14th
..,.
new york city
may 16 - june 10, opening: 5/16, 6 -9
31 EAST Vi lLAGE EYE MAY 1914
._---
Gregg Smith
at Semaphore
By J E ~ NN E FREIU CH
o portray h is visio n a t
20t h ·ce ntu ry life . G regg
Smith draws from an
eclect ic poo l of su bj ect
matte r. ranging from an
exot ic East Asian Buddha
[0
a Pennsylvania land-
scap c . (T he su brcxt of
"rhe m aric di versit y" is
• photog raph y' s colonialist .
u n limited accessing of vastl y
d iffere nt subjects .) The co py ing g rid he uses. and leaves
Guy Augeri
at Gracie Mansion
evident. is u adino nally deft
and moderrusrically mechan ica l. In a picture tha t transcend s
verisim ilitude . A Portrait 0/
Dun can Hannah (1983) illustr ates Sm ith' s de sire 16 present
the subject in his full complexily a nd beau ty. Co pio us
amo u nt s of pr ima ry red and
blue (which Smith de ribes as
" d reamy ") used ih ta nde m arc
.
. \and h'ypar once msouctant
noric , fiery and impassioned . A
very d el iberat e han d lin g of
bo th brush an d crayo n ma rks
Sm it h ' s Ceza n nesque Fmit
(1982) , whe re rhe paint is appl ied ge ne ro us ly, in flat , even
st rokes . The Korean Musician
(198 3) is co m posed of agitated.
linear cad ences th at th reaten 10
twang right off th e surface like
b ro ken g u ita r strings. Th ese
restless. mean dering lines a rc
see n repea tedl y in Smi t h 's p ictu res. nervously jum ping abo ur
with raw , su p pressed energ y. In
Southwest Desert (198 3). th e y
wh ip across th e b lea k lan dscape
like a n electrica l cu rrent. The
h ig h ly cha rged lin es of Rocket
Launch (198 2) palpit at e excited ly in anticipatio n of t he
blast -off In, rcntrast , two
sh im m ering, light -filled land scapes. WoodJ ( 198 3) and
Rural Road (198 3) , owe th eir
t imeless q ua lity to thei r
m e asured d abs of red , blue
a nd white pain t o n a silvery
g ray gro u nd . The effect s of
ligh t possible with thi s palette
are asto nish ing , as is the way it
can define and reveal form .
Gr egg Sm it h 's neo-realis r p ic~ u res depict th e mod ~ rn wor ld
In a m a nne r ap pro pnate to o ur
time and rherefo re di ffe rent
from past m od es of paiming .
Peter Grass
at Serra di Felice
By A MY SLATON.
I first glance Pete r G rass' s
acrylic paint ings of the
nighr sky look like illu str at ion s fo r headli nes like
" Alie n Be ings Kidn ap
Housewife " o r " Su pe rior
In tel ligence Fou nd in
Galaxy." But th ere is
so met h ing m an ge an d
se rio us about t hese pain tings. Grass' s hydroce ph alic,
seve ra l m easu ring JO by 10
feel . O n thi s scale th e pain tings d raw us in to a Ge ld of
wh ite stars. Ilouresccnr b lue
a nd green d ou ds a nd d rifl in g
figu res. G rass leave s c ut any
hor izon line o r in di cat io n of
rel at ive size; h is creat ures co uld
be inches o r m iles h igh . What
loo ks fro m across t he ga llery
like JUSt ano ther pin point of
light turns OUt to be a t in y
space traveller, or perh aps one
that is light-years away. A
Pttu Gr1II. , Sncrlspoce, I" .
whi te- lined figures float
t hrou g h t he bl ack fir m ame nt
in we ird clu srers -c- almost symme trica l, almost e rotic . W e
can ' t be su re whe re o ne figu re
e nds and another begins, but
the re is somet hing fam iliar
abo ut th e way t hese creatures
cleave together and so me th ing
fascina ting about the deep .
velvet y-b lack space where they
d well.
The new paint ing s are la rge ,
gangly gu y in hi gh -to p
sneakers h as been sliced in half
and wal ks off the left side of
t he canvas as he walk s 0 010 th e
right side . Clearly he' s stuck in
a space warp . O ne of rhe besr
pictu res in th is show features a
clu ster of em bracing creatures
from IWO viewpo ints: o ne
stra ightforwa rd and t he o t he r
st retched o ut as th ough it we re
bein g sucked int o a b lack hole .
Grass has inve nt ed a whole
By TIM O THY COH RS
o provid e prop e r sett ing
fo r Gu y Augeri' s ca nvases. th e m a in wing of
th e new ly e xpan ded
G racie Mansion Ga llery
was tran sfor m ed vel
aga in . Pa int ed a ~ich
Gr-w SMittI, FI U;I , l t U
la pis lazuli -blue that with
Auge ri' s oc h re fig ures
set of natural and socia l ph ecrea tes a n a ir bo th sum pno m ena to g ive hi s Str ange be tuous a nd sacred . rhe spar e apyond its o wn cos m ic idcnur y.
H e has dro pped m uch of t he
pears less a chu nk of East
Village ten em ent t ha n parr of a
astro logical. geom etric :H1d
NA SA-t<:ch sym bo ls that ap ce remo n ial crypt bu ill ncar the
edge of recorded history.
peared in his last sho w, as wd l
Masked p riests, ani ma ls. a nd
as suggest ions of Star Trek
hybrid a nima l-men popul ate
plot s. l nsread G rass d raws t he
Augeri's work. see m ing ly just
forms of the cre atures rhcmo ne ste p up from rhe
selves with increasing fa re and
Neol it hic In For Cortezor. a
complexity so rhar they have
the orde r a nd int ricacy of AZlt'C naked figure dances befor e a
fo ur-legged a nima l as tho ug h
ca rvings. G rass draws fluidl y.
pe rfo rm ing a priestly rite
rarel y liftin g h is hand fro m t he
besid e a cave pain t ing . This
su rface. He intertwines o rga nic
shapes int o g raceful bu nd les of figure ' s to rso transfo rm s imo
an ant d o pe-like neck. a
imposing , blank-eyed cxtran-rsho u lde r shifts int o the face of
rcsnials .
rhc drawn an ima l. an d irs ow n
Th o ugh t hey are just sim p le
he ad di sappears into a n ova l
o u tl ines, cert ain relat io nshi ps
fo rmed of t wo ho rns.
am o ng t hese space dwellers a re
The most successful o f th ese
clear: a cu rvaceo us fem ale is
ca nvases, Animal Lift fl. is a lso
flank ed by big male g ua rd s
t he q uietest. He re a ga zelle or
and sm a ller. softe r a ncndan rs.
ant elo pe , wirh lo ng horns
like so me kind of Q uee n Bee.
str iped alte rna tel y in go ld a nd
In a no t he r painr ing . fWO sm a ll
azu re , sta res directl y Out at the
figu res for m the sides of. a nd
appear to carry, a hu ge, ico n viewe r. Augeri's rich appl icalike head. T hese sexua l/ rel igt ion of o il and e ncau st ic
de fines t his form with co lor
iou s rirual s loo k rnor c m yth ic
than e ver, suggest ing co ns rellathat appears flicker ing and
warm. perhaps illum inated by
lio ns neve r see n by mod ern
firelight. The to ne is o ne of
man. o r a pantheon belonging
peace and reve ren ce . as if we
to so me o t he r race alroger hc r.
are gazing at a sacred beast o r a
Despite their forma l ele fleet m essen ge r of t he god hea d .
gance , it is so me t imes hard 10
In Animal Life. a slag
te ll ho w seriously 10 la ke
Grass's visions. It see m s u nusu- o utl ined in a n earth (One
g razes am ong three g ree n tre e
al th at a g rown-u p, big- cit y
tru nks. Drawn partiall y ove r
a rtist wou ld treat his su bject
th e slag in cha rcoal are its sku ll
wit h t he care a nd reve re nce o f
a nd skele to n . T he double im a t rue beli e ver -but then
rhar's wh at art 's a ll abou t.
age recalls Salle, but has no
a n -essay sm ug ness of po se . T he
Maybe t he re is som eo ne o ut
stag reca lls Sch na bel, but withthe re, in fact. ma ybe a whole
o ut ho llow bra vu ra of deliver y.
spi ritua l world . G rass ma kes
the prospect look fresh and
Au ge ri pro vide s a sense of t he
continued on 41
sub lime .
Mark Kostabi
Ellen Berkenblit
May 9-June 9,1984
SEMAPHORE
GALLERV
462 WES T BROADWAY NEW Y ORK 1 0 01 2 212 .228 . 7 8 80
MAY 1914 EAST VILlAGE EYE 39
r; ' ~I'
.,
" t "'·:f' f f.,
~
,rt, . .
AN INTERNATI O NAL
SURVEY OF
RE CENT
PAINTI NG
AND
SCULPTURE
Opens May 17, 198 4
,
The Mu seum of Mode m An
11 Wesl 5 3 St reet
New York, New York 100 19
TM elll,b,hon was made possIble by IIgri'nl h.om AT&T
Ad d'1I0nal SUPOOlI wa s pf oy,ded by th e Na tiOna l
EndOwmenl l0r the Arts
DAVID REYNOLDS
NANCY SPERO
DOOMED EXPERTS i
and
~
NORMAL LOVE
I
MAY 5 - JUNE 3
•
CASH
~
••
34 E 7th bet. 2nd and 3rd
NYC 10003
673-9366
;
WED - SUN, 1 - 6
i
i
t
PEDESTALS .
May 5 -June 2, 1984
Opening: Saturday, May 5th 2 -5PM
ANGELA FREMONT
ANN MESSNER
CARMELLA SARACENO
JOSEPH SCHACTMAN
TOOT
Cu,ated by Ann Philbin
Bronx River Restoration Art Center
1087 East Tremo nt Aven ue
Bronx, NY 10460
212589-5819 589-6379
11'IhI ..ll lfllflon lu ndW tIr,... 1'0'* $tn COI/I'IdI OIl. Am ,
8t'cHf. CouncIl 011 ~ ArtI .Itd 71NComnM.InIl)' DltftIopmMf AQoMct' (APS II',.
40 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914
i•
continued from 39
st rong sense of t he mystical
whi le remai ning u rban an d
contemporary. Alterna ting incand escent and b lack light
sends th e work t hrough a
miraculous change every ten
seconds , with th e b lack-lit
forms eq ua lly evocat ive and
be lievable.
nat ural lift / dearh cycle of t he
beast an d an accompanying
awareness of our own qu ite
sim ilar natu ralness. It is a statement on the processes of b rute
existence. without denying the
knowledge th at consciousness
provides us. A com plicat ed
state me nt. it is put fo rth with
Au geri ' s Strong points: simplici.tr and a tangible unity of
VISion .
Meanwh ile. Civilian Warfare . like G racie Mansio n .
celebrated a seco nd anniversary
t his month . Dean Savard an d
Alan Barrows mo u nte d a show
of ga llery ar(ists to ma rk the
eve nt and in it intr oduced
Dou g Suoughto n. His piece
tu rned the ga llery's window
seat int o a da rk and inti mate
n iche : dolls and fetishes occu pied th e space like d emo ns
com ing back from hell. Drawing from cere mo n ial rribal an
forms. th ese figu res evok e a
Am•• E••
Gallery " .pen.
By WHEELER DIXON
if
he Amos Eno Gallery.
on e of t he fits! SoHo coops (early .70s) , has finally secured new quarters
'after a two-yea r hiatu s.
T he ga llery. o rigina lly
locat ed at 10 I W oostcr
and now at 164 Mercer ,
reopened March 17 with
new work by Connie
Dod ge. Forthcoming are shows
by Emily Hixon and Na d ine de
Lawrence-Maine .
The original ga llery was th e
site of numerous shows of
paimings. graphics. film and
video in the mid-to-late '70s.
and introduced th e work of
Hixon . Harrison Burns
(pe rha ps best known fo r his
White Hou se/Taj Mahal d iptychs of a few seaso ns back)
and others. All of the stuff
sho wn there was so new .
un usual, high ly origina l and
resolutely noncommercial tha t
the artists found the mselves
un able to get showings for it
elsewhere. which is why the
ga llery came into being in th e
first p lace. Na tu rally th at' s
changed with the past few
years. and Co nnie Dodge' s
wo rk sho ws how t he publ ic has
caugh t u p with t he Amos Eno
grou p . Dodge 's cloth and wire
figu re scu lptu res. most of th em territo ry, and ali I can say is
in poses of seem ing suffocation tha t I hope she get s a sho w
or at least entombme nt, are at
togeth er: now th at th e gallery
on ce peacefu l and profou nd ly
is back on irs feet. it 's ti me she
distu rbing. Wa lking th rou gh
too k care of her own work.
the Dodge sho w. one get s a
Women Mltke Prints: A b rief
real sense of com plete removal
word is definitely in ord er on
from time and sensory exth e show of this name . not
pe rience. Th ('S(' pieces repreyou r usual stuff by any means.
sent somet hi ng of a departure
wh ich opene d at th e Colu m bia
fo r Dodge. whose ea rlier work
U. East W ing Gallery (Ferris
has been mu ch more d irectly
Booth Hall. I I 5t h & B·way) .
cheerfu l. whatever th at mean s.
G raphics by Victoria Salzm an .
!4er:- . Dod ge seem s to be workDian a Drukowski . Barbara
Ing In a p rivate place be yond G ray. Nancy We lls. Takayo
the concerns of the living : it ' s
Node. Sarah Sears. Miki
worth a tr ip .
Naga no and Nadi ne de
Emily Hixon . who will show
Lawrence-Maine. were notable
at Amos Eno in '8 4 . is one of
for their usc of differe nt
the cemral forces in rhe
med iums: all of th ese people
gallery' s existe nce ; she has
were oste nsib ly doing graphics.
divided her time betw een ad but the manner in which each
min ist rat ive dut ies and doi ng
artist approached her empty
he r own work in her stud io on
space on the paper W 2 S un ique .
18th Sr. In '8 2 she showed a
All o f th ese people arc new.
series of " pods. " stu n ningly
and ,will be heard from more
sexua l charcoals done in a man - dec isively in the future .
ner rem in iscent of J udy
David
Chicago (whose work f o//owl
at Manhattan Art
Hixon's nor the othe r way
By YASM IN RAM IREZ
around . althou gh Emily is tOO
HARWOOD
rnodesr to say so) o r Georgia
O'K ceffe. but ccnrainieg an
he Imp ressionists. whose
elem ent of scu lpt ural auste rity
su bjecti ve Style was rival
which is Emily's alon e. Before
to the camera's cold accu t his. Hixo n d id a whole series
racy. were the first group
of violent . savage acrylics in her
of an ists to fed the
" Pax Domesrica" series. which
p ressu res of technology.
was anyth ing but peace fu l or
Monet pa inted a series
domestic: she used basic kitfeatur ing th e image of a
che n shapes and b lew the m up
train . the modern sym bol
to ou tsize canvases in th e 4 by
of mass mo bilization an d
8 ft . ran ge. sou ped th em u p
herald of the rush of the new
with lIery b righ t colors in jarrage . .AlmoSt a cent u ry later .
ing com binations. and the
David Kapp does brushy pa intresult was simu ltaneo usly fu nings of cars zoo ming through
ny and horrific. Here . work ing
narrow . un po pu lated st reets.
with na tural shapes . Hixon is
Through h is use of aerial
veering off into en tirel y new
perspective , Kapp illu srrares
K."
th e mod ern world in mod ern
terms. The pa intings always
suggest a sight from the di zzying height of a skyscraper, a
look down on a di sta nt and
hu rried city.
To get Kapp's singu lar point
of view in M,d,own Tunnel
you wou ld have to be sta nd ing
on t he Pulaski Bridge. p referably d rinking a tequila su nrise .
as the pu re New Mexico red o range tones characteriz
th o
Perhaps it was m
fulfillment rha
pamt a view
Street . McG
color of Ca
Green Ci ly
t hen a Tex
orange in Me
next . O nly t he
streaks in Kapp's
you th at he' s actua lly po rt raying Ne w York.
These pai ntings wou ld be
pretty if t heir math em atical
compositio n weren't so tough .
You cou ld almos t see a Mondrianli ke grid in Lunch. Rat her
th an calling Kapp's pai nt ings
Const ructive-!mp ression ism .
you cou ld say they are dynamic
depictio ns of the premier
Ame rican cit y on the move .
-..r
LOOKS AT SLI DES
Wedne sd ays 9- 7 PM
TON YLABAT
May 18-J une 11
MAY 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 41
" ,..---------------------------,
,"
r"-"""'!
. THE SLiCKEE BOYS
CYBERNETIC DREAMS OF PI
THEIR FIRST REAL ALBUM
ITS ABOUT TIME AND ITS ABOUT FUN
:'1
"
\
,".
~'t"
,,
~.
C"-
EveryThursday!
i
,,
I
AFRICAomeetsoBRAZIL
TUES MAY8
"
f'~ ~
.
'J
'i'
....,
" An album of glorious-foolishness, dedicated to the proposition that man
can create an equal and absolute other reality, not with the tools of th e
physicist, but with the fuzz-tone guitar."
Paril.e Puterbaug h - Rolling Slone
"The Slickee Boys have blazed a singular and uncompromising trail across
-
the frontiers of American trash."
Drew Wheeler - New York Rocke r
" Loud, fast and just as wild . . . this LP roars along like
Blue Oyster Cult on acid."
David Fricke - Star Hits
" A gem."
,
!
I
RObert Palmer - New York Times
OLIVER LAKE
&JUMPUPI
THURSMAY24
M
Star of XICA'
Award Winning Brazilian Film
MAY 29-JI
THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA
TWINITONE REC ORDS , 445 OLI VER AVE SO, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55405, 612-377-954 1
Av_ bIlI ill good SlOfes~, Of by mail ($8 poslpaldj
Wrwe 101 catalog
Disl' 0uIch Etil. arfleflWOrld, ImporIanl , Jem, MeVo Am, Nevatre. Rough Ttade, Syslem.lPC. Tel
HANO'
ROCKS
,'
1 \
•47 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1984
u.s. FAN ClUB
P.O. Box 1591
Murray Hili Sta.
NY, NY 10156
Astrud
Gilbe
204 vanck St .• 243-4940
y
CULTURAL
EXCHANGE
s,. 81UY BERGMAN
n I . 'hire bull."" on. ho
Non" e-. "'Sou,h
'''- e''
" pound
IioI'-m.oon
"'··J.;l........
Tht 1 ""*,,,,",• •
Sponntl . _ , I
mil<, ...... 1," 1 .." h
Ro< ~ . "
DOn in
....,.b. hn 101,""" ,',
•ndla.. " F_ Mon,$n'.
n t. ' 0 ,he Thlfd W..,..
I'mi--al of.M CaribOt...
in Can .re.... bnlouth, '0
yo..
br·h•• ..-
del........ of
Cu>bbnn, T
qUIMS. , he
'" dv
Eo·
!>n""r..]
rb )" n "" of u
r_
>J>d
ln '''' ' AU .
RkU /lOW' " At......
bou
on,o ,ht
,,"it< '"
oi
,osin,
..nlf,n,
piI,,,,nj I"'Jm " ....,.
n mo,,( I I, ',
.
...·t . , ... mlnO( .
Ih~ futl.."
._ l"...._ .
....".. ktlll .1w NonoX·dlt'tl
....... lor ' N
moh. .. b for ... od P."
),I ntl"",,). ·.
Pla.. Ik s...'
I'"
ou""""
of ,Iw
b .......h of
In,
uy
Uw dr>oct.
lI. k.. hoIckc>:and _ •
' 1<1,n ~ :alik~ Nobody <:tfl
1'"1 .. or ou, . ,
,h" ~ .
un..: <'opt know _
: ' .." .
moddlt .• Jt'd Jft "'''.. ,.. . boo
1'"'''''''
"'tne'""
•. " ~'• • '" ptubltm
my n, , h "h. ,......
bt..." . do.r ~: . he
.on,"'
"..'
I'" ,h,rd
';':" <ti, p huu. '0 , ....
pol
np'. ,n
In
boo. P..,o Ik
On ,.. "'". "',.. of
f
1.
,h.'!'l"f ,...
.. ..........,.t. 'I)''''''
'0
" V,..., U r. ........ . h<dtnJ (
" ..ltmned
Colombu' "
pImoIbk ..q
for ('>'OfS. "1
Drum•. rui,
no:! • """y
" ,ed ' 0 c
n "'tnl
.....k ...d ..·.. h f..,lb...k n .
wh
poopI< (ou ld joy.n
plod• . n.. , rowd . ~. I~nd , ",''soc of ,ht C.. il>bM ..
Colomb" ". ond. r. ..
~ by Jilk:' ... " j" . " . nd
fot< i, non , i. Ciddy from
RO'I tn "Cf)'
PC'OPlt
CO'" ppint in ' M hour ""r.
,h ...k "'c'., md ,n« . fon"....
CoIombj,. Nel ,e _ . n Af,;u n
• nd don', " . n, ' 0 p. y .d m;'.
du'l<'
fi n;,htd It
,ium. W ..... onu.lly runn'n"
hu ry ,w..noo r ~hM . pm.
,n d,r"i,." HII bn ", if,,1 ",if,
pit.... 1M th" ,,,,, h ', • •hum. ')ody . ",,, .ny . ..ntt' oI .. lm.
bl ! II iI" . ... y u.. ,il rhfy " "
11
It , h. 101' o f ,he
,he tlt h,
>hould.."
>tlt
y k . d,n" '" , hoo
fot..... (u , . Th, ....." u of th,
.. ~". ·· W. know 1)'".....
m,"'em,.., i. in (",n, nl
And n et)'' ''''' h., 1 >tory ..
5"~" "'....,. d."" cn _ 'tMllu .
\1:'hll. "m nin« . I"'P"I . ,
«>Upl, •. moh. _ d",
...food
'<>t.""n" P•..., h.d
$Old,." 'u 1><"0< ,h, ... but
h... n f. .. in".d .. "It lItt ,."k
" i, k. '" ,h,o",.<htn> ...(( , h~
"" ,i,,)' nl ," " .ie ,n ,h , 'l"ilt nf
10..", ".~~ by ,nil. "
C." b!>"' n , ,,h,,... 11. ~'" ,h e
ilk. for ,... f....;.. lin I'Jg l ,
" It·, Il";nt ". f,1I d" "'n.
l it po\l' , h~ "' .n .t~"'~n, of , ...
look. ,nt . -hok- "'lK'..... "
,hc h .." t. 0( .
.... king: · 110"".. , .... Am." .." w"n,..," o f ,." ~,, .. i,h nO'"
prom,,,t, . V. ,n. G,lI " of
n'fn« _ ' hej"' ... " IItod. " 'u....
Slot', .1-0 .........1 OU' . lor l h~ir b.1by n........ _
,he
ll.n t ..·. oI.. .,,,1,,,,, 'u..".k""" in" ""p.
u 1,'JllO ,h~ , hm. " slw
··h '......... W....,,·. ,
lit (ound .n , ..I)' .11)' ,n,f.r.
Th. Cnlomb.' M
n·, "Of. for'" ofJ....... " t ln P.....,....
ritd. n.. ...... d. y. " lIoc. Hot ..'he> .. 1'' " .,( , 10..1
H<it: . Ar,,""·, h" "n"lr. • ,ill • nd 1'1 now pr <d~n, of ,....
,..II. in ,he m.. k~. ol.u FJ
bt pI'I·,n" on .n ,he ca>Kt'~
r<'d It......
" it<n. ' Vi
•
,... d.lIy ~pt"
. nd wondc-• • bou.
n\Oha.. llnl
A
Tw.~
.iU ",, ~
"'It
i,',
be".
''''''I'<-
""''''''''',,1.
,h.
,I.,
.,,,1.
..>t."..n, ,n,,,
Sou"""'"""'"
.bott, "''',II< ..
m,.
* .'"
"""
,
"c"'"
fnt i...l·, bo;l.d of d....1......
hod. pon." ..
.."t '" , pb<t _ of
r.-. . " h . 1ol of hotm.nd
....."'
f"""tl (It ', 1>«".
s....o. Vrln
,he n ' ' .."
be l«l
IIw Glck:M bullttn, i Iw
l-kmflphc ""'" h E!
T
CUte>- " Th< bull" n,
..... buil. by hn (
,n ,....
. ....... IIC'I.- It ;.
hott .-..dd.n,
..kt af blnelw" The 10,·
.1I<t""·nrt far
bt "'.....
.nd • •<1
·.. h p)'I>",<d. 1
pnk> ""l in, ,... top of ,he
..."'.....~ for ,he p"'J'O"'" of
hold,ns b.1n
.
W
t
'otI>.
To ''''''l "
t .M bu,ldin8
rorn<ko< oF
. he ""'" f
.he " m~ hid be ~ n dropp«!
from . bipl. .... . nd ."" ...... nl
'0 ponc h" 't 'n,o ,ht ctn't,nf
.Iw hulh'''Il . A WOOl" ..,nd
",. Ift h,,,, ",il.< h" m1lk Th~
e...,.. d .... i,ed for h,m '0 bt
pi(k, d "p 10 Iw .0,,1<I.f)'
. ". in. And .,. i,M . ~In. lly .
,h, r< ....' .n .n nounu .n"n,. A
P" f" ..""Id be ••od (ot ,nt
~ ...It .... ,ort . d", of
,i"' t .
" '110 h. d b«n . >lt n by th.,b,
s., d«",ltl.I.., ,h o, r ,."
Vf'/"nin". ,h. bull,in"
in
.hng.. of b<-in" ,,,,.\kmM,I.
s.."", Vtk, ",. l .n. iou~ ,n W t
i, 1<110'''.1 , .nd <h" h.. b<-t n
,h.
d<>nt (n, , h~ f"" ,..1 t:ooI;n".
.n,I I"","', "" I< 't pl. « d . nd
t" ' f)" h in~ ,p>fkln ,..hi... 6..,
. 11 ,!It " fI" ,n. l ' 0....... '~m.in .
H"g~ " ,,/(. d hullhtid. lin,
,h~ ~"' ''''''. holl t, .nd .... "h
...." .0><.e1,Col in ,he
<><1 A <><I
old
""rfnr"'er>
b!.Illpcn,.
'«', ' b Vel.... ~"""" ,he '''P'
po ll o( ,.... Con.' ......... bI, .
rno:nc (Of ,h~ r ,,,"oJ. P>co .
. bl< ' 0 ,,~, , lu<ku,,, of ,h~
N.."",•• Tou" .. Co rpo" , ,,,,,
lool u>d n .. ion.l rod", " • .
,ion> ,n<>k . n in't'.... . .\ nd
n"rn,u .II" ...... "'trri.1 """'....,
bou~'"
'M
,h n f
"/'0'1"" bJco
,.."
eo.. .""Jud
Col••1'ItI
Ton &q..,.... ll:..",
110< ,.." ......-. ",...-d
.. <II . odd",,, .o ,.... flOOd •
hu..-of ,.... <.....-d T ",, [,..
qu_ . b, doc ..., . hid.n
""..... >1 , ~ for. rum. .. h .. h
.....·
.'tI,-
ho.., ' 0 do
Ioo.~
h
,.... I"" ,Iuo ;,
bt,,,, h t.·
td ... aon.. bo" ln. IlcMh
_t"
'P"'"""
01..... ><I' ·
_
ibeud ,"
l.
e.o" CoI1
h'''I,n\l: b
b>o1~ . nd Ttn
E><tu"'.. ptov>din" • " up of
IIo'Mm p .'J 'utlOf'< Inri
'·
I n ... 'odd""", 10 ,he <
...
CO.u
.
n . pr1'f<,<. pl>r •
... hold. mu>ic tn..... 1 h '••
in ("' I. ,
of 'N Lx ..
Ammr. n Film f " .. l fot
fln"' . qu,nC'l of
u"{)
But ill', b«<l ...ed
r""" be,..,
• hi,h·"'", mort by btoor....
.... t • • hon. .. y. ,he 8d...III.,.
n.. bnch popul.. oon Ift'ffWd
_loy Colornbun . I...... .
ranI'" of m<ddle Md "ppc"
It . .... h
"'l b«'n -
(0,• . ........ . nd
,....'1".... - . ,.."" port fot
IIo,pp'''',e>Id f...... Sp;on....
CoIonIn. 11 ...., plunlk"d
pr,iodic:olly by po n.nd
En,,11lh 't"lll
nd
a( ,h;'
n , u ' •..,ly
,h"k st1<t, of
mD<' 01" ..h"h ,,,II ,nn. in.
AnY"" }'. ,t.< (nr '.. I...."h'
on !H1 . nd no" . •n;', ,hi,d
f . ... p",k, " p",i' 1 (I(•• d•
• • t~ ni.h, . "'" h mD<' or ,he
, ,,d,t...,, .... y...s '" ,lit f1ni,1I
(0'" Of fi ", in , h ~
nlO,nin. n... I"« t~ II d... in
toft._
s
r ,r.u'ions.
_.bou,
P' " '0 Paco', d (on, '0
"t,
,lit bc1t ""'''I'' (rom»
m ,,,~ I»'" n( ,h. C."ib"". n
» I"'"ih l, ", pl>. (Of f,u .
" h ', ,,,u, ," ..mll k> V
""•
G,lIi, "Th~ .. m, . "d it n..
l ik" "" k.
ncl L:oun
"'''1<'.•
"\1'",. Th., ';'U'HOI'I .I"",..',
~ .."
place
in ,....
, ..Ik", . nd _ 'M bncbn of
IIw Hotel unbt. lot", h .. n·
"",-. bul
.110 ." " ,,"" of
~
IIIln , >fIod , <,<IIn
................. 1
,......
,,, I,,,,". Tht C>til>bMn i>.n
....u in" m..oi<:o! .....u.. . 1Id
tn.,...I, _h :os . lIn """ Iwtp
co "om"h in, t , · nJ>fld i,,·
nuc ll(' on
h of ,he ....'"
loft" ....,.,.,. h•• · ...,In u,hey con,"'"" 10
ri~
<Om .
«1. of ,I>< f...in!
OU...... ' N booK
in I\'r.. Yo, k.· ·
~" h~ 'IU (..." •• I alon<. '
"0<><1 <loun "yin . 't r<
'~I'......, n,M ht" h"nJ..,h of
m"..... n' . Oo-nn" 6r(>,,·n.
.... ltd Itt UOloi P1lk, d \l;'t
,he P"opl• • pr""JCkd , ' .
and J'O"ibl~ ,Iw " t in....
m...... of
{nu, n,,,1I11
n.. d.""tn , ponded by
J>.', k",,, , Iov.~
" . I,k.
...,,",,rf d "-"Uh"t .. "h
,he" h. nd, ,n '
n 1MI<
. .. . lik~ .... ,
,o Q.lln
Fi,t (...... ,he Vttl'" blond,
. nd A..n
M. n ,ni.
q..... booh ......" • • ....., ""l~
of ..t.nd ,hrrhm>.nd. m •• •
' U,t of t iC'<llIeltl _..vod . nd
h1",' -. • lI h 10,... .1:_1" of
A'..n V.n
n.
ed ..... IObt'... _
S
find of ,....... (ou. nlf:hr ...
"K ,h.
,",,00,
f Of ,hi<, 10 h,pl"n, ....... 1II.
,h. (.... ....1 m"" ....... 0Ilf of
" ' Ikrll<lII . • nrI ""onK '0 ,Iw
N' " POlO hopn . of 'M
J.....iun s...rt>pl.... f ...,n l.
•
$",<" .1>< bollr,n,,;, .Irndy
poor,,"d
'0 I h~
......., he>.. h" h, pp'n ? "W~ c 1<1
n
p. Iht nc-w 11"""
..·h"'h .... .. 11,000. bII , ,kt
one , imt . c d <d
i,
On ·
Iy h',II ("n, . nd ,h.. ', h ..
,h. dd;.;, be, .n: · Vt ,n.
Gill;' ""U
do" bl. bill of
• ",.jo, <Ofk g I' . " d . ,op
<0
""y•. .._
,h.,
I.." n l'OU p It , IK b ' f:t
...d,,,,,,. .. king .d... n,,/:.
of
d". 1,Ul< , h~ d, ~,, « ,
"" 0 himKlf. • I<tnt i,h
C. ...;1 1o . nd Jo.k 1It ,h inkins
01 mor~ t . ..", ,"' .l"'".......... ip.
"" li N pu bli<i' l·. • nd foc.1
I"'in" ,,,<h .. ,hi, l C~, '1
I'"" cl~ _
TIlt C.., ibt. " M"' K Ftl" ... 1
" ,t idy (n' ....... p h....
hopc'f..II)' h t p'" " . 11 ' M
. le.....n" , h., h... ~ m .d~ ;, •
, h~
...r.n<
or
n..
, h;' r..
I ?I~
......... Of"''' on M..ch 20. f u, ·
,he, ,nro,m.. ion ... " be obt.. n·
.d r I o "'''II", t T..""",on. P O.
Boo E. Cocon", c:;....'t:n.
Hl B
V." (""",
pn<"_'.
~..... h. • ,,11 . h
Phdllp< ~'J "'J r
I.'.",
'11<
h po.....
,,'nu,".no!
h.ppolI' '''.
>fIod
ou'
of bomboo
Ilwlk-- "", .,.
of:-:.....
Yark " ........... pt'II",cd. b 't
"'8'" ~.• of h"h ,............
. nd Cub, n ~ . ,. ",.
h GltJpo :-'"he. • Col_
umbo
ba 1oo11d
Ilu< ' M
poro , no pr...
.,.,10...
....p
m...,.
. ., 1..4 !AST WlAGI! (vt 41
•
\
,.-------1
,.,, - - - :::::=-- , Snake Charm"
J ah Wobble/Holg er
Czukay/T he Edge
Island Records Mini-LP
.
By ROBERT LEGAULT
Cybernetic Dreams of Pi
MONIQU£ N.Y.
...............,
By CELESTE-MONIQUE LINDSEY
h at 's wh at th~ eager teens seem 10 be askin
us as th ey waned the arrival of D
D
g
th e Greene Street Cafe on Mat h ura n uran at
2I
conference sched u led for no
,St. A press
't il 2 P m wh
h
on ron r gel started
" Wh ' .
en t r band fin ally arrived
ere are the .crowds?" seeme d to ask the
t wenty or so policem en assi d
d
entran ce and save the five :u~J to guar the
expected throngs R ' h
y, guy~ from t he
crowds down 10 a' ba~~n . .owever. th inn ed th e
LiS2 Haun, J~visible Man Im:t ~~~~t;~~orra pher
d·d
:~~~~3~~;¥E~;~~;'~<~~:~::~'~~'~~~h<"
was n,ot a~u~d at all. H;~~n\b~~n:~~ r~}'lor
Iman s qu estion s abo ut the ba nd's alle d s
po rt for the Th alCher regim e either A ge sup.
POJI photograph('~ seen lu rkin g abo~t Ih~t:~_n .
t rance . pr ess card 10 hat . told us kids rh h '
was noth1Og like th e d ay rwemy years a' ~ t S
th e fab fou r had landed ar j f'K Wh ~ w en .
mem . guys?
.
ere s the ('xn teO n Apr il 12. Ben ina K
,
f
.
he r ne w ba nd th roug h it ester.. ale
Malan a. pu t
Pyram id . The re were a I:t p review pac~ ar the
dance. In the downstai rs r~f h~avywelg~ts In au enVito Bru no Berh 8 M
':J saw Ne ll COOper,
and god k~w who ~Isee~Ginsburg, l ydia Lunch
types'
.
d
. ere Wefe more " indust')'
" Upstairs an th ~ verd ict seem ed to be v
poSIlIVt". Those who missed h
.
cry
(or lost rime by going to Dat e premrcre can make up
Sunday o( Memor ial D
nceren a on May 20th _
includ e Sally Berg on d% ' O ther mem bers of th e ban d
o n guitar (ex-Sylvain SYJv:}(~x1~' Egosl~vla) . J .F
b· ss, Go h~a r rhem. t hey're rea~ly gC:;~~d Krnard on
D ancete na h ad two im
.
,
"
month . First th ere was Haere~r~g gS, t1l1S pasr
an d 30th . Mike Monroe d~"
s on March 29th
eyes I' ve seen in a wh ', ~te y has th e preni esr
song "Oriental Seat" ,I_e .
I SCarves too . And th eir
auitude. too. i( you kr:. a rt"h loe rapper. Good had
.w w at l mean . And on Frid ay A " 13 0
~k ni~hlrs with ~~~:~r:~ : ;Iinued i.ts S('rik of ghoul
time around bu r I' m g l d I rcy. I missed them lasl
gh t
don 't r~ll y care for th /orh:rab
bhe~ th is rime. J
breed apart . Th e don e eve
ats ur t esc guys are a
Lead singer And~ I .d . ch"hfeally look Ihat weird .
H
d'
nr
as a very boom' g b
e m ay isclaim any intent ions (
rn ass,
~u r ' suggest he ap ply 10 LJo .1 L ° fKX sym bol statu~ I
Insur anc;e.
YWi 0 london for peJVIC
Int o rhe futu~ - sp rin h
.
spring on t he Lower Eas I'd as arn ved . And with
pkin s Square Park conc~ 'it~ comes ~anaqa 's TomBe. Th is y~r's festival wi'; s HII_ e B IS 1M Pl4u 10
an d Su n , May 20t h (R . d Pan"'ID d ays, Sat . May 19
The fesrival. in the ~~nof ~cs M~y 26th & n Ih).
attempts to prncm •. Music ~nJlrr Uoa.JOhnstOA,
that oolt~ tradirional
•
~ancC' and dancewith the tC'C hnoio II pauCT!Js and Imagery balaocC'd
.
gyofourr~ " Th
.
Includes. on Satu rday
.
.
C' CUtTem lineup
with Richard H d . sta~Jng at 3 p . m .: Jon Hassel
h
°
7'
}um~rs.
f
Gtou:d ~A t M
t e• l'he}unior)any
n
rooics. Collin WolCOtt &- F ~n unday: The OnhoTi!fl Cora, and th e D;uba ~lo~n. ~rcd Frith &
rhmg for everyone J an AM' . ere ~~J1 bt' som e_
beats, Eastern infl~enc~
b'SIC • Poltrlt"s. Larin
al of all and as ,'s h
' .u e D ulch . Most u nusu·
t e caS(' with m OSt
.
b YUna --and
/o r Ph r ' h
e¥rnts o r~a n l zed
Ched if our.
e lm : t ere will be Ceh ic music too .
P:
The Shckee Boys
Twin-lone LP
Those youngsters who love
the rou gh raw sounds from
yesterd ay's psychedelic treasure
[rove (or the new im itations of
them) arc always eager to
dis associate the mselves from
the mote overly precious side
of '60s rock wit h its strawberry
alarm clocks and neon rainbows. They don 't always seem
ro be aware of the synergistic
relat ion shi p tha t existed between the two - or to ap p reciate t he fine line thai
separates the syru p from th e
real rock candy . The Slickee
Boys . long a fixture on the
W ashingt on . D .C. scene . walk
th at fin e line bet ween bed rock
ga rage-ban d and pa isley gar-
T h is is a q u ite varied assort ment of sou nds, and conside r.
ing th at it' s th e forme r bassist
of Pub lic Image. Ltd . plus a bit
of gu itar from U2 and lot s of
wei rd instru ments from Ge rmany' s an swer to Brian Eno .
you migh t expect it to sound
fa.i rly unusual - but you' d be
wrong . Thou gh lots of lillie
odd bits of French hom and
electroni c tapes scurry abou t
here and the re in the
background . t his disc ends up
consisting of two rather long ,
langu id jams in
lazy manncr of T raffic' s more excessive
mom ents, one prett y and clean
fu nk th rowaway. and one fairly
cool-soundi ng th ing in a
Byrne-Enc sort of groove . All
in all not tOO bad . bu t noth ing
too dangerous. and with th e
possible exception of th e title
tunc. nothing wor th running
for.
Ir."
bage -wi th occasional forays
into surf and au-go-go- and
Nybom a
for t he most pa n they end up
Rounder LP
with a good mix that isn't
This record is. yes. not
un like N igeria' s King Sun ny
Ade. bu t even mell ower - iI' S
the gen der side of Africa
mu sic, but u nlike Su n ny Ad e's
band wh ere a bunch of guilars
vie with a whole bunch of
drums for su premacy.
Nyboma . a singer from Zaire
with a smoo th , high . almost
femin ine-sounding voice. relies
mainly o n guit ars. with the
drums p laying more t hei r
W estern role o f just -keep-t he
beat; they're even played wit h
brushes somet imes. Th ere 's a
Latin feel to this as well. due
mainly to rhe synco pated horn
ch arts weaving behind th e gen de bu t insistent st rum ming
gu itar, with anot he r guitar
noodling aro und in th e ext rem e high register . It even
sounds like salsa sometimes , or
calypso , but it doesn 't really
sound q uite like them eithe r.
In ot her words . it ' s go t a sound
all its own - and a very nice
one at that . rhythm ic enoug h
to d ance to but relaxing
enough to JUSt sit around and
listen to , (Rounder, O ne Cam p
St. , Cambridge. MA 02140)
afraid to be it bit di ppy in th e
name of fu n . and yet doesn ' t
ge l too cute - or derivative ,
" Life of th e Part y" has some
killer rwin -guirar leads that
wail like the Am boy Dukes.
the Status Quo 's "Pictures of
Matchstick Men " is given a
credible reading . and a coup le
ot he r acid -era chesrm ns. " Invisible People " and "M arble
O rcha rd ." arc full- fled ged
wall-of-sound Freakouis in a
St yle t ha i few bands nowadays
ca n pull off. Turn on . tu nc in
and d rop out. (Twin-tone . 44 ~
O liver Ave. . Minneapo lis. MN
5540 5)
A"tisti( Sar:lwt
T he Visible Targets
Park Avenlle Records EP
Temptations a.nd covered in
t ha t collection by Tin a Turner.
was her im roducrion 10 W are.
No w, o n " Let'S Stay
Together" (Ca pitol Records
12" ). synthesize rs arc
tem pered by T ina 's sexy and
sou lfu l sing ing and accentuated
by carefu lly arranged horn s.
For those who arc too you ng 10
rem ember (or care) th is song
exempl ifies where black po p
was a decad e ago, before reco rd
producers and ot hers in th e
music industry insisted th at
every art ist co nform to the format of the fledgling d isco in dustry. I' d say it was high time
Douhle Double
Th ese th ree sisters and their
male drummer p lay srraighrforward yet «centric melodic rock
wit h little tr ace of either meta lm aiden Strut or th e new b rand
of Bett y 800p cuten ess. As
such, th ey don 't fall int o a
neatl y catego rizab le st yle. not
even classic]
' irl-group ; thoug h
you nger an mostl y fem ale.
th ey resemble hard y perennials
like Shoes or NRBQ in tha t
they formed an allegia nce at
sorrf:e po int to a certain SOrt of
hard .edged po p and have stuck
to their own bra nd of it.
Thou gh i hey work steadily in
th e Pacific No rthwes t and have
overs have always
done some tou ring in Ca nada.
been a way 10 get
they ' re 'litt le known on th e East
0010 th e cha ns for
Coas l. Th is EP. th eir second .
th r artist who rewas p roduced by form er Bowie
record s t he pa rside man Mick Ron son . Having
licu lar song. and
heard them live on a nu m be r
Hraven 17's Mart yn
of occasions. I' can say th at it
doesn 't show a lot of the ir
Ware has done as
rough er qua lities. but it's a
prod ucer for Tina
good mi x of some of t heir
Tu rner what hr
(and the rest of
many original tunes. running
B.E.F .) could n' t acthe gamul from dreamy synt hrock to Police-style regg ae beat
com plish with
Af,ni, 0/ Qualif]
to hard rock, and reprising
their local hit "Life in the
and Disfi",/ion Tw ilite Zone," a spoo ky litt le
turn OUt a bo na
fide hit . Aft/sic 0/
num ber. from the lasl record ,
Thi s is a band that relics only
Qllahly was a ral her
on tight vocal harmon ie§; a
c:deClir. thou gh
d riving gu itar be at, an d; very
enjoyable co lleCl ion
(alchy melodies. Th ink' you can of t ime-wo rn Ame rican po p
stand it ? (Park Avenue, P.O .
masterpieces covered bv variou s
Box 192% . Seart le , W A
artists. " Ball of Confusion,"
98109)
o riginally recorded by t he
\
~
,
. , ..._ :t'
Nona Hendryx
fo~ an AI G reen ret rospecti ve.
Looking towa rds what might
lay ah ead as pop music conrin ues to experiment and inreg rate different styles of mu sic
into it 's mainstream for d igestion by an ever larger and more
ad vent u rous record -buying
public, we find Yellowman's
"Strong Me Strong " and
" Disco Reggae ," backed with
their com pa nion dubs. Produced by Material for Co lu m bia
records. this 12" sing le is
bo nom- heavy with vestigial
panicles of " t he New Yor k
sound" (rap . elect ro- boogie .
erc.) blended in . Wh en
Mate rial produced Herb ie Hancock 's "R ockit " last year. they
used t he su ee twise inge nuity of
Grandm ixer DST to insu re integ rity and secu re an im med iate audience for thei r
labo rs. Here th ey usc Afrika
Bambaala 10 the same end .
Ihough in a more su bd ued
manne r. Both songs arc " coo l"
- d esigned to have you hiphoppin g down th e Street, mixing reggae d ance style
(anything goes) with Ihe
acro batic moves deployed in
break-dancing . The simil arit iC'S
arc suiking because ri-ggae
" toast ing" is nothi ng bu t
" rapping" by a d ifferent nam e
and from a geogn.ph jcally
sep anlte black i u lture. " D isco
Reggae" is m y favor ite ,
perhap s becau se of the fu nky
gru ntS in th e backgrou nd t ha I
int ermix wit h Daniel Pon ce 's
continlied on 6.5
\ ,
.
~
•
~
~
<
~
;:
-•~
r
the global village's pri mary bastions of artist ic exp erime ntation , and you ' haven' t
been com m uti ng often eno ug h':>: t he GTO
(Germ ans Toge ther OOteageously) Festival
arrived last month to rem ed y' your
unassuaged wan derl ust. 1=iT~ presented
eig ht n igh ts (from Apr ilS to 15) of new
music and perform an ce at t he Kitchen (cospo nsored wit h Goet he House) dir ect from
West Germany.
t
I
The wunderkind behi nd pTO was Bu rkh ard Sei ler. Bur khard t has brou ght NYC' s
own SOnic Yout h (and o ther.bands ) to
Eu rope'. t hu s balan cin g t he cu lt u ral exchange. and has record ed the likes; of
Th ro bb ing Gristle o n hi s Ze nsor label. A
"conservative anarch ist" as self-described .
th e b lond and blue -eyed Her r Seiler cc nfi, '
d ently asserted that GTO offe red a we llrou nd ed sam p ling of rh e Ge rm an new
music scene. " especially from Berlin wh ich
is honest right now. " He' s awate l hat
GTO's are an Ame rican car im monalized
in ou r 'pop mu sic. and also an AI~ erican
sixties ,band ("Gi rls To " ). " T he ti tle is a
take-off o n those rwo th ings:' he exp lained.
T he!festival was ope ned by a d eligh tful ly
whi msical an event bearin g th e -ironic tide
Sacrar)Strollim ky . A Product of the New
$trapi f/sky Resean;h. ~" Sacre du Priruemps'" (v'Rire s of
Sp ring '-') is amo ng "S~ rav i ns k y ' s most sole mnco m posi[ions, bu r ' ~ac ra! " is a BaVari in.exp letivt irrrespcnserro
the fu nn y an d absurd . Had the Kirchen aud ience bfe n
Bavarian . no doubt th e laughter and app lause would
have been int erspe rsed wit h endless cries of "Sacra!
Why Stravinsky? T here 's a European trad ition o£ 'ir~v.erence for the !,"a~t er. Thoma~ Kapi elski . Friede~ .
Butzmann and friend s are not the first to d econ stru ct hIS
tousie. Sacra! Stravinsky con sists of da daistic vuiatidns on
the " Rites of Sp ring" 's mu sic and dance. which ~iplode
the.larter's gravli nt cntio ns into th ousan ds of f1oati~g
ab d decon textual i~ed signs and meanings. Yes. th ese are
perfo rma nce artistswho take thei r art th eory se riously!
IDan cer Judi th Flex appea rs in a f lowingpurple da nce
gown. mounts absu rd ly sho rt stilts, and lumbers abou t.
T~e ent ire group parod ies the choreo graph ic movement
StyJes of Bejarr and Pin a Bausch for ' ' Rite.' T he pian ist
delivers a h ighly classicized arrange me nt 0,£ Strav insky'S
neo-classic rh ythmic- motif. The motif is fed th roug h synthd lzers to tran sform it into Euro-disco. space mu sic.
and a tune hummed wh ile listen ing to a Walkma n .'
Finally, th e group d ecides 10 redu ce th e ent ire scere to
"one b low." by speed ing up a (ecorde d version un t il it
takes on ly two seconds to play. T he concun:.em 'slide·
show of\ ph ilosoph ickl qui ps and quotes serves
through o'ut as both It heo retical u'nderp inn ing"and rein forcem ent bf th e zani ness. Sacra! 'Stravinsh . "
,
D ie Tod lii he Doris (Dead ly ~ori,s) . whose film Dfe of
Sid Vicious was'shQw'n here jn"'March at An ist 's Space
f Berlin and New York are argu ab ly tWO of
Germans Together Outrageously : a festival of
expen"men tal sights and sounds at the kitchen .
by Louis Morra
into a Naz i swastika. .~
T he second a9, i( a d ay an imation film of Volkswagens
" d ancing" t he choreog raphy of the 1877 Swan Lake
premi er. Strains of Swan Lake have em erged th roug ho ut
pans 1 and-'2. mi xed J.,ith industrial pulses and rhythms.
In pan 3. 'a ballerina r:r i e~ (in p rec ~se parod y of,cJassical
ba llet) rc'dance th e T chaikovsky score. bu t IS overwhel med by th'e no ise from VW engi nes.' She falls to th e Floor
exhaus{ea . while behi nd h er a d em onsrraric rt film of
•
VWs driving in graceful pirouettes continues un reeli ng to
th e mixt u re of mu sic and engine noise.
~
Bu'tzmann creates an asto n ishi ng ly coh erent th em atic
u n it.y in Wolfiburg bet wee n th e Nazi ideal of th e Peopie's Car, and the darker side of th e German sp irit .
Wolfiburg is multi-medi a o pera at its m ost accom plishe d , arid Bu u:manri is a consu mmate artist who fa~ t
becam e th e GTO Fest' s starring light.
J
Roundi ng OUt the polh icism of t he-eveni ng was D ie
Zvfei. who came on fo llowing Wolfiburg. T h is Berlin
whi te 'rap du o ("The Two " ) pe rformed th eir Disco
Show, cons isting of th eir songs " Com m un ist Party Mix"
and (shades of Andersonl ) " USA. ;USA . USA." Die
Zwei employ self-created d isco m usic arid d ance
rno veme nrs wh ich , at jfirsr blu sh . appea r decepti vely or OVl >OOW 1160
d inary. As they graduall y exte nd the exp ressive
vocabulary of both th e m usic and dance. the perfor"WoNlburg" lu h mann's Yo. swagen BoII. t
rnance exp lores power polit ics. ma le/ ma le competitio n .
and US/USSR relations. Th eir rapis an inQ nr ive com (an-"'d d escribed in- these pages as the'st rangest nie-'k t hiS
s i~ e or the Wa ll) , '"is a rwo women. two men an I perfoeb ination of G erma n . Eng lish . and 1nonscnse syllab les. '
'[B erlirr com poser Dih er Sch nebel. whi le read ing: the '
man ce band from Berlin . T h eir stage performance is
~ea n t to assault and confuse. Whi le N ikolaus plays
ela bo rate calligrap hy 6f his sco res. perform ed rwo works
built arou nd amplified breath . spoken syllables . and
Frirh- sryle riffs on gui tar. Tabea bangs OUt a no -wave'
bea t o n d ru ms. At th e ce nt er is W6lfga ng. scream ing
g~ nde: tappin g and pa per-crinkling into the mic ro phone
and gyrati ng . Karhe and Ta bea often step forward to
W ith d egaQrly mimed h and gestu res, he p layed the air
as' his instrument . crel ling an invisible space-struct uret
rccire a text in th e aut ho ritarian ma nner of headmis tress'
o,r more in'bne with the ir sugge stive black garb,
The illusion of Schnebel's d elicateja nd subtle performan ce is that h e is a co m poser at work. whose noises and
dominarrises.
~
g
g9stu res express th e n1usic in hi s rJ ind. The pe rformance
Bu t rhere is more tha n tnee rs the eye 10 these neeth us becom es the eq uivale n t of a musical score .
pu n k an refugees. Dua l film projecto rs have at in tervals
shown the m ythic tale of t he Man / Wo man 's ard tlous
\On th e same ptogdm. Florian Iangenscheidr imerpre ted on e ofSc h nebtl' s more libid inous composition s.
q uest fo r freedo m and th e sea . When he / she reaches th e
waves at last. a tragic d eath awaits. jAt th at mome nt
Mbuthworks. This piece also made use of am p lified vbcal
onstage. Deadl y Do ris sets the m icrop ho ne afi re, and
d isto rtions and no ises} but o nes ofra p rima l. sexual
nat u re . Floria n licked h is lips. sucked his fingers. and
~mpl ifi es the crackling feedback. Dead ly Doris is inexg roaned with orgasmic ecstasy rhrou gb a series of inreracplicab le but intense . Not the kind of performance w,hkH
tio~s with him self an d hi s prop . a telep hone . Whenever
isea silv assim ilated or understood .
it rang and he answered , a pre-raped choral cha nt was
i Fiied er Butzm ann is a foremost mult i-m ed ia creator
heard . Moulh works is an emo tion-charged monologue
and Ind ustrial mu sic elect roni cs whiz . who b roug ht to
lend ing credence to t he ph ilosop h ically minded
GTO h is j -pa n opera IPol/rbtlrg. " on classical ba llet
Schnc bel's concept of a psychoanalyuc m usic.
and the Cily of th e Volkswagen Com pany. " If Laur ie
~ nderson's USA h as Hec n seriously com pared to
Th ~ GTO Festivat rra versed a sPlect ru m of di verse styles
and ap proaches to newm usic and perfor mance . The imWa gner 's Ring by a rop Ame rican music critic. it is JUSt
lt o see in Bur zmann's W oll sburg a Ge rman eq u ivalent t6
pressiv~ly m onumental multi -m ed ia spectacles of Dead ly
Do tis. Frieder BU tzm~ nn , and D ie Zwe-i rangedrfrom imAnd erson 's o pus.
"
r
. provisal i~ and anarc~ y to d iscip lined compositio n. The
Like And erson in USA . Burzmann coJla1!es several '
med ia in a critical. iron ic examination of his country's
da da- p lay of rhe Stravjnsk y researchers was a ){ind of
G reat Dream and nation al sp irit. In the first act . Butzaesthetic explo rat ion r\Ot ofte n found o n ouf sho res.
mann man ipu lates live electro nics and tape-loo p overlays while Ihe structu red performa nce .rechniq ucs of Sch llebel
of texts about Ihe Volkswagen City. wh ich he has reciled . and Langen scheid.twete exam ple-lof pu te artistry. Ge r.
An ani mated film repea ted ly mu tates the VW trademark ma ns shou ld ou t.rage ~~5.~a in soo n in NYC!
=;
:
t
~
i~
,
•
~.
r"
UBI: STREET SMARTS
ByJAM ES MARSHALL
f New Yor k' s t hou sands of amateu r
an d p rofe~i ~m al
SU CCI mu smans.
Ubi Fer gu son is cctrainly on e of the
most widel y known
and best loved . Immed iate ly recogn izable with his wide
smile, cocked head .
low-slung gu ita r
a nd sto m ping fool.
he is also one of rhe
mosr u r uque song
stylists you ' ll eve r
hea r. Born in Harle m in 1927, he's
been p laying mu sic
o n the st reets for
. t be last 1') years. Insp ired by
I Bob Dyla n , who he knew fro m
th e Prince Alb en Hotel in the
Village in the ea rly ' 60s, he began forging his own sou nd . By
his own estimate, fift een years
on the meets playing da y and
nigh t is like a life-long m usical
edu cat ion , a nd has mad e h im
into a mast er psycho logist of
sons. W hile mo st musicia ns
have very litt le to say outside of
thei r need to expound thei r
own e~o and a bullshir lin e of
rhet or ic. Ubi is an a rt iculate .
perceptive a nd eccent ric m usicia n . Th e following sn ip pets of
conversa t ion we re recorded at
art ist Michael Keane ' s studio .
" I p layed up in Mont real
rece ntl y and people JUSt loved
it. Th e y reall y wen t wild . So
I'm th ink in ' now I wa nt to go
DISC DAWTA
BY MA LIKA LEE W HITNEY
n now me foo t dem
nah touch grou n' .
I' n 'l get fe enjoy
me likkle regular II·
u vus (as opposed to
hiatus) inna J ah mekya. de mist of
de mountain and
de su n fe 1 sou l and
one angel fe rek
care of I 'ean . I
wan tell de I dem ,
it d id more den'
irie- Muaikwise a nd
orhawise nufT rings
a gwan . One of d e
mos' sign ifica nt
evems wuz de
Rastafari a rts sym·
po sium 's prC'S<'ma·
lion of Inside South !tInea
produced by I. J abulani Taf.ari .
The docu mental)' on apan heid
in act ion gives a tdl ing and ex·
plosivr pictor ial history of th e
insole nt system practiced in
that low lying African sta te.
Th e ut ilizat ion of Reggat" based
message mu sic is blended wilh
th e spo ke n and su ng narrat ion
46 EAST VilLAGE EYE MAY 1914
to Eu rope for a while . Since I
sta rted p laying in dubs I' ve
been wonde ring if I' m really
bad o r so met hing beca use
somet imes people walk out
without even fin ish ing their
dri nk , b UI p laying up there
really made me feel good . A
friend of mi ne told me that
people he re sometimes don' t
feel comfortable listen ing to
me because it ' s 100 real.
They' re used 10 popu lar, cu rrent mu sic which doesn 't reall y
come from insid e. so what I' m
do ing wh ich comes from inside
makes t hem feel fun ny. But I
thin k in Europe where t hey
don 't have guilty feelings and
such about th ese thi ngs they
can JUSt appreciate it mo re. I' m
learn ing to sing m y songs ha lf
in German .
" I call m y sou nd the
peop le 's sound. because playing on t he stree t you have to
grab peo ple and hol d th em , so
when I sta rted p laying I'd
make th is certain so und or rhar
cert ain sound and I'd see pro .
pic t urn around a nd listen and
I' d do t ha t thing to hold th eir
anent ion . It ' s not really rhe
sound J' d envision ed for my
have it in your voice , wh ich a
lot of the cu rre nt singe rs do
not . you become abo ve th e
money and t ha t ' s whe n you
really have so me th ing . Th e
mu sic itse lf is e noug h . What
I'm rryin ' to do now is get to
the po int where I can love m y
enemies. because if I can win
ove r m y e nemies I have the
best friends in the world . You r
friends will always tell you
you ' re grea t or th is or rhar . but
to love you r enemies is t he
hardest lest .
"Over in Eu rope t hey know
a diamond in the rough . Th ey
know how to pol ish it. O ver
here they wan t it po lishe d
alread y and then Ihey say, ' O h
yeah! '
"M y rhyt hm , you say it ' s
like calypso or island rhythm.
Wdl where d id it come from
be fore th ,lI? It's a n African
rh
ythm thai you find
self , it 's JUSt what I have to do
everywhe
re. It 's in o ld blues
to make it on the street so
a nd calypso a nd d isco and
rhar's how m y sound (a me
a bou t. It 's unique bUI I' m JUSt eve ryth in g. II goe s back to t he
sa me rhin g you hear in Afr ica.
start ing to realize the
That 's wher e I ~Ol it .
possib iliti es in my voi ce. l've
" I ca n tak e a few chords and
~OI a ba nd together now and
write
a poe m 10 th e m a nd be
I' m I!:oinl!: to really do it the
sayinl!: th e sa me t h in.":
way I want to .
somebody else already said , so
" I do n 't want to be a m ilI don't write tOO much . I ca n
lion aire, I JUSt wa nt to live like
~e l my sound and what I want
one. When I was pla yin l!: a 101
to
say across on any good so ng .
OUt on the st reet I'd make OUI
oka y but I did n 't save money . I ' If You Don't Like New Yo rk
JUSt spe nt it. The Ihi nl!: is 10 be C ity You Don't H ave 10 Sta y'
came abou t on the street. This
abov e mon ey. If yOll have a
continued on 64
soul . If u's to you and you
right register of old ies bu t
goodies I say and ca ptu red the
crowd wit h call and respon se.
th e impact of which I' ve rarely
seen. seen. He he he yah . Ini
Kamoze. pro no unce de nam e
and you have jus int roduced
yourself to a new twinkle on de
ho rizon . In his First t ime OUI on
the stage of mu sical affa irs be
de mo nstrated what a talent ed
performer he 's capa ble of bei ng
in his season . Sugar Minou
coulda rot ya dent ures de way
'ow him d id nice u p d id area.
' Ea r me now su p' 'ear me now
Stat . Hi m d id buy OUI de audience. confccrionarily spea kin\ ~O",I. Kin",'(<\\0" \~ .
ni« ",und "'~'<"" . \" II1i<1"
with a pene trating comMot own entry Th e Tam lins
Him rek de crown fe de mos
mu nicanve effect . The anisrs
rocked the hou se all de way to
popu lar. Now wedder one ca n
whose music is featu red include Baltimore with thei r h ighl y sue- consider him lyrics .....on hy of a
Muraburaka, J immy Cliff, D en . cessful cover version . New to
Pulitzer prize or an yth inp: (it
nis Brown , Bunny Wailer , Oku
the group is Derrick Lara who
more de al wid geni n' a piece)
Onoora, Pete r Tosh , Miriam
was an eyefu l! for de dawra and
d ats anada manah . Sti ll he
Makeba, Hugh Mundell and
whose movement s on stage
continues to baffle all I. W ilh
Bob Marley & Th e Wailen.
wou ld put even the most
an incredibly confident stage
Special mention mu st be give n
earnest J ane Fonda Workout
presence, excellent timing and
to the H on . Mike Henry, Pet er stude nts to task. He' s not on ly
a tongue th ai can' t run outta
Tosh and Muia baruka who
prett y, he can sing too . G ive
raun chy, rh yme and reasonin':
went that extra m ile and conhim a te n . And then came wha
me bafe rate h im . A strong im
tr ibuted [ 0 the fu nd raising ef·
oh wha ch. Horace And y in t he strong . Arc you read y to srand .
fen . making it possible for
up and figbr in the Revolution ?
Inside South A/nea to reach a
D . Brown gOt de lyrics for ya
wide r audience. Th e Hon . Mike
d is brt"dren always me k de
Hen ry. Ministe r of State in t h ~
crowd go wild . H owever . it
O ffice of the Prime Min iste r,
come like him mail in him pe rconde m ning t he racist re~ i m e .
for mance. I check say tis t imt
said : " Eve ry hum a n being with
for a repenoire revision . Th e
an y moral conscience or an y
sets are becom ing a bil 100 par
form of commitment 10 his
& predictabl e. Yeah de Taxi
fe llow man should fight
Co nnect ion one nice show. De
ceaselessly to see th at apan heid
promOlahs inn a a whole hea p
is d im ina tt"d ." Rastafari :
a problems cos ' bo ut ' tree
D c I de m kno' de Ryd im Twins
tim es de am oum of pt"olt" de
dem ? O onu mu s hafe kno '
place cou ld a ho ld IT)' get in .
dem oSly D rum ha r and Rob bie
Some all go in na de primi ng
Basspear were honored for hav·
bizncss and mek dem owna tix.
ing the real ' righ t stuff to Slay
mu ch to de d ism ay of tht" proprofessionally and creatively in
de bianess for 10 years. So one
show dar dem call The Taxi
Connection did keep inna
aren a in Kmgstone de osha
day. Alia de artists dem who a
bubble up de cha rts d id dc h
pon it & dar have de pleasu re
of be ing on Stage and inna de
stud io wid Sly's big Slicks 'a nd
Robbie b-a-e-d bass licks. De
show feature nuff d upes.
Le m me sec if me can memba
alia dem o Gregory di d O Ut
deh . Black Uh uru who de fence
cyan hold , J~mmy Rilt"y come
Wang it like a programmed
com puter wid Home T·4 giving
'~
morahs. So nuff bog us ling a
gwan. The security tea m favor
some boy SCOUIS on thei r f irst
ou ting . they cou ld n ' t manage
the crowd . Srill rhe production
di d have something 100 many
shows a re lackin.": and rhar is
concept . and comi nuw of flow
in the stage performances. All
acts did sha n & sweet sets. all
killer . no fille r. W hat a Rrea t
roadshow. Hop e Riddim Promoti on s find a way to trod wid
..
Footnotes: Oh me nevah - icall
fe mention de surp rise ap pearance of rhe illusive Wai ler
in da rker s an d J ackie Mill oo
<Q~\\ibU\,d
\Q 1 ~m "i\\\ \\\,
Taxi Gang th at th reare nd 10
tea r t he roof off de arena.
The V.O .U.C. H . ch ild ren 's
benefit show featuring t he
Melod y Makers too k p lace at
the fam e Apo llo t heatre.
Nadi ne Su the r la nd exudes so
murh talent , its a certainty that
with prope r a rtistic direction
we"l l see her inna Bli/board wid
a bullet. T hose guiding Jr.
Tu cker' s career . have him
slighly m issing his cue, JUSt
slightly. A worthy cause indeed . The Int ernation al Reggae
Awards takt" place in Chi cago
May 41h & ')Ih spo nsored by
Manins 100'I.Hear me now got ·
, ui chune into James Browne
WBA I-FM " SlOrm y Mond ay"
Frid ays 9am - l l : l5 . Read me.
Bob Marley (E. P. Dunon ) over.
Can you keep a secret? Code
809. Studio StOp . 130 We st
20lh Stree t. June 2nd . Scratch
' n ' See . T ribu te to Lee Perry
fl ash II dread . Th ey're com ing .
Th ey' re com ing . Th ey're here!
Sted Pulse. Slc ppi ng O ut.
G u id ance .
I
'J~J-"
How did l emm ing." com e
2oo ur ?
I started working at the
L:lmpoon wh l'n it firsl
Sp inal Tap 's
Christopher Guest
A RAP
WITH TAP
By Richard Fan tina
n yo ne w ho 'sinvo l ved i n r ock :ln d roJl should
see This is Sp inal Tap . I t m ay show some p eop le
w h:u asses th ey regu larly make ormemsctvcs. A
r etntvety m odest film , shoe w ith a 16m m h:mdheld camera, this hilariously good+n:u ured ja b a t
'1Il agi ng lu:avy metal band 's No r th American
roer has become ttu: corned}; sleepe r
year.
This is Sp in al Tap is the cresnion of Christop hcr Guest , MidlaeJ McKean (k no w n to m:my as
Lenn y i n l averne & Shi rley), /-I:frr y Shearer, and
director Ro b Reiner (w ho a/so plays the director
orme
in a tsu c-ott on Scorsesc 's The Last Waltz). All
{our w r ote, o r rather impro vised, the script. McKctut plar s lead s;nger/guicari.~t David St: Hubbins, Shearer is {be dolcish drummer, Derek
Smel ls. Guest portrays co-tceagntmnst Nig el
Tutncl . Sp i n:/l Tup tu vc relea sed a so undtrack
album , ar e p lay i ng gigs in California, and are
t hreatening CO cour.
1 first saw Chr iscop herG uest pcrtorm in 19 73
:It
Village Gate in Lemmings. an off-Broa d way p roduc tion of the Na ti o n a l Lampoon, Lemmings featu red a send up o f the Woodstock Nat ion-s- " The W/oodshuck Festival
ofPcace, Love and D eath , ., w here a mil/io n flo w erpeople
gather co co mm i t m .1SS suicide, T hen unkno wn ,j olm
Bel ushi p layed t ln: m:Jster of ceremonies suutt oc Cock er.
Equal/y unknown Chevy Chasep1:J.yed a HdJ's A ngcJ3.nd
John D en ver. A nd Ch riscop hcr Guest did devastating imprcssions o f a m oney -grubbing Bob D ylan and aj unked -oul
Jam es Tay lo r. Tony n cndra . w ho plays Sp inal Tap's
man3gcr, atreaca Lemmings,
After Belushi :m d Chaseg:,incd their massive fam e I often
wo ndered w tuu C/J r iscop he r Guest W3S up 10. While speak ing wit h h im I learned ttuu he 's remained busy with a
number of diverse but reJ3t b'cly low-profile p rojects.
me
beeps. wh ich Alan Arkush
dirt.'l"led . 1played j cb
Magruder in Wi nd Amb ;·
( j o n . I played on two alstarte d in NYin 1970 and
hums wirh l oudon Wainthen I did a record alhum,
w r i~ h l and helped him p ro R:,dio D inner , w ith Tnn y
du ct.' a co uple o f [he eUIS
Hcnd ra. I did ma ny of the
and I toured with him for a
votceson it- Bob D ylan .
while . So I haven', exactly
Rod Serling-and I wrote
been re nred.t've been
the musk (or it. Then we
quill' busy, I' ve becn Iortudecided to do a show and
Tony and Shaun Kdl )' and 1 nate in being able 10 pick
and choose what I wa nr rc
s ta rted 10 PUI Ihis show (0 gerh er and th at's ho w t.an- do. t've been offered a lot
of lhtngs thai wcu td seem
min}j's sl:lrtcd . I hi red
10 be more app aren t to peoChe vy Chase, whom I had
go ne 10 school wuh at nard ple in th e sense ora highpro file job on tctevt ston but
College, and we cast the
rest of the sho w togeth er. 1 I chose no t 10 do t hose
Ihings because they
hired another friend of
we ren't rigl u for va rious
mine , e autjacobs . to write
th e music with me . The last reasons.
I heard of Paul. he was
playing piano wuh I\.ld lloaf.
Kids, He rb ie Duncan and
dozens of Ol he r m ysleriou s
rock ' n ' roll legends and non ·
m usic rock' n 'roll raming aboul
literalure (an interview wilh
king of the J D novel Hal
Elison ), W h ile Casde( !) , hOI
dogs, bad d iners and more.
•
Hop Wilson- " Rockin ' In# A Coco nut To p" (Gold band )
Cliff C a rl is l~- "Tha i NaslY Swing " , " Mouse Ear Blues"
(Old T;m<y)
G id Tann er & The Skillel Lickers- Here Theil' N l' W GUliur
and Fiddle RecOrdl (Rounde r)
Bob b)' Lc:e 1'rammel- " Arkansas Sto mp" (Atla nta)
Blowfly- " Th c Gi rl W am s To Fuck" n'K)
Lc:fty Frinel- On e and Only (Colum bia), Counlry Favon'tel
(Harm on y)
Blind Bo}' Fuller- Wit h Sonny Terry and Bull Cily Red
(Blues Classics)
D«k &ggs- "CoUllIry Blues" (COUnty )
Neil Young- ReactoT (Rep rise)
Saxons- " Camel W a.lk" (Mad ison)
Sho rt b u ckl~ O 'R"urke & Famil)'- " I Truly Understand
Th at You Love Anulhe r Man " (Nt' w \'<'o rld)
How did rou ma Michael
McK e-:Jn g('r wge-tJu:r?
Mich ael Mckean and I wen t
logethe r:1I NYU
around 1967, We form ed a
part nership then and started wrt rtng songs th at long
ago . We we re in acting
school toge ther. Michael
m o ved to l.A . and joined
Ihe Crnlihililr Gap whic h
was me group that Harry
Shea rer was in. The y'd
done a 101 of COOled )' rec - (
o rc s. A gu), in rhe Crcdibili-'
Iy Gap knew Roh Reiner, so
that' s ho w rhe con nection
W:IS made wi rh Rob .
Ho w d id This is Spmal Tap
10 school
...
COOIC :lboUf ?
We we re doing a TV special
th at we all w rote for ABC
continued on 64
j ohn IkJushi :lnd Chevy
Chase w ('m o n ro Sam rday
Nigtu Li vc. U 'erc you considc rt"d fo r rh:u sho w or
wcr cj-o u ronsidc rinll ir?
No, I wasn't considering it.
n W:IS a fairly co mpuca tcd
snuano n at rhat nm c in-
volving persooau ncs.
O /<'·OUf"S(',
th ose t wo gur s
w ent on to huge success. I
d idn 'f sec or hC"2r much of
rou from th e rimC" oftemmings unril This is Spinal
Ta p.
In bcr wccn t was wor king
in sho ws in New York . I
wrote abo ut seven rctcvt sia n shows-Chevy
Chase 's spec tat. two Davld
Frost specta ts and various
comedy sho ws, some of
which neve r sho wed up, I
wo n an Emmy for-the til)'
Tom!in Sped :d in 1975.1
co-produced and directed a
sho w calle d Likely Stories.
1 was in tbe film Gir l friends
which Claudia Weill direct-
THE REAL AMERICAN UNDER
et Your Kicks- T he
latest issue of Kicks
magazin e , t hree
years in th e making
is withou t a doubt
one of the Finest
rock' n ' roll magazines ever published . Edit ed by
Zantees singer and
drummer Billy
Miller and Miriam
Linn a , its seventyfive page s encom·
pass an entire world
of rock' n ' roll
histor y and irreverem fun wilh a
scope th at ' s almost
got h ic. Amo ng t he
fealures are an inte rview with
Esque rila . Link Weay , the
Phantom (" Earth 's answe r 10
God !") , Beach Bo}'s. Collins
ed. I was in the film Ht'arc·
thi nking ir was t he new Alice
Cooper reco rd) , anyway, h is
latest LP Let 'J Get FlInli.y
~ (New Rose) is a ge nu ine good
'u n (bad titl e thou gh) with a
nice version of Hound Dog
Taylor' s " Let' s Get Fun ky,"
and bet ter yet. hop pin ' versions of on the Bell -Notes'
" I' ve Had It " and Jim my
Dec 's " He nr iett a" .
O ne Reason W hy Jerry Lc:e
Lc:wis is Inn ocene- Because if
the Killer'd mu rd ered his wife
the body would have had 28
bu llel holcs in it. I mean
reall y- a meth ad one overdose ?
You can pro bab ly find it at
Career Probl ems: Calling
ben er reco rd slores in Man ·
MCA records for a promo copy
hall an or by send ing $3.00 to
of the new Jerry Lee Lewis
Kicks PO Box 646 Cooper StaLP I Am !l?'hul I Am I was
lion. NYC , 10003 .
to ld "the reco rd is dead , it
does n 't exist:' But it' s in the
By th e way, [he Z2mecs'
new EP featu res tWO p reviously slores I la id said p romo pe rson
and non · released cuts, lhe eer;e who asked nOl to be idemi ·
" Broken Hean " and a rocki n '
fied . " As far as we ' re conversion of Palsy Cline 's " SlOP
cern cd it never ('ame Out, it
Look & Lislen " ,
doesn't exist and we won ' t
Roc.kin' Round wilh Cubacknow ledg e it. " Can I qu ole
master- C ub Kod a is [he kind
you o n that ? " No, we won 'l
of gu y whose em ire life is lived mah an y com me nts concernfor the pu rpose of spread ing
ing Jerry Ltt Lewis" Is Iht're
the word on greal music be il
some kind of \Onsp iracy
in h is ('olum n in Go ld m ine
againsl J erry Lee? Arc the IRS,
mag (Vmyl } 11fIli.ie) or his
the record industry, Stud io 54 .
dozens of records (my person al • and Ge raldo Rivera all in this
fave is his fitst- " Pap a Doh ... ~ logt'lher? Arc t hese di reC!
Mow Mow" by lhe DeI-,: orders from Ron ald ReaRan?
1'inos, his highschoo l ba nd ,
Jann Wenner? Prett y fuckin g
although I rememb<-r rushing
weird if you :ISk me .
OUt 10 the record Sio re at age
Liute Buckaroos- Anybod }" s
12 loo king for " Smo kin ' In
",host" been read ing t his ('01.
The Boysroom " by Brownsville umn for the last year o r SO has
Slatio n, Cu b 's bigge st h it.
heard me raving abo ut th e m l-
•
Iy wonde rful and offensive
songs of Tchan g &
Chandler, W ell now t he
aforementione d duo along
wit h Vince "rhe An ima l"
Brvichevic (d ru ms), George
Sulley (bass) and Michael
Maracon da (slide gunar) ,ICc
known collect ively as th e
Raunch Hands and are a
killer rh ythm combo with a
big bea t. honky· to nk menrali(y
and good, greasy southe rn
sou nd , From o rig inal t unes
like " A Man Nttds A
W oman ,,. and "She Sp il It
O n Th e Floo r" to an inept
cover of Ihe Madd ox Brothers'
"Death Of Rock'n 'Roll "
(itself an inep t cover of Elvis'
" I GOt A Wom an " ) and some
hot inst ru ment als like Elmore
Ja mcs' im mo rta l " Hawaiian
Boogie " these boys know what
il means to shake it.
This Month 's Quote:
" Do n' l wo rry abou t anyt h ing ,
no th ing' s gonna be aw-righl
anyhow ." - Hank W illiam s.
MAT 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 47
arid the flashing of sep ia-toned
portra its of a young Btu-look
woma n wande ring t he
neigh bor hood to t he strains of
a you ng Brit-look woman
. '-i.wa nde ring t he neighbo rhood
_... to th e strains of " Every Breath
YOLI Take." (Thi s drew a sym pat hetic lau gh from th e Thurs.
da y n ight aud ien ce). Ent er: a
leather-jacketed yout h seen in
silhouett e as he gazes ar the
scree n-sized m yste ry woman.
Rick Stuart as Joe. te lls the
sto ry of hs brief relat ionshi p
with rhe elu sive J esse . who. as
W (' begin to suspect. has since
com m itte d su icid e. Then . it ' s
a stro be-lit . arm fla pp ing chase
sce ne . some thi ng between the
Keysto ne Cops an d MTV
choreogra phy. ,
In anot he r mon ologue .
Eliza beth Adams spins OUt a
lyrical dream tale in whi ch th e
ang el of dea th de sce nd s like a
Fra Angeli ca cherub-c-v'he was
smaller t ha n me , an d of cou rse
beauriful'tc-and wraps her in
a del icately erotic embr ace.
T he sce nes a re cut like film
fast fade -ins a nd fad e-ou rs
with m usic pi ped in be h ind
and arou nd th e d ialogu e a nd
t he con sta nt cl icking of th e
slide projector . First-datepatt e r is played with LombardTaylor screwba ll t im ing and
covers growing up in t he
suburbs. cars. pe ts. siblings.
econo m ic class- and th e
Barry Davidson and Elizabeth Adams
some wha t ee rie fact th at J esse 's
a pa rtme n t o n Avenue B is
covered with New York POSt
st¥le cl ippin gs of violent
cn mes.
By NANC Y SMALL
A quarter of dan cers wit h
dance -vid eo , and th e wh ims of
an
cnucs-c-u
someu
mes
seems
chairs
p rovides a non -n arrati ve
n th ese t imes o f srar
int e rlude of dean, gracefu l
10 aspire more than an yth ing
biog raphies and People
moveme nt perform ed with a
magazme-c-an on yrnnv IS no .d se- Io be like the movies.
Barry Davison and Elizabe-th
sober presenc e. St radd ling the
virtue. Everyone has a Sto ry
Adams' The Hearl of Things
chai rs, wh ipp ing them deftly
to rell. Instant
- 3 m~ h i . l a y er cake of slid e .
in th e air (like a less ligh trecogni zabil ity. It's srill th e
projccuons.
movement
.
mUSIc,
hearted Agne s de Mille
provin ce of th e movies a nd
Rodej-c-ir was no netheless
dial ogue . and' n ight club act t he a rrwo rld st ill trails
somewhat bland a nd beside
behind g lamouris preeminent ly a Lower East
the poi nt.
co m rnodiry -wise-c-even if
Side melodrama. a mod ern
Th e none-t oo -subt le su brexr
romance ot neurosis and global
the se day s the East Village an
anxiet y. The acto rs. Rick Stuart is of desperat ion . fai led com gbcno resem bles nothing if
and Eliza bet h Ada ms. have
m un icat ion and su icidal im not H ollywood an d Vin e
winn ing wa ys and fresh-faced
pu lses. Joe' s respo nse to J esse ' s
ap rowl with starry-eyed starlets
increasingly num bing pre occu app eal as rbe would-be love rs
looking to be di scovered .
pat ion with p ublic and p rivate
who meet in a bar somewhere
As per for man ce an shapes
in
Alph
aberla
nd
.
traum
a is a baffl ed lack of
and reshapes itself like silly
com pre he nsion o n th e side of
T he piece o pens with t he
pu n y to accom moda te the likes
sounds of a hum an stam pede
opti m ism a nd feelin g .
of monologist-comedi an s.
HEARTLESS
TIM RIETENBACH
FAN CLUB
. hero (cf. . Silkwood. The
Th ere are funn y bit s. as
Right Stuff. etc.) . Wit h its
when Ada ms , cha ngi ng in to
oversized d ose-ups and th e
high hee ls and slinky sequined
consta nt surge of pop songs
dress clim bs up o n a bar stoo l
con nect ing rap id jum p
to sing a to rch song: " H i, I'm
cuts- Heart was at once und erJ esse. I' d like to dedicate thi s
tech (by virt ue o f the lim itato an old friend of
mine-c-Ioe ."
t ion s an d roug h ed ges of t he
Touch ing a nd thread bare .
prod ucrion ) and ovcrtc ch . And
by turns t his is nothin g if not
like the movies. its for m se rves
a reflection of cu rem mov ie
to lure us into its emo tiona l
cu ltu re and its glamo urizing of values a nd glossy ple asure s.
t he ord inary individ ual-e-re while leaving us ho ld ing th e
mam icizin g t he u nrecognized
bag .
Gettin ' Tired: Marathon Performance
ALL NIGHi LONG
By CATHERINE BUSH
he ap pea l of th e
unmed ia rcd is at
the hea rt of perfo rmance improvisa.
rion. and at the
heart of the ap pea l.
the risk.
Unmediatcd: th at
is to say'. no divisia n betwe en process and product. a
performan ce Struc tured by th e real
tim e it ra kes to pe rform: a man . a
woman . a group
OU t th ere on th e
floor mo ving . talking. responding 10
a space . a set of circumstances, the un expected .
testing mom en ts. solvi ng p roblem s- basic human
man eu vers th at, we all use
every day - tes ting each ot he r,
exploring socia l tension s
alt ho ug h out of a load ed social
context : in parti cular respon d in g to an audi en ce . under
pressure to tap th e ten sion bel wee!1 performe r and viewers.
to ent e rtain or at least not to
bore th em . That ' s what Bill
G ord h. a ren -vear vete ran of
performa nce im prov. and 27
ot he r a rt ists will face in rbe
five- hou r Get/ in ' Tired o n
April 29 at PS) 22. W hen improv wor ks, real tim e beco mes
cha rged . W hen t he connection s sag. th ere' s nowhere to
hide failur e. Eit he r way. the
e
a tt e mpt is irre prod ucible .
lrs not easy to tal k-c-o r
write-c- abour im pro vised perfor mance . Try to gene ralize
about t he for m - no scr ipt, no
choreog raphy. non e of t he fictionalizati on of rolepla yin g- and you ' re met on
all sides by excep tio ns. Most
irnp rov is not com ple te lv
unstru ctur ed. It 's JUSt as hard
to d escribe a particular event
since th e poi nt is not so m uch
what actu ally happens as th e
momen t-to-moment d ynam ics
exchan ged : a nyth ing else is
JUSt a trace . And t hen John
climbed on a cha ir. O ut of
context. it doesn 't mean very
much. You have 10 be the re.
So in th e case of Get/in '
Tired-gett ing t ired , while
creating a piece for that long ,
is essent ial to t he who le performance .
In part . it ' s th e d ifficu ltv of
rralking about improvised Per formance that makes it hard to
d raw audiences. Th en there 's
also the tendency. whe n a perfor ma nce doesn't work . 10
discred it th e form itself: imPrc v is boring and unfocu sed ,
not just thi s or tha t p ract itio ne r. It see ms stra nge to
di scred it improv. Gord h points
a m . whe n you contra st pe rfo rmance with jazz . whe re improv
is no t just acce pted . but expeered . Ca n ' t be a jazz mu sician and not improvise.
Per ha ps jaz z im prov is (h at
THE WEDDING SHOW - Artl Drama
" LIVE" MARRIAGE CEREMONY OVER f'UIILlC ACCESS TV
Bo x 1591
Murray Hili St
NY. NY 10156
r it E rIt E i< I (t: ., ~1{ W.s ~U<:fIO"
., -
inroads galleryl50mercerst.
may 9-26
opening maylO;6-Spm
APRIL 3O;MAY1,l\8,14 ,1 5 / 6 2 EAsT 4 th
mondayJ uesday series-
. . .,-_
--_.... -__........_. _..- ...,-......,_
...~ ."!.-.:f!JI1!~~
w;o _
_ ._~
.'
. L A W O M IR M I'iDZ.KW
_~~
<;;
•••-....-· ....11•
is~a~~~r!!d
. . . on live TV.
Come and Wo{(h at McGovern's Tavern!
Mitch Corber
Rl"Ildr
51,"1
_
... l'Of Al O W O ~F P1l.0OUCTKl"
41 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914
,
S.IIy White
mu ch more accessible , good or
ba d , becau se it' s at once a
more and a less medi ated expe rience . Vocal and insrrumental to nes ma y go stra igh t to
the heart bUI remain disranced : aud iences know onl y expe rienced muscians can really
"play," W ilh pe rformance ,
however. it 's easy to judge and
think . he y, I cou ld do th at
myself. since un scripted movement and speech colla pse int o
common ground .
T he n again . th ere' s a lot of
u ninsp ired improv arou nd .
Reall y good stuff is hard ro
find . And whe n th e de ma nd s
of th e form aren' t met , it' s
th at m uch harde r to valo rize
t hem . o r for audiences to com e
to term s with th e different kind
of d emand s th e form places on
them . too . I' ve heard peopl e
laun ch int o a ·run n ing commentary as if at a spa ns event in
order (0 hold the experience
together: t hat look ed good .
th at d id n' t . Ideall y. spec tato rs'
private acti vity m irrors the performe rs' p ub lic o ne -accum ulat ing and juxtaposing
e
~
I
is
sud den . new gest u re: take
Isadora Duncan . or t he Surrealists. for instance .
These days. cont act im provisa rion con tinues to
develop. Bill Gord h has got 27
performers read )' to take the
risk . Th at ' s no mean number.
out , to be acco mmodating and
not to call on peop le or explore ten sion s." If you ' re try·
ing to p rove that imp rov's a ppea l is in risk-taking , you have
to take risks.
Gcrdh hopes Cellin ' Tired
will not jusl be a " neat afternoo n " but an oppcrt un h y for
pe rformers to think abo u t t heir
com m it ment to the- form . Th e
fact t hat e-ach art ist has sa t
down and written a state-ment
about im prov me-an s " t he-y'veall spe nt ti me with t he- p iece
othe-r t han sa)'ing yes." Th ecollectio n of art ists'
inpur, springboardi ng
stateme-nts. in tu rn , sho uld of.
anywhere . "Sitt ing in a crowd
fer a bridge for t he aud ie-nce. a
at Jon es Beach." says G ordh .
way of creating a co ntext for
" is an improv situ at ion ." At
im provised performance . In
the same rime. the aud ience
add ition . G ordh has h is cowatch es performers make
pe rformers ent er an d leave
choices. neither parry knowing
when ever they like-bu t on ly
what will ha pp en next . both en- on ce , " so th ey're o nly t here
gaged by sus pense.
when th ey really want to be
Still. the comp laint s are legi- th ere ." Th e audience , like th e
tim at e. Im prov is not give n to
J on es Beach crowd , can leave
com m unicati ng ideas or starand return when th ey wan t.
rling vision . altho ugh . to
Sure. improv sta nds in concounter that , an event can be
trast to the current move in pe rth em at icall y strucruredc-- ralk
fo rmance an towards high ly
a bo ut Love and Roman ce. or
smmured. theatr ical, sharp ly
G entrificati on , for th at rnancr. pol ished events. an d l or events
" Focus," says Gord h, "is not
th at are bidding for and bein g
th e po int. " But t hen improv is swallowed u p by wider.
often bo ring , or lazy, th e vehimainstream accepta nce. So
cle for self-a bsorbe d . egou srical pe rforma nce im prov won 't
pe rform ing th at d oesn 't bother ma ke it to BAM; by natu re , its
to acknowledge the audi ence .
d ynamics would not succeed in
G ord h sees the p rob lem as
a large hou se . anyway. No cu rone of com m itm ent : being
rent an isrs h ave th e influe nce
completely keyed into rhe siror tile audiences of Grand
uarion at hand . " You can be
Union. a grou p which had its
comm itt ed to sin ing in a cha ir
heyday in the [ate 60s and earand saying no th ing the whole
ly 70s when looser structure
tim e ," Gord h says, "but don ' t was in more of a cu ltural
just do it becau se you're tired
up swing ; but Grand U nion
and you ' ve had a ba d da y."
also happened to gat he r
rogcrher some prett y amazing
" Especially wit h ot he r people . th ere 's also a tend en cy to
performers. Even t hen , improvisaricn d id not represent a
get mu sh)', to smOOlh I h i n ~s
Komar and
Me/amid
VODKA·
INDUCED
POLITICAL
TOASTS
By CRAIG BROMBERG
Cit izens , co mrades : Another
d rink to t hose witt y em igre artists from t he Peopl e 's
fath erland . t he Un ion of Soviet
Socialist Repu blics. Here' s to
Co mrades Kom ar and
Melamid . Here's to rheir
scat hing att empt 10 te-ach . for
t he be nefit of an aud ience .
four soviet emigres how to
mak e a " socialist real ist" paint ing of Co mrade Presid ent
Ron ald Reagan ' s near assassinat ion at th e hand of t ha t
I hoo ligan . J ohn Hink ley. Na zdarovva! (At t his po int . th e auI dience d rin ks to t he rranslaror.I
Co m rades . as th e sweet, cold
vod ka ran down our giddy little t hroats Co mrade Critic
Jamey Gambrell winili y
tran slated Co mra des Koman
and Melamid's incisive d issert at io ns on an h istory. Vod ka
flowed in th at ep icent er of t he
peop le's an . Th e- Kitche n .
right int o t he audie nce . In
slides of examp les drawn from
t he "rccne t past " by Co mrades
K and M, we saw decaying
works by those ancient art ist
whom h isto ry had left beh ind :
Jo hn s. Lichten stei n - you
naem 'em, th ey' re in K & M's
archeolo gical ru ins. O nly Soviet
Socialist pai nting has su rvived .
the)' tell us. Why loo k, Ihey
say. po inti ng 10 t he red curtain
1_
& . ...MilI, Ncrcsbc w ilh BU$t of Sto li n, 191' ·13
in a David. even he painted in
t he socialist re-a list style. (W e
toast again he re in praise o f
that reactionary Fren chm an .
David .)
Unfo rtunately. our four
Soviet emig res were not SO easily tu tored in th e mysteri es of
pa inting Co mra de Reagan 's
near-d emise. Co mra des K & M
ke pt yelling through bullh o rns
for more expression . more
bean . but the comrades
onsrage seemed to ~ a littl e
under the spirits (K & M
almost seemed undcr th e
ta b le). Even with add itio na l
help th rou gh lectures on color
th eory and the like , Sesha.
Misha et 01 never even got dose
to th e desired end .
W h)' th is should be so is
under exam inati on cu rrcudv by
NEW THEATER PRESENTS
...-.
The Inaugural Season of
3 One Act Plays
THE CITY THEATER FESTIVAL INC,
NEW PLAYS IN MAY
THI SUI! THUTIlI
WO.LDpny f f
LITIER
•
1RI
PARTY
"
American TIieatre of Aden
31' We.! SA'" Shoot, NYC
APIlIL 25-MAY 19 8:00 ....
.1hN Sat . It.. ...... 580-2350 $5. Of TOF
e~-n9~l'\~
Ind ia's Mast er Voca list
W it h K. Paramjyot i- Tabla
A Repertoire of New American Plays
May 3-27
May 9-28
John Morrison 's
Anson Campbell's
DIVINE RIGHT
VICTORY BONOS
W. - and o;no<to<l by
J&FERY S. SUO
a people 's comm issar. Th us far .
the com misa r knows tha t Co mrad es Kom ar and Melamid are
ext remely wise anisrs with both
feet in the air. (Scream he re:
Down with the po litics of com mirment l) Fo r t he m . life is as
wacky here as it is there . Th e
a n i)' d ifference for th em is rhar
there's no di fference: th e
system of pen alt ies im posed by
the Leadrs on those in either
cou nt ry who either will ingly or
unwitti ngly worsh ip them o nly
hel ps to insu re cont inuat ion of
the system . We toast agai n :
Three Cheers For rhe Conrinuarion of Things-As-TheyArc! Here's to Cap italism .
Herr ' s to Socialism. and Here's
to th e- Status Q uo ! As rhe
vod ka slips down our th roa ts
we ap plaud heart ily.
PERFORMANCES AT TH E NEW THEATER 63 E 41h STREET
RESERVATIONS and INFO ' 870-0887 ,;
56 - or TDF Voucher
THIS PRODUCTION PRf Sl Nl f-O lINffi R I Hf
or TH[
NEW THfATfR
GmST
AI I S P l n ~
ARTISI S PROt~RA M
Morn ing Ragas-Sund ay. May 6. 11:0 0 AM
Afternoo n Ragas- S und ay, May 20, 3:00 PM
Su nset Ragas- Sund ay, J une 3, 7:0 0 PM
Nig ht Ragas- S atu rday , J un e 16, 9 :0 0 PM
1984
Dia Art Fou nd ai ion
6 H" rn so n
Street l eorner Hud $o n) New Yo rk Cily
212 -9 25 -8270
l ,rn'l&<! Sealing
SU'i!'iIuted Con l" bul ,on S8.00
MAT 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 49
·
An interview with Penelope Spheeris
By Mindy Stevenson
with Robert Legault
Penelope Spheeris has been a chronicler of the punk rock
scene since 1981, when her documentary of l.A. herd
core, The Decline of Western Civilization. mixed live band
footage and off-stoqe interviews to bring a now-classic set
of looks , att itudes and music out of 0 smell cliquish segment of SoCol to tile rest of the world. Its series of stone
block and white interviews with alienated teenogers hod
the stripped-naked power of Richard Avedon photographs
contrasted with the rest of the film's lush color. Spheeris'
fascination with the punk lifestyle hos blossomed into a
more detailed examination in Suburbia, her new narrative
film about a group of alienated kids who comp out in on
abandoned suburban housing project on the outskirts of
l.A. Colling themselves The Rejected, the punks live constantly on the edge of survival ond society like 0 pock of
wild dogs , f~et ing through the gorbage of the rich ond
surfing on 0 wave of rebellion. When the wove b-ecks
against the segments of society they obhor, the resultant
tragedy is violent . ghostly, ond ultimotely. predictable.
The Eye hod a chonce to speak with Spheeris and Bert
Dragin, her producer, in Roger Corman's opartment in the
MoMA Towers. (Corman co-produced).
EY E: What attracted you
to p unks ?
PS: I'd just never seen
an ything like th at before
-all of a sudden a group
of people who were inspired for a m illion different reasons who were so
really weird lookin g. and I
was JUSt interested in
them .
How did you and Bert
Drogin work together?
BD: I put in a 10[ of
ideas.
PS: I spent ten months
writing th e script and
t he n Bert said . " Listen.
Babe. if you want my
money you ' lI have to
cha nge some things." I
was very surprised . he had
a lot of imp rovements for
the script . I think J know
everything . but he .had
some grat suggesuons.
like he told me to change
the end ing and it was
much bett er.
What was the onginal
ending ?
PS: A lot of the stuff
from the film was taken
from the news. I' m kind
of a chro nic news watcher .
and the re was a Story on
th e news about th is guy
who was driving along in
his picku p and he saw a
coup le of littl e girls and
he sho t them both in th e
head . So the end ing of
the film was that the TWO
red necks come OUt to the
house and fin~ th e linle
boyan his tricycle and
take h im to the ~rage
and JUSt shoot h im . An d
Ben said. " Now Pen elope . Do you want these
gu ys to be average
Ame ricans or do you warn
them to be: bizarros.
psychokillers?" And J
said . " No. I want them
to be: average
Americans:' and he said.
" Well. then . get it
togethe r. "
Who came up wlih IlIlthe
IIitle strokes, like the
muzak in the punk club?
PS: Well, I saw that hap pen in a club one time .
Most of the stuff in th e
film comes from actual
QCcu rences.
As well (lJ the kids shack ing out in a suburban
boarded up home?
Yah . that was a place in
Los Angeles. Th ere was a
group of kids that called
themselves TC. which
stood for The Connected .
Just the oppo site. in a
way, of The Rej ected.
Yeah . I guess it' s JUSt
talking about some differem connections. Some
of the kids in my movie
are from TC and they've
got TC ran oed on th eir
han ds.
One question obout the
movie - the WOlJ J figured
it. lhe kids were o lot like
the POlek of w,ld dogl,
like when they were cute
andyoung, it WOI ok, but
when there wasn't room
f or them onym ore or
whotever, they were left
to ron WIld. But then on
Ihe other hand it seemed
like the dogs were Izke the ·
SO EAST Vil LAGE EYE MAT 1914
rednecks in a woy becouse
in the op ening scene the
dog kdls an innocent kid
ond in the fintZl scene the
rednecks 11I11 on innocent
kid.
It was not my intention tc
make an yon e right or
wrong in the total sense. J
like to loo k at it such that
the kids have a reason for
being th e way that th ey
are. and the rednecks
have a reason for being
the way that they arc .
na mely being frustra ted
by not being ab le to
fu lfill th eir Ame rican
Dream . By th e way. the
do gs are from the news
too. A guard dog firm let
their killer dogs loose
when th ey went bankrupt
in Californ ia, and the y' re
running around this housing tract. I'm JUSt interested in that pack of
wild dogs because t hey
rep resent to me the raw
su rvival element . which is
the bottom line in all of
us. JUSt survival.
Tbat seems Izke one of the
main things you brought
up in the kids in Decline.
too.
Yeah . they' re good at it.
Street su rvival.
between you and them?
No . noth ing to my face.
I've heard criticism .
That you 're ripping them
offfo r their lifestyle?
Yeah . the word exploitation comes into it. You '
can ' t deal with the su bject
withou t be ing exploitative. J read a qu ote from
Casey. who 's in the ba nd
OJ .. which is in the film .
He said the film is 100 %
Hollywood bull shit . I
would say that most of
the kids in th e film arc
real proud of it . and
woul d say forthright that.
yes, this does represent
ou r life in a real way.
Do they have ony wish 10
be explained to the rest of
the world? ·
I th ink everybod y does.
They do . They'd probably
never adm it it . Th ey have
an attitude of I don ' t
care. Bur they are rcallyBD:People .
PS:J USf like everybody .
On e th ingI' m trying not to
do is be a punk-rockspokesperson . If! wasthem J
wouldn 't want someold
f~rt l i~ e me explain ing my
snuanon.
DoJOU think thilfilm u es
retZlasyou'd hoped itwould
How did you get the kids be?
to trust you?
Realistic?Yeah . but I' IItell
I pa id ' em a hundred
you ooe thing rbar may
bucks a da y. This was like have been a mistake. II is
the most money t hey'd
real, because asIsay. most
ever had . " You don ' t
everything t hat happens
come to work, you do n ' t
comes from actual situ aget paid ." So the y were
tions . But I think Itried to
the re.
pu t too mu ch into as he n
Wos there any host,lity
period of time. to make it
ime resring. Ig uess. But it 's
a lot of differem weird ness
to be packed into an hour
and a hal£.
Alllheparentsarep relly
awfu l. Doy ou thinJahat 'l
relll,ondifso. wbat 's
wrong ?
J have thisida th at a parent
makesa cbild . can crate a
child . Andvery few ofrhem
rake respon sibilityfortha t.
If you Stop and loo k at it . th e
parent iswhar the child has
spent the most time with ,
th at is rhe single most effecriveforce.
Tberewam 't one set of
pOlrents thot were actUOl" y
Good folks. I think if
they would have been .
they wou ldn 't have had a
pu nk for a kid . I man
there are kids who are in
the scene who like their
parents . Still. it 's JUSt a
movie. With my fam ily
situation, I could relate to
it. because I had an
alcoholic mot he r who was
ma rried nin e times. W ho
used to throw dishes at
me.
BD: And ketchu p bott les.
PS: Umhum . W hen my
moth er saw th is movie she
said , to my friend . " Do
you know why she mad e
th is movie? Because I beat
her all her life." My
moth er has been so nice
to me since she's seen this
'movie . She keeps trying
to give me money. I really
love m y mot her. We 'r e
real. real tight. I've got to
ask her if it' s ok if I tell
th is Sto ry.
It 's not to say that
every pu nk has a hippie
doper fath er and tha t' s
wh y he' s like t hat. In fact
there arc a lot of kids who
respect their parents and
everythi ng 's fine . It JUSt
makes for an interestin g
film .
Did you find ony conflict
penonlllly in bei"g 0
woman, in the punk
scene, and also on older
medio penon ? They 're
both 10 Olnttiheticalto
whot J lee as punk .
Well. J am gett ing a sex
chan ge. I know what
you 're saying . You know,
how t hey'd relate to me is
like a moth er. And that 's
how I related to them .
And so th erefore it was
good th at I was olde r. I
treated t hem like th ese
arc all my child ren and
ch ildren must be: good
and do what I say.
You said that none ofthe
pe ople in the film were
bad. they were just
humon. But it did seem
continued on V
THINK GLOBAL
FILM LOCAL
By SHAWN CUNN ING HAM
ach year , an advenisement appears in th e
Tim es and Voice and
ot he r papers ann ou ncing
t he selections to be
presen ted at th e New
D irectors/New Films
series put o n by the Film
Society of Lincoln Center
and Ma MA . Withou t
fail. the ad rem ind s jealous
film goers t hat in years past
others who au ended the series
" discovered " the likes of
Steven Spielberg. Wim
We nd ers. Alain Tanne r. an d
John Sayles. and tha t a
su bscrip tion to t he eighteen
featu re film s means seeing
tomorrow's talk of the town
today!
Although last year's "clinker
fesr" took some of the anticipation OUt of th e eighteen
screen ings . happily, thi s year' s
series was notab le both for its
low percen tage of dogs. and for
its several real winners-cperhaps even a d iscovery or
two. Herewith . a walkin g tou r.
Three well-i ntentioned bu t
failed featu res qualify fo r t he
cellar in th is grou p. KueuranIlIflli (t he titl e means " t he
place where everyth ing is tOO
heavy ro pick up " and refers to
a village in Ghana) is the Fi rst
feature of King Ampaw , a
Gh an a-born . Ge rman ed ucated
di rector. Th e film invo lves t he
emrepren euriea l first steps o f a
jitn ey d river who h as bee n
fired by h is boss. and th e p roblem s be causes for h is wife
and dau gh ter. Th is relatively
sho rr fi lm seems to miss every
beat , beco mi ng a ted ious succession of fam ily figh ts, truck
driving and hu stling in Accra,
most of wh ich is poo rly written . acted and shot .
Alth ou gh b lessed with bc u er
acting and production values,
B rigitt e Sau riol' s} IIS1 0 Gam e
isn't mu ch bette r. We learn t ha t th e gam e is incest when a
young girl' s sleazy father parks
th e fam ily wagon JUSt off th e
road , pu lls h is pants down to
his kness and tells the t hirteen
year old, "C' moo. get to it."
He leches afte r h is ten year o ld
and his wife also. but th e latter
has bee n clever enough to keep
the swine OUt of her pants for
t he past year. Difficult as it
may be to explain . we are expected to believe that rbjs narcissistic mother, who wo n 't
even let he r husband kiss her.
and who catches him teaching
her youngest how to rn asturbate him, refu ses to believe '
th at th e man in her life con tinu es to use th eir daughters
afte r he has prom ised to Stop.
In the end , good o ld mom tells
the sexually molested thirteen
year o ld th at she started it by
sed ucing he r fath er at age
eight.}II.u a Game is jusr insu lt ing ,
Th e best of th e three
clun kers. My Brother's Wedding, is th e Story of a young
ghetto dweller (pierce Mun d y)
who is caught between his
loyalty to his frien d and the
street, and to his famil y and a
ben er life. Wri ter/d irector I prod ucer I camerama n
C harles Burn ett captures an affect ionate portrait of decem ,
loving parents and a warm
fam ily life , but poor framin g
(heads cut off. erc.). a stilted
formal sou nd ing script , and
poor d elivery by most of t he
actors take their to ll. J essk
Holmes and Denn is Kem per
are head and shou lders above
th e rest of th e cast as Pierce' s
mat he r and fath er .
From Hong Kon g comes Ah
Ying, th e sto ry of a you ng
wom an who wo rks in t he fami ly fish stall but who longs for
bette r and finds it in th e acting
classes of a ga me-legged movie
d irector at th e local film insriu n e. Allen Pong's film
sta rred so well, it look ed like it
might be one of th is year' s
goodies: bu r afte r th e wel lpaced . colorful fish mar ket
scenes which introduce Ah
Yin g . showing he r tedious
work and d issat isfaction , the
film d egen erates from an imag inat ive , soph isticated narra[ion to clumsy. slo ppy and lazy
scenes of her en lighten ment .
Before th e end of t he film
(wh ich recovers some of th e
style of its openi ng) her
reacherr di recror interviews her
fam ily and friends in her
presence. Th ese: sessions. plus
wheelbarrows of psychobabble'.
help her to see life clearly an d
to take it by t he horn s instea d
of t he gills.
TIIJum a. Ch ris Owen ' s
featu re made as a d iscussion of
New Directors/ New Films
changing econo mic and social
cond itions in Papua. New
Gu inea . is an interesting loo k
at t he effects of th e modern
world on th e you ng of th e
island . On ly th e overabu ndance of repetit ive material
(scenes dea ling wit h
alcoho lism , slot h. and the
de cline of t rad ition al marriage)
flaws th is film .
Th e same judi cio.. . s pru ning
which migh t help ma ke
Tukuno a more com pelling
film , could help The Ballad 0/
N017lyamo, last yea r' s golden
palm winn er at the Cannes
film festival.
Zappa: the sweet
warm lush days of
smmer vacation
hide the stench of
evil.
At rwo hou rs and nin e
minutes. The 8ol!od 0/
Narayama (t he lon gest film in
th e series) conc erns a family in
a remot e J ap an ese village where
th e ancient law mandated t hat
those who reach seventy years
must go to Mount Na rayama ro
di e. The story beg ins a year
before Orin must make her trip
ro the moun tains. As O rin 's
fin al seasons pass and she
makes certain th at her family is
provided for. Imamura juxtaposes scenes of an ima ls
devour ing each ot her.
copulating an d raising you ng.
with t he acti vities of the
villagers.
Afte r an hou r of such scenes:
Imamura fina lly set tles into the
story invo lving Orin ' s tri p and
her sent ime ntal son 's o bjections to her leaving . W h ile th e
first half demonstrates t he harsh ness of living in bot h the
an imal kingdom and in
p rimit ive society. t he second
(plot -filled) hour shows com-
passion as a luxury in th e
hand -to-mou th life of th e peasant farmers.
Georges Rouquier is a not ..
so-new di rector whose Bi- ..'
qlle/a" e (an u pd ate of his
classic 1946 work. Fa"ehique,
abo ut French peasant life) tcexp lores the pro blems and
solutions which moderni zation
was br inging to th e peasa nt
farmers 37 years ago . Many of
th e characters (relatives an d
ne ighbors of the dir ecto r) appeared as chi ldren in th e 1946
film and arc now runn ing their
own farms. They mu st wrestle
with th e d ifficulties of acqu iring more land to produce
eno ugh crops to pay for t heir
mod ern equ ipme nt . The result
shows that in only one generalion an ent ire ru ral way of life
has vani shed , taking family ties
and a relaxed social life with it.
A more st raight forward. con ventional document ary is Ked.
diJh. Hu ngarian Zo lran Klein
escaped dea th at the han ds of
the Nazis. and made." sure that
th e son he raised in Boro Park,
New Yo rk, understood what
the Holocaust was and that
J ews mu st be watchfu l for its
return . Using int erviews, television clips, voice overs and news
foot age , t he story of Zoha n
Klein' s influence over his son is
told from his first Holoc aust
bedt ime sto ries to the son
reciting Kaddish (the
mourn er's prayer and slang fo r
"son") over his father' s grave
in Israel.
Along the same lines.
Euzban Paley in her flr-r
featur e film tells th e Sto ry of
parent al concern and guida nce
among th e suga r cane wor kers
of Martinique. who , ah hough
freed from slavery. arc as bad
off econ om ically, and as poo r
of opport un ity as befo re . In
Sugar Cane A lley, a you ng o rph an is help ed by his grandmother and ot he rs to make th e
most of his ed ucat ion and of
th e op port un ities it coul d bring. In a rearjerking end . t h is
effectively mad e, p rofessiona l
film does not pander a 101
Tum ors of Bndeermem. but
celeb rates the d igni ty of
human life. human striving .
and hu man fai th ,
At the ot he r end of the
psych ic spectru m is the Terence
Davies Tn/ag] , a grim set of
black and whi te sbon s th at
build th e bette r mou setrap add ing hom osexuality and
Oe d ipus com p lex to neu rotic
English Cat ho lic sex guilt.
Davies' almost clin ical concentration on h is subject , Robert
Tu cker . from boyhoo d to
death . pushes' and pulls the
viewer, manipu lating em otion s
from p ity to revulsion at every
opportu nity . lr's a powerful effan . bu t don ' t sce ir if you ' re
de p ressed .
Skyline is an am using film
abo u t an almost ch ild -like
Spanish phot ogra ph er who
comes to New York to establish
h imself as an int ernatio nal
photo journa list by work ing fo r
Lift magazine. His innocence
and naivete in dealing with
mag azin es. agents . " contacts" .
women , and the rest of New
Yor k City is funn y and
touch ing . The dire ctor . Fern an do Co lomo , has mad e a sma ll.
natu ral and eruen ain ing film
with no pretensions. a real
pleasure.
Amon g the real winn ers in
th e field was Pal Erdoss' The
Princess. Th e Hungarian pro,
d uction filmed in very gra iny
b lack and wh ite was remin iscent of Milos Forman ' s Loves 0/
(J Blonde. an impressio n confirmed by Erdoss' use of clips
fro m the Czech classic.
Th e titl e is an iron ic
referen ce ro j urka. a young girl
abando ned by her moth er. orph aned by th e dea th of foster
parent s, and moved frm th e
q uiet. backward coum yside to
work in a factory in bu sdin g
Budapest. She learns th rough
exposu re to loving prospectiv e
in-laws. through su rrogate
motherh ood and th rough the
kindness of an olde r cou ple
what happ iness th ere is in
fam ily life . But in the end
j utka find s herself alone.
raped. aborted . and crushed .
The film richl y deserves
rheanical d istributio n.
Anot he r very good film
which will get a commercial
release th rou gh Intern ational
Speci rafilm . is Billie August'S
Zoppa , Th e sweet. warm . lush
days of sum mer vacat ion of
1963 in a Danish resident ial
district h ide the stench of evil.
Mullc. the son of a laborer
and Bjorn , th e offsp ring of
more m idd le class paren ts. fall
und er t he infl uen ce of Sren
(t he son of rich u ne mot io nal.
uncaring parent s) who is only
capa ble of love for h is pet
predatory fish: Zappa.
Alth ough th e class aspen of
the film is rath er blunt ly and
sim plistically pur . (the most
concerned . caring fat he r is the
one wit h a large portrait of
Marx on the d in ing roo m wall
wh ile the least caring fat her is
wea lth y and han dsome and
slick) t he film scores its point
fer juxtaposin g happy peacefu l
scenes of ch ild hood with scenes
of the magnetic Sten dr awing
the boys into trou ble . gu ilt and
pain . It is a harrowing film .
Among t he h ighl igh ts of th e
series were the sellou t screenings of Improper Conduct, a
film co-d irected by Nesto r
Alemen d ros and O rlando
Ji men ez Leal. Improper Concontinlled on 64
MAT 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 51
L
-_.--- ........,..
.,
SLOW SCAN
By ANN-SARGENT
WOOSTER
'v e been seeing a lot of
movies and Star 80 made
me particularly mad . I' m
tired of women being
penal ized for being sexua l
{notice the brouhaha agai nst
the Ca rnival Knowledge
show al Franklin Furn ace ,
with the Mora l Majority trying to den y funding to the
Furn ace because of th e sexual
content of the show). I'm rired
of women as victi ms moving
like som nam bulists to their
de ath s at the hands o f vio lent
boyfriend s.
Cecilia Co nd it ' s Pow "bly in
Michigan (Am ho logy Film Archives. Ap ril 12 and G lobal
Village , April 13) turns th e
tabl es o n the usual danIe
macabre and he re it is th e
~ women who kill and eat th e
man . Picking up where he r
earlier tape , Benea/h the Skin
lefl off, we me et tWO fem ale
cha racters in a sho ppin g ma ll
who share a taste for perfume
an d violence. Th ey have a
tagalong male co hort. wit h a
mo uth like a black hole. wirh
sim ilar interests. The
deccn stru ctcd narranv c set to
music hap pens in a colorized
slo-mo tra nce. Men in animal
masks, a prin ce cha rmi ng. a
greed y dog , a woman running
in a ga rde n and Sleepi ng Beauty pose d with a lust y vampire
and a skeleton appear. Th e
women en d u p in a su burban
project s to date . O ursler .
specializes in low-tech arumal ion of adolescent tales of an gst
and bod ily flu ids. He se t up
th ree scu lp tural islands; each
with a mon ito r wit hin t he
broken glass walls of a tOy
house a middle-aged woman
fami liar with UFOs talk s abo ut
her life wh ile we see he r hand
d rawing (she refused 10 be
photograph ed ); in one corne r,
flesh and green banners symbo lizing the middle and under
classes fly above a monitor
showing sto ries acted OUI by
an imated clay figures: in
another co rner, a simply co nsrrucred skyscraper cit y like a
3· 0 line drawing is lit by the
fl ickering , hearth- like ligh t of a
1V set with its face t urned to
rhe wall and from a black box
come ch ild ren's voices talk ing
abo ut sex ro les. Alth ou gh
villa practicing a domestic vcrsion of t he Chai n Saw
Massacres, killing , but chering
and cooking their victim with
t he glee of the witches in
Macbeth and the ap lomb of
J ul ia Ch ild . In a prosy finale
fu ll of iron y. the remains of
thei r crime are packed into two
Hefty ga rbage bags and picked
up by a garbage truck trolling
th e streets of su bu rbia.
Cleveland based COnd it has
evolved a personal style id ea lly
sui ted for sugar coat ing the
perennial violence of fairy
tales, especially her own.
Tony Oursl er's installation
(in t he dark) L7-U at the Kitchen (March 3-31) is (h e most
com p lex and sat isfying of hi~
s . . . .III!'.~
,"",
I
KITCHEN SINK PRESS
No.2 S. .m p Roe<! _ PTincfton, Wisconsin 5-4968 _ 14 14 , 29 5·6922
NEWS RELEASE
COMING SOON!
At
St. Marks Comix Shoppe
11 Sa int Marks PI•• E. Village, New Yor k 100 03
on 8th S t .
Tel . (2 12 ) 598-9439
HIRVEY KURTZMIN I WILL ELDER
o 0 D
KIfCH EN
{~
d 'RE:Ss
Color ALSO: GUi" EfSNe~S
SpiritQUARTERLY
and
Comic
UNDERGROUNDS!
Book/
New Comics
Firs t!
Ec:tlpn
Pa c:lnc:
DCComlc:s
"' .~ I Comics
Back Iss ue s
Fa nz ines
For The Comic Collector
52 EAST VilLAGE EYE MAY 1'14
2). there was an ot her of th e
yearly exhib ition cum 'hands-on
trade shows a bo ut iImage- pro,cessing (rh is o ne orga nized by
Neil Zu sman) where th e
variou s mach ines that mak e
somet h ing of an information
th is genre possible were
soup . O ursler's installation is
dem on strat ed . Many of the
h is most accessib le work to
tapes ha ve been d iscussed in
date.
argia Kramer's Pro- previous colum ns. bu t two
tap es cha rted new gro und .
gress (ltftmoTJ) at
Hank
Linh art 's The Insurance
th e Whitney
a tale of ma le anx iety
Mon1eyJ.
(March 13-Apr il 8)
the
Peter
Pan Principle ,
and
sets up an electronic
cottage . a kind of
home of th e future
like you m ight find
at a World
's.Fair. A
.
mon nor resllng on
a braid rug alternatel y di splayed a
baby and th e
words. " USER
FRIENDLY." If
you ped alled an
exer-cycle hard . a
man ap pea red o n a
moni tor set in front
of the cycle and explam ed how he used a home
computer as a high -tech version
of lists taped to the frid ge. If
you sat in th e right spo t o n a
piano bench . the mon itor o n
top of th e piano de monstra ted
a music compositio n program .
Kramer 's'ca rl ier j ean
Sebeig t Tbe FBI/Th e Media in
its various forms was an
analysis of th e governme ur's
role in Sebcrg's life and de ath .
By cont rast, thi s elegant environmer u seems less po litical
t hough it docs have omi nous
overto nes for th e fu ture of
domestic life.
Uptown at City Co llege 's
Aaron Davis Hall (Ap ril 1 and
used a compu ter frame buffer
animate line dra wings in a
new approach to animation.
The slow actio n of the machin e
impeded th e narrative a bit. In
Jon Burris' s Lit erary Historyfo r
Mac,hineJ, he spe lls OUt a
passage from Flaubert . len er by
len er . to the accom pani me nt
of an elect ronic voice. Th e
glowing let ters arc very
beaut ifu l bu t the ir slow glowing progress is only p leasurable
for abo u t two minutes.
to
.........,..'"
j
I
,
.
., •• ,
I . ·.~
JOHN JESURUN
' By WilLIAM GIBBONS
o his own su rprise
Joh n ) esurun has
go ne from a
relatively unk nown
filmmaker to one of
th e mo st excit ing
inno vato rs in New
York t heatr e. Lack-
ing fun ds to produce his films- he
\ \ became interested
in the medi u m
\ while a fine arts
gradu ate st udent at
[Yale-s-he set OUI to
have eight o r n ine
oflh is short " fi lms"
produced live at t he
Pyramid Club .
What resu lted was
36 ep isodes of Chang in II Void
•
".'.....
THE CONTINUING STORY
and often staged in Stren uou s
positions. Acto rs have been
hoisted from trap doors,laid o n
t heir sides and backs (to create
an aerial view) . and walked th e
plank during blackouts.
In Chang, bom bings, smuggling , plane: crashes . art
d estruction . and drug addic[ion lake place in mu lt iple
time frames and various settings (including Berlin 194 5,
Londo n du ring t he 1960s and
New York in 1955) . j esurun's
m u ltinat iona l cast occasio na lly
slip int o their na tive tong ues.
includi ng Spa nish , Polish ,
French , and Germ an . D ialogue
StOpS in t he mid d le and con ti nues later, 'is repeated , and
becom e su pe r-real. Peo ple can
perceive a great deal with very
littl e information , It' s no t an
illusion I'm prese nting . but
small signals. It' s not romant ic.
luxur ious, or thea trical. In t he
back of t he aud ience's mind ,
they know it 's a p iece of board ,
but for the momen t it 's a table
to th em ."
" It i~ a mistake to view my
pieces in theatrica l time ," he
conti nues. " It's closer to
cinema tic tim e. I don 't
necessarily want to determ ine
space and time bu t rather focus
attent ion on what is hap pen ing
rather t ha n when and where . I
want the au dience to th ink ,
but not to try to figure OUt t he
next part of t he plot . The re is
no map to follow in viewing
my wor k.
" I never stud ied t heate r. J
like to be su rprised, pro voked.
continued on 64
•
PLEASE GO SEE
heareFr performan ces to check o ut this monrh .
O an roo t L
.
Iy present ed the n:
'.
' wno prevtous
~rll 1Ja,/ ~" A llack on/ a/Loneliness in which
e coo e. and served d inner to th e asscm .
the kitchen agai n .
lartmg May 26 and continuing o n May 28
J une 2 . 3. 9 . 10. 15. and 17, Froot will d ish
Our A n~ A no~her. a fun her exp loration of
th e relationship bet ween flo od
I'
1" ' Th
' sexua rrv and
po Itl~s . nes~ perfor mancelluncheons 'a~e at
noo n rn. From s apanmem (6 1 E. 3rd S) d
reSC'rvallo
t . an
ns arc a mu st. He 's on ly se:lring 12
peop le at each show. Call 228-5433
h Shared Fon~s Theat re , whose wit;y work I
a~d enJoycd .m the past, is cur ren tly in
res. cnce unnl May 13 ~t Commo n Ground .
~9 ~~ost('r
present mg e lllti"ating
aTO ae. This prece is abou t garde n ing a
me taphor. perh aps, for our collective d~sirc
Thu d S fodreturn to Eden . Performances are
rs ay- un ay at 8 p
Ti k
nons c~n be mad e by cai,%'g ~~9~;~~~~ $7 and rcserva.
. Don [ forget to Stop by the P ram id 0 M
ntgh.ts lh ~oughout May. Lydi a L~ nch will ~e fv7 d ay
n=ad'~gs In the basem ent . followed by Holly ~ugng ,
o.ngo mg senes of o ff-beat a d
I
e~
til led Well 0/ Homin
I' n o - co or pla~s . coliecrively
has been de scribed b/~s~e aVffin.evericen t hIS work. but it
~Ied .aud Jence . IS back in
s..
«
Peb~n::ace and Beyond the ~~lle~ ~/:h~ 'l>~/;s~etween
. .y 3.
at 9 p.m . and aga in at 11
m
h
;~;::'d IS p resenting th e first performa~e ~f ~ ~ew
Tho' r comp any, the Progrt'ssive O pe ra of Ne w Y k
IS trou pe IS actually sra j
h
"
or .
sion of Brecht and W T ~nght c c rtgmal one -an ver15 '
'h
er s (J agony. complete with
-p tcce ore e~t ra and six singers. Call 420- 1590 r
more mform au on .
lor
'
MI~;Ta~~~;i:~:~~';~i i~ ~ ::;USI4~hc performi?~
is
lad y is one f h
.
ay -o at 9 p.m . ThIS
York Sh 0 I c most umque lh catt"r talcOls in Ne w
of ' if~ an~ dPr~achcs p:rfo rmance as if if were a m att er
Ca ll 477_5 28c8a~ . Raw. In.ren se and incredi bly powerfu l.
lor re5ervalloflS.
- Wi lliam Harris
Moon in 1983, a th ree week
run of Dog 's Eye View at
occasionally moves toward word
ba ttles of rh ythm and conLaMam a in J an uary. and fou r
sona nce, " a son of verbal
add itiona l insta llments of
short ha nd. ' ,
Chang last mont h .
T he sets, minimalist and
Now ccmes j esuru n' s latest
disorienti ng . use space an d
th eatre piece . N umber Minus
pe rspect ive ingeniously. W ith
. One, wh ich beg ins perforcarefu lly placed pl anes and by
ma nces at th e Performi ng
toying with th e size and shape
Ga rage on May 5. Accord ing
o f SCt pieces and props. j esurun
to j esurun . Numbu Minus
redefi nes th e space of th e stage
One involves "an intern ati onal by g iving th e aud ience a ne w
del ega tion , a swim m ing pool,
or bett er po int of view. By usarid a gu itar ." In his t ypically ing places at various angles
tantalizing and m ysteriou s
they can become tables. beds,
ma nn er he adds, " Of course ,
wagon trains. an d recording
not in t hat ord er of imporStu d ios. A tiny window was
tance . "
ec nce hun g at cent er stage as a
"The serial form at was very
clue to a hot el sett ing.
diffi cult. on myself as well as'
" At first g lance, th ings may
the actors. ' he exp lains. referr- not look real at all ." expla ins
ing the Chang. " I was forced
jesuru n . " But eventua lly th ey
into writ ing on ly on e d raft and
go ing with it. It requ ired a lot
of mu tu al t rust' and respect for
the actors , and amon g th e actors th emse lves. Th ey deserve a
lor of credit . T hey were very
courageous. ' ,
j esu ru n's winy scripts can be
difficult for an actor to tac kle.
They are fi lled wit h StOPS and
starts. nu merous blackouts,
non seq u itu rs and repetition ,
IlAJ 1914 EAST Vil LAGE EYE 53
LSD:
ACID CULTURE
BY VALER IE ELLIS
sing. a d ishevelled set,
hysterical o ut bursts and
bellicose argui ng . Liz Lc
Co mpte has " mastermined " a critiqu e of
male- anxiety . The
Wooster group ' s new
play. LSD.. is a
caricature of how
anxiety's flip sid erepr ession - scapego ats, an d
who it scapegoats (here
prima rily women and lefties)'.
Th e play begins with a scene
from th e late fifties. Th ere's
on ly on e set for the ent ire
show; a lon g tab le at which we
find Alan W altS, J ack
Kerouac. Allen Ginsberg . Bill
Bu rrou ghs and Timothy Leary.
A rat her offbeat radio announcer serves as Dj . int erspersing her own mon ologue and
top t un es of t he d ay, with
t heir read ings. Next comes I"c,,,~ '
Compte 's stylized version of .~
Art hu r Miller's The Cmcibte.
that famous pa rab le about th e
red scare of th e fift ies recast as
th e Salem witch trials.
Altho ug h it follows The Crocible in ma ny respects. th e
W oosler Group 's LSD places
more emphasis on issues of
rep ressed sexuality than on
rep ressed po litics. Th e last
ep isode is a retu rn to the fifo
ties/ early sixties where the
scene is alte rnately a rehe arsal
of the pla y and a " be-in ."
Le Com pt e has chosen her
texts cleverl y: material from
the beats. Miller' s play abo ut
the red scare an d Salem itself.
repr esent th ree mom ent s of
" histo rical hysteri a and polit ical
turmoil. Each mom ent 's
hysteria become s -resolv(:d
th rough some mechani sm of
exclusion -e ithe r scapegoaring
or ostr acism , And although th e
pla y jum ps from th e tim e of
the witch . hums (mirror of
repression and pro hibit ion ) to
t hat o f t he be-in (where sex
isn ' t rep ressed . but sim ply i ~ ­
nored ). L.5.D. keeps these
d isparate moment s with in t he
realm of a coherent and excit ing rbeatrical context. 1
suspect- and here' s t he double
ircn y-c-thar th is is becau se
woman / scapegoat is always rhe
effaced cent er o r focus o f the
play.
.
For exam ple, in Part 2. we
learn that th e Salem witchhunt is be ing used as a cover
to scapegoat Abigail-whose
on ly offense has been to comm it ad ulte ry with j oh n Procto r-as a cap tive of th e
Devil. And in Part 3. Tituba.
th e African slave in Miller' s
play. is shown de sperately
reh earsing a faint she is su pposed to ' perform' later on .
whi le three men ob liviously
p lay ' wim p rock' to entice
Tiruba's o rgasm /fa int. Obsessed with ge tt ing women to
come . rhis also shows JUSt what
an illusion th is o bsession really
is: Tiruba never can corner
faint and her on ly ' impetus' is
rock n' rol l love songs p layed
by men who ha ven ' t th e
fainte st abo ut what wom an
realty want s.
Irony, caricat ure and
bellicosity arc certai nly ind ignant gest ures. bur I wo nde r
wn h all th e q uotation- from
th e be ats. Miller and
Salem -and for all LSD's
devcm css. its nostalgic de sire
to recap tur e th e pani cked
pol itics of rhe 60's, whethe r
some of rhc play' s anger simp ly
isn 't enoug h now. '
JAAKOV KOHN
cOl1/inut!dfrom 25
Aubin. they may be
schmucks now -
Judy: What happened to
the East Village Other after
Nat: Well. they were
that. why did it fall apart?
schmucks then too.
Jaakov : Remember the perJaakov: No matter the desonals were just beginning.
gree of intransience they
if had never happened
availed themselves of, they before -then came the sex
were the linchpins.
mags. then came Screw
_Nat: They were simply two
and then I'd made my
of a set 01 clowns that the
point. it had ceased being
establishment media chose meaningful to run the sex
as pied pipers. Establish ads. It's the norm and it
ment-manufactured safety
ceased being meaningful.
valves. There were forces
Nat: Is that what killed it?
going on in America before
Jaakov: Yeah.
Abbie Hoffman and Jerry
Judy: So the entire political
paper was run from money
Rubin.
Jaakov : Yeah, but-where
by sex ads,
are they?
Jaakov: Yes , Only in emer.
lea , right? I mean do you
Nat: They were anonyrnous. Revolutionaries stay
remember the San Francisco paperanonymous, that's the
name 01 the game, other, Nat: The Oracle,
wise they get killed. George :Jaakov; You look at it now
Brown and Buzzy McNare
:and you get tears in your
are in political asylum in
' eyes. I sold the urst run
Paris, organizing and solid- ' page ads 'for the underifying. Not leading children ground press)lhat' s what
inlo the clubs, guns and
kept the Oracle going. Bemace. But then again they
tween Christmas and
never made the Iront page
Easter they ordered eight
01 EVO. The mass
full page ads right? But .
movements on Washington
there was something that
started in '62, '62 conAlan Levy was not satisfied
tinued to '64-'66, seemed
with, we 're talking about
to have been weakened by $7 ,000 which was an incredible amount 01 money
the popularization, personali zalion and pnvauzawhich nobody had, But
tlon ol lools like Hollman.
they didn 't come out with
Judy: It just sort of peaked the Christmas issue unlit
at that point. Nat.
July. They didn 'l gel the
Nat: II didn 't peak -it was money, Ihey lost it and that
was truly un-Amencan.
lucked, sabotaged, subvenec. There 's no busiNat: Do you think you
ness like show business.
could do it again now?
Jaakov: The maniac in me
Jaakov: This was a
momentary occurrence. It
chooses to believe I could
do it on my deathbed. I
helped bring the whole
thing about. There had
would like to do it again
been so much shit going on despite the lact that we
and nobody said anything
have just one chance to
lor decades. Then suddenly hop upand go.
Fred Hampton, the killing , Nal: I don 't recognize Ihat
01 the Panthers in Chicago. myself.
it ignited something, it
Jaakov: Nothing would give
worked. And the fucking
me more pleasure than to
lrial with Halfman- again, kick up a lot 01 shit.
Judy: What kind would you
,sheer luck, it worked. But
that could never have been kick up?
.
Jaakov: Well, I would relate
planned , you can't plan
anything in America - can
to the struggle for survival,
you see silting down and
I would relate to the eversaying KO Mohammed ,
changing values which are
relevant, lor instance, video
lake over the FCCon February 1st? II you examine
games. That' s the wonderAmerica , there were Ihose ful thing about New York .
weird things happening.
There's always something
going on at any time,
Like nowhere else, like
Marcus Garvey in his hey- Maybe it involved preconday. That wasn't happenceived plans, more ollen
than not it is absolutely and
inganywhere else. it happened here.
completely irrelevant. Bul
that's part of the American
heritage,
Nat: It comes down to the
old saying that the press is
free for the man who owns
the presses.
Jaakov: You wanl to talk
about the press, right? OK.
who was the most relevant
individual in the press circle? It was Rupert Murdoch, Bul would you be
surprised if I told you a
Iriend 01mine who works
for the Post came to me
and he said, " You're probably going to hate my lucking boss." I said, " Why
would I hate your boss?"
He said, " l ei me tell you
something, he's the only
guy I've ever worked for
Ihat not only knew me by
first name. but who goes
into the press room. rolls
up his sleeves and pastes
up." And you see, no malter.what people say. Rupert
Murdoch responds to the
tastes and the wants of the
masses, what they want to
see. Tits and ass, murder.
gore and all that shit. and a
lottery! And it wasn 't I'y
accidenl lhat circulation of
the stupid fucking Post
doubled , within a very relatively short period of lime.
Nat: In other words , a
pimp finds a market.
Jaakov ; If I had my choice
to get close to the people's
ear, hearts and minds, getting their jiggles, tits and
ass or any other aberrations. including lotterles.
. crossword puzzles and all
thai other shit, I would say
it's worth il . The tragedy is
that he is a righi-winger
and he doesn't see things
our way .
Nat: Jaakev. I respect you
100 much 10 accept this
ends justify the means bullshit, Do you really mean it?
Jaakov: I really mean it. I
would say I'm pretty close
to believing it.
I tell you, mine would
be an ass -kicking rag
without great verification,
no time spent on verification . II would be a broadside.
Judy: No sex ads.
Jaakov : ves, of course not.
jhey're so corny .
Nat: Tits and ass?
Jaakov: I like tits and ass,
but politically it's absolutely
meaningless. It denigrates.
The miracle was that in the
sixties it didn't qenigrate. it
drew an awful lot of people
to a totally different consciousness.
Nat: Would you sayan one
hand. it had kids out in the
streets marchingand on
the other hand it had
peN OS in the bathroom
jerking off?
Jaakov: No, I . , .
Nat: Kid in the bathroom
jerking olf and pervos in
the street marching?
Jaakov : The kids were trying to perform ritual parts
with Tuli Kuplerberg in
front of the Pentagon. The
thIng is, lei me give you
another example ot change
-tor instance you walk into 'he fanciest 01 offices in
New York and do you know
what the uniform was? Nat.
you weren 't here.
Dungarees.
Nat: So what?
Judy: The relaxation 01 the
dress code in schools and
business made an unbelievable change in the ' 70s.
Jaakov : Everybody 's starting 10 get Ihese bobbed
hairdos and it's ridiculous.
But there were steps that
happened thai were incredibly meanlnqfu! I read a
couple of weeks ago where
this kid asked his father il
he could go up to the trunk
in the attic because they
were having a 1960s party,
he had forgoUen what he
had put in them along time
ago. Then his kid appears
in this fringed vest. right?
And he couldn't contain
himself, I am not a sentim~nta ' person. he said. but
I burst into tears. And
when the kid came home,
the old man look the
clothes and tried them on
himself , right? That was
very wrong, he wasn't
ready lor it- that backdrop
to fall back on . even for a
minute, is worth it.
GOOD OLD DAYS
continued fro m 24
Botany on 6ih Ave and
28th? And one also found
time 10 go to Leviticus (a
black disco), " X" at the
old Gotham Hotel, some
occasional event at NVNY ,
gigs at the Rocker Room,
etc. Plus, there were the
' bars. places where one
simply had to stop by to
investigate who was there:
I
ANTH O LOG Y FI LM AR C HI VE S
V. D E 0
5 E RIE5
MAY
.,.:.
<II' .
Zl
3 AL ROBINS
.
" Realities (two 01 a set)"
installation and tape
10 EARLY VIOEO HISTORY
Panel Discussion
Russel Conner, Davidson Gigliotti.
Jim Harithas, Joyce Nereaux,
17 PIER MARTON
" We Shall Not Be Moved
Movies and Videos"
- lectures and tapes
24 ERNEST GUSELLA
" What Under The S.un?"
Gerald O'Grady, 0110 Piene ,
Howard Wise
Artists Present
all screenings,Thursdayeveni~gsat 8pmat
MILLENNIUM FILM WORKSHOP
66 E. 4th sr. -'.;
Admission: $3 Inl",mation: 226-0010
Supported in part by
NYSCA & NEA
54 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914
Puffy' s. Ba rnabus Rex.
tu. Max's, Park Inn. and ,
of course, the St. Mark 's
Bar and Grill. A lot 01 these
places still exist and,
many a nighl one can pop
in and . . see some faces
from the past! Alive!
Glimpses 01 great moments flashback!
And one starts to remember how Ihings used
to be then . . . It was such
a short lime ago! Only five
years! A/ready live years!
How much or how lillie
can eve rything change in
such a period of time?
One tries 10 ligure if
things got better or not.
Was it really so wondertul tnen? Were we more
naive?
Can 1979 be already a
nostalgia item?
SPHEERIS
" We have to tell you that
we th ink )'OU di ~ not
rep resent a cenam group
of pu nks very wei I." I
said, " Well. what grou p
is that ?" and they said ,
" The peace punks ."
" Fucking love and p eace,
f ucking have a nice day,
asshole. "
So the p(llce punks , I
didn 't rep resent them .
h's hard to get it right .
I th ink th at' s one of th e
interesting thin gs abo ut
it , the cultural ferment .
It's not JUSt the party line
or anything.
Something th at makes
me uncomfortable abo ut
all of this, is that to
analyze it somehow seems
to be a blasphemy, you .
know. lt bothers me .
That 's why I said , I don ' t
want to be the punk
spokesperson. I'd mu ch
rather talk abo ut making
a movie, you know what I
mean . It just happe-ns
that I made a movie th at
had punks in it.
Two mo vies,
I did something I do n't
usually do, and th at's to
sit here and talk abo ut
the whole ph ilosophy of
the pu nk th ing , I really
fed uncom fort able with
it, I don 't want to do it. I
d id it, and now I' m kick~n g myself in the ass for
continued [ro m jO
like a f ace-offbetween
these good, m isunderstood kids and the rat of
Ihe world. which was
cal/ous, sleazy, cOrnJp t.
decadenl. The kids had
aI/ Ihe eam/arlu of being
aI/ of those tbmgs. bUI in
facllhey weren 't.
Well, that 's what 1 tried ,
Ol .
to do. You know, looks
O'.y.
are deceiving ,
" She d id it anyway bu t
In the world ofIuburbia
she
d id n' t want to ,"
{suburb / ulopia}. violence
Whal
'S going 10 happen
breed violence breeds an10
Ihese
kids when Ihey 're
nihilation. How can anarthirty -five or fo rty?
chy and honesty breed
They' ll be veterinarians. I
non -violence?
don 't know. The y'll JUSt
Hmm. Make all the pro be average folks. I' ll tell
pie involved with it hipyou
one thing, though ,
pies, I made the film to
)'OU always rebel against
be a kind of wa rning
your parents. All rhose
against people letting
their anger get out of con - hard core pu nks, if th ey
ever have kids, which tro l. Because I know th at
I've not iced that they' re
some people JUSt look for
really repulsed by babies.
take
their
something to
It's like, "Ooh. a baby.
anger out on. I hate to
have to represent so much how gross." I've seen that
a bu nch of differ ent
violence. bu t it's there.
And I'd like it if we could times. Like, "Oh. look,
; it's d rooling , look , it 's
solve ou r problems in a
flop ping around ." So I
non -violent way, and I
don't know if they will
thin k that the laid off
rep rodu ce, but if they do,
GM workers and the
then I think it will propunks would too.
bably be the ult imate love
O h God, I was at the
generation
, Because you
Santa Cruz film festival
always
go
against
what
and these two hardcore
parents
th
ink
.
you
r
looking punks came u p to
I'll
bet
the
eleven
year
me , I mean they had
olds are sitting aroun d
mchawks. they had iron
right now th inking up
crosses, they had spikes
up to here. and they said . some weird n ip.
,. .'
4
'
By SALLY RANDALL
wirh MICHAEL SCHMIDT
Sally: How did you get
involved with Island
magazine?
Gary: J hadJ UI/ return ed
fro m Japan and met
Steve ( Neumann, Island
publisher). I had a heavy
f ashion background in
Japan and Caltf om ia and
flolu nteered to work with
Steve and Arnold {Bark us,
Islan d publisher} to find
f ame and f ortune.
Michael: W hat were you
doing in Caltf orn;a?
Gary: Not much
{laughs). J ran the gamut
fro m styling to choreography to retaIl to modeling . I ended up hanging
around with Gil Gilbert
in Honolulu who hooked
me up with all the hap pening places there and
then went to Tokyo.
Sally : Where did you
meet Steve?
Gary: At a Scavullo party .
at Piorecci's. Let 's drop
all the names. {Gennaro
Palermo walks into the
Island office.] Is that a
Westwood?
Gennaro: Everything is
W estwood.
spectacu lar shows that
weren 't representative of
the lin es being sold .
G immickry for gi m mickry' s sake . Now . Claude
Montan a -he' s grea t. He
does these glov es a nd
th ese wild and wacky ha ts
a nd th at 's fin e a nd
everybody knows th at ,
bu t whe n you' do a whole
collection based on lin es
of spectacu lar ite ms th at
are d on e fo r gimmick ' s
sake - well , th e y're never
sold . They do a lot of
these shows for inre rna- ,
rion al press where they
put together clot hes rhar
are fo r white women . I
saw th ings with Chiffon
tra ins of 7 or 8 fee t.
Sally : What fI:ill we see in
Spring clothing?
w ry: Patent leather
shoes and white linen.
Everything is pa te n t
leather sho es. It may
have so meth ing to do
with m y first pair of
Brooks Brothers rusedc
p umps.
Sally: What else?
Gary : Sho rts, suits, th rowbac ks to other eras . . .
Be it pe rfect 20s to a do se
of gfam -rcck .
Sally: And dayglo?
Gary : Of course.
Michael: Why "of
course " ?
Gary : It ' s healthy for
one 's outlook to wea r colors t ha t are b linding . I
personally blame St ephen
Sprouse fo r it.
Sally: Not made fo r a
Japanese woman. . ,
Sally: So it 's not fro m th e
dayglo we've been seeing
in art ?
Gary: I don ' t lik e a rt .
Michael: Wh at about the
connection bet ween art
andfashion ?
Gary : Fash ion is a n a rt
.. . I 'm looking for a
new word . I' m invo lved
in the fashion bu siness,
(0 the degree of ha ving a
job . To carry it beyond
tha t is mast urbatio n .
Michael: Back'to p ersonal
style as an art . . .
Gary: As a self-expression
that needs to be reflected
upo n . I still can ' t find
better words. . .
!tfic!Jt1el: Let 's call tbem
X and Y.
•
Gary: . .. nOt eve n for
an American woman
who's gor to get OUt of a
car a nd a revol ving door.
I like functional
fashio n . Wit h a lot of t he
clothes that I wear, it 's
somet hing I can fall
asleep in a nd roll out of
bed the nex t day in . I
like the idea of havin g
t hings that aren ' t a rou nd
a nywhere as well, a nd
even if someone tries to
ma ke it aga in , it won 't
be the same. But I'm not
th at territori al about m y
look:
Sally : Would )·OU Illy IIJt1t
most people are? It seems
tbat some people ar~
quile concerned with
their look .
Gary: Reduce the m to algebraic expressions!
Gary: It 's TOO goddamn
serious!
Sitlly: Whal would you
like 10 see happen in
fashion ?
Gary: For people co
SitUy: Sprouse isn 't $0
sm ous . . . "ayglo iIn '1
real serious . . .
become not so drop dead
serio us about it .
Michael: Sp eaking
Westwood. . .
~ry : I' m no big fan of
Westwood 's , but I' m not '
as d ose to the p ulsebeat
of W est wood in New
York . I see it as ba d ly
shaped ga rments t ha t
do n 't flatter .
!tfic/Jt1el: We~e )'OU in
Tokyo du,;ng the u.'hole
Japanese mOflem ent?
Gary : Yes, but there are
srill a number of desig ners t tht a re not availab le
he re: Femme d u Men age,
Niho n Half, Tokio .. .
offs hoots ofJun Co mparry. Chariva ri has been
buying the m but t hey 're
not well represented he re
in the States .
Tokyo is very tre nd y,
It's like catt le fashion; a
bu nch of litt le j a pan ese
girls in black wit h blu nt
cut s a nd lOIS of eyeli ne r.
Toko a nd Saiyoko clones
-c-rhey're all very cute Inn ovation com es . . .
bu t also. t hey have th e
largest fashio n com panies. Most of th e d esign ers t hat we all know have
a team of no less than 10
or 12 designers work ing
un der them . J ap an is ·
...
hea vily known for re-.
adaptations. I saw a lot of
Ga ry: Ste p he n 's int erpretat ion of d ayglo has
really grabbed a ho ld of
I it t he way that no one
has as a sym hesuaricn
a nd a fusion of a movement t hat wasn ' t d ead .
Sally: When did f ashion
become a concern 10 you ?
Ga ry: My parents sta rte d
buying lea th e r jackets for
me whe n i m ust have
been abo ut 10. I can remember wanting a p urple suit. And m y mother
wou ld n' t let me wea r
bowries until I was 16 because I loo ked like a lit tle
'preacher. I had a cha rge
card a t 16, bu t I was
q uite a fashio n rebel in
high school . I never conformed to a nything .
Michael: What aboul
mainstream fashion now
taking its cue from the
look of this parlicular
neighborhood? _
Gary : I t hi nk ir's a good
t hing . D own here people
don 't have to be concemed with whet he r they
a n wear hot pi nk stockings to work . Most of t he
kids don 't work, a nd
when you get eno ug h
people tak ing it. interpreting it purring it o n a
mass scale, rhat eventualIy places it in Bergdorf's
windows, which mak es it
accep table to wea r. Y ~ ,
it is t he mass marketi ng
ofan idea .
But the n if these kids are
sma n enou gh 10 wea r it
th ey sho u ld be sma rt
e no ug h to sell it .
Sally: What do you
ultimalely wanl 10 do ?
~ry : Th at ' s a d ifficu lt
questio n because I ~
m yself as between e ndeavors . .. whac I' m a tte m pt ing to do now is art
d irect ion in videos. so me th in g that appeals to me .
I proba bly could be a
m uch more ma jor success
if I could cha nnel myself
bu t I like everything rhar
I' m doing now, even if it
does fill up m y book too
q uickly an d I ' m run ni ng
around like a man iac.
Sally: Do you f iflJ that il
diffuses your energy?
Gary : I don ' t think th at
it 's po ssible. I' ve got too
m uch .
The th ing is th at I
don ' t want to come off as
a n a utho rity on a nyt'i ng .
AU I really want co d o is
just say t hat I thi nk t hat
I've go t enoug h of a sen sib ility th at I can take
what I ~ as interesting
an d edi t ir a nd reinterpret il a nd presen t it so
t hat more people can see
it. In effecr. peop le are
seeing th ese th ings
t hroug h my eyes.
Sally: I' m Irying to
remember u:ho it "'as
who told me in 1979 lhat
tb e '80s teas th e era of
editi"g. . .
MAl I' " EAST VILLAGE EYE 55
I
•
\
\
•
)
J
., THE E{ROT)IC POTATO
PART III: A GULAG OF THE MIND
By PATIUCK MCGRATII
TIlE STORY SO FAR , Deep in
My reminiscences were rudely
the festering innards of the
disturbed by a froggy croak.
, E(R01)IC POTATO, by the
tolling my knell. I retu rned to
sultry orange glow of
reality. and the certainty of my
posrapocalypuc moonlight.
own death . A strange peace
Gilbert the fly has been
descended upon me then , a
deflowered . He falls deeply in
transcendent calm in which I
lov e with his seducer. an older
accepted death , yes I did. I
insect from another species
. c peoed myself to death . How
"
named Ariadne . and rejects
SWeet in that last moment
Lucretia, the mate selected for
seemed the deep froggy silence
him by his father . He then
that awaited me. Sic transit
takes off impulsively into me
gloritz mundi, I reflected
storm. intendin g to return to
blissfully. Adieu, mortal coil!
Ariadne . But he soon finds
CRUMP.
himself flying om of conuol An immense blow sent be
straight toward a lilypad upon
hunling sideways and I rumb lwhich lurks a huge frog (Rona
ed end over end to land flat on
£Sclilen/a)! NOW READ ON.
my upper tergum on a beercan
bobbing upright in the stormt was all up with me . I
tossed waters of the pond nearflapped and I flapped.
by. I had been rammed by a fly
bur to no avail: I was loswho had swept in from nowhere
ing altitude too fast. As
and was now climbing steeply
the slimy leviathan 100m·
back into the rain as the frog
ed up through the driving
rounded on him.
rain ahead I saw its long
A second fly suddenly came
flat underjaw fall open in
in low over the slime, drew the
a ghastly grin, and I could
frog's attention the other way,
imagine all tOO well the
then peeled off with swept back
sticky tongue coiled
wings over the reeds. The conwithin those cavernous.
fused beast grunted in fury, and
maws . Ha! This is what it
hopped about on the lilypad.
had all come to, then.
the long sticky tongue flickering
We live like immortals.
uselessly at its fast-moving
litt le think ing how close
tormentors. who soared up and
death stalks us. Soon my
away in opposite directions,
existence would be as
raindrops screaming gloriously
nothing - snuffed out,
from their abdomens. The first
extinguished-and who
fly had gained altitude and
would care?-Ariadne? A few
now. levelling out. circled high
...: : rears . maybe, but then she
over the lilypad while the sewould find another Insect and
cond fly came in fast and low
: be happy. She was still young.
behind me frog, further enrag.I:; What V2J1icy is life.l chuckled,
ing it. before climbing steeply
;~:') rather bitterly. as the frog shufand flapping out of range. The
~ fled round to anticipate the
frog bellowed once in croaky
precise angle: of my plummeting frust~ tio n . then flopped heavitrajectory.
ly into the rain-spattered water
It was then that my life flash- and sank OUt of sight. ThC' (WO
ed before my eyes. Now, there' s flies landed on the beercan and
been some dispute about the
taxied over to me. The rain
life cycle of the common pond- began to ease off and the (WO.
fly, and I'd like set the record
shaking the drops from their
straight. First, if you think that
wings. glared at me sternly.
' Are you alright, Gilbert ?'
all the nymphal stages of the
said my father.
exopterygores are the equivalent
I managed to nod my head.
of the endoprerygote pupa . and s!Jddenly drained of all emothat the endoptetygore larvae
"90 ·
are equivalent to the late ern'This is Lucretia's fathe r,
bryonic stages found in the exGilbert,' he went on. catching
opterygore egg, you're dead
his breath. 'You can thank him
wrong. In fan . it seemed like
for distracting the frog.'
only yesterdayThe second fly, an insect my
'Gurk.'
. father's age with distinguished
~
silver flecks in his snout
whiskers. s
imly at me.
t.
'Yo'
Gil
ful
yo
m
,h
of
'0 I
we'll
I glan
109
heavens and struggled to my
legs. ' No.' J said quic.d y.
'Nothing has changed. I still intend to follow my h eart. '
My father froze rigid and the
color mour ned to his head. 'Oh
you do. do you?' he finally exploded . 'Well. Gilbert , in that
case there's no more I can do!
I've tried to reason with you:'
but you' re dearly not matu re
enough to grasp the point. Very
well. So be it. I have no choice
but to seek' - and here his
compound eyes blazed at me
with a fury that would once
have reduced me to instant and
obsequious submission, but
now-'professional help!'
- \Vou mean- t ' I faltered.
'Yes!' he roared. 'I'm taking
you to Stt a .psychiatrist!·
eep in the waxy core of a
dead tree I stood with my
farber and a custodial
drone on the other. I had
been flown ovt r.the mud
and through thC' glistening. dripping trees unti l
we had reached l his place.
Having slipped in
through a black hole in
the trunk, we had been led by a
languid drone deep into the
. bowels of the hive. It had been
a nightmare trek across
honeycombs abuzz with workers
and fat queens. and hordes of
preening drones. who gossiped
about us with bitchy malice as
WC' passed. Finally though we
had fetched up outside a large
cell. where we were told to wait
while the doctor was informed
of our arrival. My father . looking.very serious indeed. murmured someth ing to Lucretia's
father. and then to me; 'I'm
sorry it's come to this. Gilbert. I
wish we- '
He was interrupted by the
mellifluous tones of a well-fed
queen . 'Come! Enter! Proceed!
Advance! ' and a moment later I
found myself in the
psychiatrist' s consulting room. a
well-appointed cell of wax tilted
at an angle of 13° and caulked
with bud resin. 'W hat.appears
to be the problem?' cried the
que en. ' Narrate th e particulars.
if you please! Delineate the
knott y point!'
Dr. Cynthia Bornbus. Dip.
Psych.• occupied fully half of
her consulting room. 'and her '
five visitors were crowded into
what space remained. She was a
large furry bee of immense
dignitY and a son of linguistic
munificence whereby-she never
uttered one word when three
would do. I stood scowling
before her as my father explained the ' problem.' or, as Dr.
Bombus would have it.
' de linea ted the knotty point,'
and when he had finished she
gazed off into space for a moment , composed herself to utter
psychosocial truths. and then
held forth .
'Society.' she declared in
plummy tones, 'is like a cabbage. which as you know is a
common vegetable with thick
leaves compressed into a round
head on a shon StOUt stalk.
Gilbert here' -she lowered her
gaze and directed a glance at
me - 'is a pale and tender
leaflet in the very middle of rhe
mighty cabbage. a shoot. a
frond. a p elal curled snugly in
the heart of our Titan of the
Soily Realms.'
She paused. sniffed, and
•
• Two f1o~rs of books:
university, trcde and
· sma ll presses;
• 400 scholarly periodicals.
• Mail orders and speci al orde rs
accepted.
• Open until 11 pm seven da ys.
JOlEfOfflE
IEJscrlEf
jJIilgtI May 27
II.fIII mICEIMA.
6Z0·5941
.,
r
01 111 1. I ll . 15 11 SI . " 11In! 1I0 1 1 1l ~
S' EAST VILlAGE EYE MAT . , ..
belched: then resumed her
flowery discourse. 'Gi lbert's
father.' she mellifluated . 'a
good fly. is very properly alarmed at what h~ suspects to be deviant tendencies in his offspring. He suspects. that should
this tender frond go bad. then
the whole cabbage will eventually rot. And he is right !'
Again Dr. Bombus paused to
belch, and a SWC'et waft of warm
honey briefly washed over us.
'The callow youth. however. insists upon maintaining his transgression. apparent ly in the
belief that any vegeta ble wonh
its salt can afford a few maggors. Gilbert the fly' - and here
she frowned most seriously-c.
'has little regard for the consequencesof his actions on the
social body. Am 1 right?'
Now, never having known
my mother, I'm always uneasy
in the presence of strong
females. and th is baroque
dominatrix was no except ion.
Nevertheless . I blurred OUt my
defense.
'1 love Ariadne .' I cried . land
I don 't care what -her politics
are or what species she belongs
to. Love transcends all that!
Love- '
'Gi lbert. you young fool.'
hissed my fathe r.. 'Shutup!'
'Love. ' I continued. ' is not a
crime! It is a gift, a gift of the
spirit! Love is a flame and lives
beyond j he grave! Yes. and love
is a city! Love is an emperor!'
Dr, Bombus was not happy
that another insect should dare
to wax rhetorical in her consulting room, and she raised a
plump and furry tarsus to
silence me. But it was tOO late
for that.
'If society cannot tolerate the
fact of love.' I roared. inspired
as never before, 'then it is scciety must change. not I!'
'Anarchy!' gasped Lucretia's
father, shocked .
My father laid a restraining
foreleg on my thorax. but I
threw him off. 'Cast me OUt if
you will.' 1 cried, 'my love will
only bum the stronger! I know
no law but her law! Ariadne- '
At that point I became aware
of the menacing drones either
side of me. 'Ariadne -c. ' My
impassioned mind had returned
to the steamy depths of the
E(R01)I C POTATO and I cast
all caution to the winds.
'Ariadne- ' Then I felt the
sharp sting of a needle in my
abdomen and everything began
to go-yellow.
'Ar iadne - '
' 0 Ward . I think: were the
last words I heard , and then I
passed OUt.
LAND
ch ild o f proper yet p rogressive
pa rents. Becker fought to be
WITHOUT
LIGHT
ByJOSH GOSCIAK
In the Land of NJx. byJohn
Bowers. Ancho r/Doubleday .
$13.9) cloth . 1984.
his is th e kind of
writing that you 'd
wan! to read at
night - between
passing n ight s of
fancy. arduous
rewriting, pu rring
pain t to a canva s o r
an y num ber o f
solem n inventions
we use to fill th e night po rtal.
It makes good read ing bet ween
fitful drug sprees- or caffeine
overdoses c- the prose meandering . bum ping . slipp ing into a
velvet y celebral haze , o ut onto
the: early morn ing streets and
the people and occu parior a
that inhab it this realm of Nyx.
N)'x is the G reek god de ss of
night and in this land of
waiting and silence anyth ing is
possib le. Especially crcanvi ry.
John Bowers. a novelist , former
cab d river and invet erate nig ht
explorer. takes us on a factu al
journey from truckers in
Juarez. Mexico , to h is
hometown in Te nnessee . to
lowlife in T imes Square - the
faceless peopl e who work.
drink and flo urish in t his
nether domain .
Bowers is a superb writer
who knows how to tell a sto ry
and brin g in terest to rhe common place - as well as espo use
on the financial im practicali ties
of nigh rlife and wrning . He
wind s u p writing for skin mags
and C OSln O (h is " Men In Bed "
anide rejected as tOO honest)
and living hand ro mo uth . tryinf!; 10 sup po n a family and
career. But in bet ween
assignment s and novels he inhabits h is favor ite waterhole ,
The Lion ' s Head . the hot spot
for all those asp iring young
writers coming to the ('it)' to be
th e nest Farrell . Dylan Th om as'
or Del more Schwanz , An y on e
who's been to T he Head k no ws
the kind who make t his their
place of last resort - they are
the J immy O ISt'n variety of
working slugs, or bu rnt-ou t
semi-p rofessio na l write rs. working on that Great American
Novel. o r edito rs who can 't SC'e
through t he hue and fog or
the Cit y Desk . The writing at
rhis poi nt goes [lat . like a
destab ilized head of Bud . an d
moans and groans th roug h
endl ess dr in king cama rade rie.
wet-eyed eu lof!;ies for writers .
alon g the typographic trail
and snid e asides about women
and hom oSt'xuals,
Ye't following d ose on the
heels of Bowers' smoking insom nia along Christophe r
Street and t he Village we learn
some interesting bits of info .
O ne OUt o f five peopl e work at
night ; n ight work has increased
since 1970 by 10 percent ; there '
are fifl )' thousand people
ridi ng on rhe su bway at 4
a.m. : and at midnigh t o n W all
SHeet during nig ht shift. it' s
like rush hour in midt own . We
arc ge nerica lly att u ned to
nigh t . says Bowers - GO percent
of th e anima l kingdom su rvives
by n ight . But there are pro blems night folk s inher it:
ulcers. lilli e or no social life
and d iabet es. althou gh that 's
probably because they try 10
live in bot h worlds. which is
im possib le .
To his cred it Bowers blows
t he myrh of early-to- bed earlyto-rise and especially here in
T he City. rhe 24- ho ur supermarket of t he wo rld . night ana
itS more slothfu l inhabi tants
can no lon ger be looked on as
a quirky dera nge ment in need
of social adj ustme nt . Give us a
24· hou r ha rdware - with elecericaf and p lu mbing needs at ten~ed to . we 'll ne ver see light
agam .
EXILE
OF THE
rJIIND
ByJOH N MOTAVALLI
Married 10 a Stranger. by
Na hid Rachlin . E. P, Du u on .
Inc.. NYC 1983, 220 pages.
S I3 . 9 ~ hardcover.
ran 's r"crnt history is Iragic
in so man y ways. it ' s'hard to
know where to begi n , A
COUnt ry Ihat for so long had
suffrred . politically and
cu lturally. u ndrr the we i~ h t
of a sl ifling mon arch y. now
slaggers u nde r a med ival
th eocracy. a rrgime so
backwa rd Ihat women can
br am:srrd for wearing lipst ick
an d men can be executed fo r
smo king American
cigare ttes . Iran is a cou nt ry t ha t
has defied the effons of
th ou sands of well-pa id media
pund its to explain it , and such
failu res make the wor k of
Nahid Rachli n . an Irani an -born
novelist who now lives in New
York. atl rhe more important .
As in her previous novel
Foreigner (Norton 1978). AfaTried 10 a Stranger is about the
paradox facing the exile. about
th e agony of having no coun try
one can feel at horne in . She
d epic ts th e sad attem pts of an
Irani an wom an , Minou. to oblain some form. of literary
recog n i ~i o n i';'l a COUOl ry rhar
has d ecided lon g ago thai
women weer not cut out for
such pu rsui ts. ~Wi l h spare. ad. mirably evocative prose, she:
shows how th e st vr rt moral
strict ures of Islam can preven t
int imacy between rhe sexes.
foresta ll the creative im pulse in
the most de term ined and
mod em woman : and create a
cu ltu ral void t hat becomes selfJ>('rpetuaung . .
The novel is. set in a
sout he rn i f-an'iin city JUSt
before and just-after the 1979
revolution . arid' Rachlin is pa rticu larly ad ept'. here at depicting how Iran ians, who made
their revolution in t he name of
freedom. only~iraded on e for m
of opp ressi0l"! f9i another. in
wha t surely "!4s.t be one of t he
world ' s first reaCtionary revolut ions. As Iranian wom en
cha nted in .197·9 . " At the
dawn of frctdom . th ere is no
freed om ." Ml nou 's only
rt course is ro 'itave Iran . but
she soon realize.s Ihe special
pain of the rxi!t . the lo nging
" for he r cou ndy th ar wtnt on
breathing. living in her . "
Rachl in , who' now leaches
creative writing at Ne w York
Univers ity. has a uniqur style.
which novelisl and scfr enwrilr r
Rulll Prawer J habvala has
•.,'"
likened 10 " t he d arit), and
..'
spare sensuo usness of Persian
poe tt')' or mini alUre pai nti ng ."
and An ne Tyler has called
" coo l and pu re, " She's cu r-
rem ly at work on a th ird novel.
wh ich thi s reviewer for one is
eage rly await ing, because
Nahid Rachlin ' s work has a
special poig na ncy for all those
who de spair at th e sorry junet ureIra n has reached .
PAINTING
FEMALE
By ANN-SARGENT
WOOSTER
Pallia Modenohn-Beder: The
Letters and} ollmalJ , edi ted by
Gunte r Busch and Liselone von
Reinken . edited and translated
by Arthur S. Wensi nger and
Caro le C lew Hoey, New
York : Tapl inger Press
Publishi ng Co. $29 .9 1
au la Mcd erschn-Becker
has bee n a cuh he ro or
fem inist heroine for a
grne ration of wom en.
tsperially anists. Htr life
told in her Iwtrs and
jou rna ls (t his is th e most
com plete ·English
langu agt ed ition to d at t )
combints elem eOls of t he
carrtrs of Eve Ht sse and Sylvia
Plath in its po igna ncy and
Iittrari ness (bo th Hessr and
Plat h an icu lately chan ed rhtir
rocky roads). Mod ersohnBecker' s life also rtminds me
of a number o f ninetct:OIh cenlUry womrn ' s- she st ruggled
.against societal expectations to
ach ieve a career jusl to bc felled b)· ch ildbinh - Mary
W olistone craft and Em ily
BrOlllr are two prom inrO[ rxam plts.
Born in Drt sdl'n in 1876 , a
I
allowed to become an artist
(alt ho ug h her parents value d
education they rhoughr cooking lessons were as . If not more.
importa nt th an painting
classes). She st ud ied at W orp .
swede , an artist colony near her
home whe re she me t her fu t ure
hu sband . One Moderscbn. a
teache r there. An inh erit ance
let ber go to Paris to further
he r ed ucat ion . She moved in
avant garde an circles and
knew the work of Gauguin .
Cezanne. Rod in and Maillo l.
When Mod ersohn ' s wife di ed
t hey marr ied . From t he begi nning of t he ir marriage she was
afflicted with real and imagin ary problems in th e axis
between marriage and career.
She is high ly articulate and
convincing in her journal on
th ese points. After five years of
marriage she left her husban d
to return to Paris and pursue
her career. Una b le to su rvive
fin an cially. she retu rned to her
husband , beca me pregn ant an d
died at th e age of 3 1. shon ly
after th e birth of her daught er.
Math ilde.
Wh en I loo k at ModersohnBecker's confrontational pain t ings - man y self port raits in
the nude done in rhe Die
Brucke st yle. th ey rad iate a
feeli ng of Strength . as if she is
inventing and giving b irth to
herself. somet hing necessary for
women at rhis time, Unfortunately. t he reproduct ions in
th e book arc ext rem ely dark
and o nly in black and white.
Th e writing , in contrast. is
more mu lti-valent and raises
more questions. Wh at was th e
exact nature of her friendsh ip
with Rilke and Clai re W esthoff. anot he r m alwelher (ma le
ani sr slang for painting
female). Modersobn-Becker's
let ters to her hu sband arc optim istic, loving and ap peasing .
The journal entries by bo t h
hu sban d and wife represent a
darker reality, more ambivalence and fina lly. a power
struggle between m an and
woman . th at is m irrored to t his
day in many two-care('r .
household s, especially whe n
the part ners share a profession .
,
P:.tula Modt ~h n - Btdtr's journal
F,:.tSltr Sund:.ty, M:.tl't'h j O. 190 2
My t'X pc1'itnrt It l15 me th:.t l ma rri:.t ~e
dot'S rtOt make- one happier. It l ak~ away
Iht illusion that h:.td sustained a. d« p
bdirf in lhe possibility of a kindred soul.
in man ia.Rr one feds doubl ~' misursder~ood . "
Ouo Modc:rdIn joumal . Fdxuuy 29,
'90'
... Pau la's 1rod mv ttile'S in 1n islir ma ttcn 1rt' r los.rly rt'1a'tcd , Wt bot h love the
primil ivt:' and imi mllC. thc unusu 11 1nd
the pan irular . . .
. . . Unfon un 1tdy , P, UIa is.. ~ mUl"h
infm ed b v ,hcst modero nOlioos, She is
al..... qu ile'2«om plished in the rta lm nf
c.ROIi!om. 1 wondc r wht1htr 'all .Riflcd
womtn art' likr tha i ~ In an .· Paula is {Cfl;linh' ,Ri{lrd: 1am ulOnisht'd al hrr pm~ rn..;, But if nnly lhis wcf(' joined b~'
mnrt huma n yin UN , It must lX'thc mnSI
diffi rult Ihinjl: for a woma n 10 IX' h i jl: h l ~'
d cyclopr d spi rilua lly and 10 hc in ·
l cHi Ren l . an.d sri ll hI: {o m p k l d ~'
fcminine . Th r mod C' rn WOffiC O C'I nOfI\
rrall\· l(1ve . , ' 111('\· think th aI e.Ruti~m .
. nde'(X'n,lC' nC'c . {~n {ei t . aIr t he bcSI
I h i nR~ lhcrr arc: and no happ~· marril ~c
,ao " ,mr from lh l l. ThC' husband .
,nallllalh' is n URh t up in med iey:.tl.
t~T~ (1 n lt'al appel ilC'S ifhe n p«ts his wifC'
Ii'do him favors. li,'C' with him. (m rr in ·
t o hi. inlelffi s ...
From Fr:lu Bt-ckcr 10 Mill)' Rohb ndBeck" . No.-o:mlX'r 5. 1907
1111: biTlh was d ifrKuh
On Sun·
ren P:.t ub kcpl '3,·rnll: . " You OlIji:hl 10
«'(' hC'f Ul thl"nudl"' .
P:.tub Tn lUll" un
' n,, '" ..-huc p'lIm..·. lX'nn lh her IX'kWCll
G~UI!UUl!o ~ nd Rnd ln•. Th c ...."'11'" 'Ito
laul!h. Ih"'l\Jj:.h 11K' fruit ....huc tu f1l''''
"lI n :.t ; n~
MAY 1914 EAST VILLAGE EYE 59
-
...
.,
~ ,..~-t,~.";o.
' "_-"'1
4/1'Sij. I wD N ~ U IF /Il ~ .G R Ii' '' U~
" ''''wb tlllIAlJ1 It , , -SO I'IlUt.H
8'lD bO, mR eill Ii'Pu. . ~DH~"O...
..~...
.
li
--
~
••
•
u
W..
~1
'''IOo.
... ~
, ..H ,
f....
f · tl"t F A Il.., /
:, ELME A.
.l I: ....
tL,c j ' a H
.J y
f l.., f"I C"'IC. \(FltS
~ c +&. :, f l.,
", vf t'- ;"J h<:l U'l,
o,.;.. , t
"H, t
" IoITEATE ,l S ? '~':'-'
-t,.y·;;>"r.,;,.~r··*+f
c
z
~
z
-;
~
60 EAST VILLAGE EYE MAY 1914 '
j"
'reu. ME
MQRTj
DID YOU TAke. (FfENSE IN OUR LAST SESSION WHEN Y SUGG6STEDT,",AT
THE ORAL ~AJOENC.Y you DISPLAY TO\..JiIIl.~O YOlR INNER S WIRT l'i OlE To ~ REPRESSED
06NIAL OF A CLA~ Slc OEDIPuS COMF'U)('I 'n4AT YOUR IARATlO~L f.tVSTEP::ICAt". OUTEJuRsTs ARE A C1.£AR- ClIT PHYSICA.l i\'1ANI f:"ESTATION OF A. CASeBoOK SQ.fIZOID
~RSCNAUT Y . THAT yOUR COMPlJLS tve PUNNING IS ,'" FACT AN Al;GRESSIVE ~~il-':
' ~,'1
, §o;.·_:'::;1
Acr OF' $VM80UC CAsntATION AIMED AT 1lIOS:E WHO YOU PER:CIEVE A~
Q
" ~
-e
A l"WR£1O'" ... \oJ\.«) UEIGH'TEN YOUR FeARs 0 1=' SUUAl INADEQUt\CV?
....
.':-: ->
i1lL
~::-------------------:::>=:O;'::':--..,
r.=i
1J:.ai'
.,
=
") '\ '
WHY?
" UTTl E MIRACLE" ll GHT WEIGHT
IS ONE
OF DAY TO DAY CRISES. SUITABLE
AS WELL FOR LARGESCALE
TRAUM A. USED SAFELY BY DOZENS
FOR YEARS. ALSO SCARES
MONSTERS. SEND SU D & 75
COMICS TO; HELP ME! BOX 7860.
WESTBURY, N.Y. 11592
PRINTCLEARLY IF POSSIBLE .
I¥ISSINGI?
,~:;" C ~. ,.};
f"" :::.::.- ,'r
.. _ " j ::, .
~
...
•
~
_ORAl
C
m
w
TELL Ie
ll6.'I ' AL
EJu2 ~~
PEOSCNI
A,.,...
ACT OF
o
o
POCKETS EMOTIONAL CRUTCH ,
EFEFCTlV£ IN THE POSTPONEMENT
5
!;
~
-o
z
CJ)
FORTUNE: YOU WIU SOON MAKE YOU RMARK
ON THE WORLD (UNLESS YOU KEEP THOSE
WINDOWS SHUT!)
z
..
(;
•
Wi )CHOW MOW TO STAND IN FRoNT
OF 'N il AultilOA To AlAK5" VS LOl'l('"
PUFECT IN !Io\E MIRIlOR .
,
,
1
fWT, wE HUD "T 60 TO
ova.
NOW WE" CA N 6 0 TO o uR
6 IlA" ES RE....OING 5f LF· MEL. P
6llA V&S NEvtR AA'II N" FnT
COM P\.. . n:: ~Y (.OoD Alovr Oillt
BooIES. TMU f
NI AftlSWaR.
;r.
~
-
,-
--.:....
...... _
- ,-
OOKS.
\ ~ £'0'1 1 .' W~AT"s W ~ H " ..
If
J"io vse .. •
l 51"'''''''( CANNOT
fEEL. J'OYFVL
ABouT" ""V
eu;; 9 £"'1"'1>.
,
MAY 1914 EAST Vil LAGE EYE 61
PREFERRED
L~~
Id"ed by Phlu"o
"Preferred Listings" means that we accept notiCI. of
...nf. from .ny .nd ell ••• r•••• but re..... th. right t.
run n.ting••n th. basi••f .pa•• limitati.n••nd .dit.rial
pr.f.r.n•••• Pl• ••••• ndn.ti••• t. E••t Villag. Ey., . , 0
" l i. tings." 611 Broadw.y, Rm. 214. NYC 10012.
ART OPENINGS
A New Film by LI LIANA CAV A N I
th e contro versia l d irector of " N ig h t Porter"
'om",
OOMINIQUE SAND4.
,
ERlAND JOSEPHSON ROBERT POWELL
A S ilVIO C l EMENTEl U Pre sent at io n
in assoctauc e wit h $10GEF FEN & JACKIE AAYNAL
STA/ITS FRI,MAYISI
2,4,6,8, 10
CARNEGIE HALL CINEMA
7th Ave,(between 56th & 57th sts) NYC · 757·2131
VARIETY AT VARIETY
Directed by Belle
, Gordon
Produced by Renee Shatransky
Written by: K.thy Acker
Mu'slc : John Lurie
MAY 11 & 12, MIDNIGHT
Variety Theatre, 110 Third AV@, (13th St.)
MAY 13, 8 PM
Collective for Uving Cinema, 52' White St.
62 EAST,Vil LAGE EYE MAY 1914
"
__ MAY 15TH
" New Arl trom Holland" teatur __ MAY 2ND
Ing various artists allnlernahOnal
April Palmieri' s paintings at the
With Monument. 111 E, 7th St. .
Pharmacy Restaurant. 141 Ave.
through June rom
A. through May 31st.
Art May and Charlie loreto show
laura Foreman displays paintings
paintings and sculptures at New
and assemblages at limbo. 339
Math. 12th S1. btw Ave . A and B.
E. 10th S1. , Ihrough May 6th
through June aro
24 Nanve American Indian PnoWilhetm aremners paintings and
lagraphers dlsplav works at the
sculpture at Eaccnetu/Burk. 328
American tndlan Cammunity ,
E ll(h St . through June 12th
aoose.aanev. 164 Mercer St
" MAY 16TH
tnroucn May 261h ,
" Black Tie unuenar: Group show
The Red Spot cutcccr suoe
at Sensory Evnlutlon. 443 E 61h
tnearer shows works by various
St.. lhrough June 15th
artists Tuesday lhrough saturday
" Hard. Cold and Real" group
till May tam 8:00 o.m.. sreaoshaw al vntuet/eamscn. 19 2nd
way and Spring. look west.
Ave.. lhraugh June 10th
Nighl Gallery opens With various
.. MAY 17TH
ernsts at 225 W. Broadway.
Thomas Schindter 's palntmqs at
gallery hours ' ·6 o.m
Sharpe Gattery. 328 E. utn S1.
" MAY 4TH
through June 17th
Philip rslaras disptays phatoglahs " MAY 18TH
at Oggi Domam . 318E. 11th St .
Tony Labat's sculplures at Mo
through May 30th
David Gattery . 436 E. 9th S1. .
__ MAY 5TH
through June 12th
Trissy Callan's paintinqs and
" MAY 19TH
drawings at Open Studio. 155
" A Time Before Morning " group
Sulfolk SI , uuoucn May 6th
show ccrereo by Sneua xcoan at
David Reynolds and Nancy Spero
149 2nd Ave.
present works an paper al CASH
" MAY 20T H
34 E, 7th S\.. thfOugh May 3rd
Sue wnnems's paintings at
David Wojnarowic z'Spainting and
Beulah land. 162Ave A
sculpture at Civrllan Warfare,
" MAY 22ND
11th St. btw . Ave A and B.
Marc Mancini. James Schmidt.
through June 3rd
and Charles Seplowins
__ MAY 6TH
SCUlptures at M-13 Gallery. 440
Gregory Anthon 's photographs at
E 9th S\.. lhraugh June 241h
Beutan l and. 162Ave . A
" MAY 24TH
__ MAY 7TH
Conrad Vogel displays installaJane Aruns presents " Shadow
tions at E. 7th Gallery. 117 E 7th
Bones .,. art tar Btack light at No
St.. Ihrough June 24th
. Se No. 42 Rivinglon St. thrcuqh
" MAY 25TH
May 26th
Group Show at 51X. 51 S1.
" MAY 9TH
Marks Ptace
Artene Golllried's cnctccracns at
Tod Wizon 's paintings P.P.D.W•.
21 6 E. 10th st.. through June 3ro. Taller Latino emencano. 19W
Colin lee 's paintmgs at Pezo
21s1 SI.. through June 1511'1
Electric . 437 E. 61h St.. thrcuuh
~ AY 27TH
June aro
Thomas Schindler's palnllngs al
__ MAY 11TH
Sharpe Gallery . 328 E 1un St.
Thierry Cheverney"s paintings at
through June 17th
__ MAY 29TH
Pat Hearn Gallery. 94 Ave. B.
Sandy Sempliner" s paintings and
lhrough June Sth
Group show at 301 E. Houston
conaues at Beutah land . 162
Gattery
Ave. A
__ MAY 30TH
" MAY 12TH
EXTRAVAGANZA , a group show
Guy GtHlllwin's paintings and
ot 45 artists at Dremaus Personae
drawings at Area X. 200 E. 1011'1
Gattery_25 E. 4th SI, through
SI.. through-Juty 61h
__ MAY 31ST
June 9th
__ MAY 13TH
Arch Connelly's paintings and
Tammy Muse's charm coaaqes at
sculptures af'Fun Gallery. 254 f
Beulah land . 162 Ave. A
100hS1.
Arlo.. Goflfried'
Yelle, Iotino
•
,"""'_pi!......
ArnellCafto, 19 W
opeftt Mcry 2SHe
• 2 r. t, Herotlgll J
un~
Itt .
rSHe.
DANCE
~ MAY 3RD
Adrienne Altenhaus and Betsy
Hulton present works at the
Bessie SChonberg Theater. 219
W. 191h SI. tnroucn May 5th
" MAY 4TH
Rush dance companyperforms at.
392 Broadway. through May 5th
Bando Tamasaburo V. Kabuki
master, pertcms at Japan House.
333 E. 47th SI. lhraugh May
1111'1
"MAY 5TH
DeblH"ah Carr and Lise Grllr present a joint evening 01dance at
the Midtown Y. 344 E. 1411'1 SI.
through lne 4th
.. MAY 10TH
Kathy Rose and Harry Whitlaker
Sheppard present several pieces
at Danspace. S1. Marks Church.
2nd Ave. and 10th SI. l hrough
May 13th
Jean-louis Morin and Terese
Capucilli dance at A's pertermance space . 330 Broome SI.
lhrough May 13th
" MAY 11TH
Debra Wanner presents lour new
and revised solo dances at P.S.
122. 150 l SI Ave. Ihrough May
13th
Christine Brodbeck and Isabelle
Marteau present an evening ot
their choreography at Cash pertormance space. 10 E. 1811'1 SI.
through the 1311'1
Bene Gordon's Variety, about sex
and power. atme variety Theater.
110 Third Ave.• mtlinight
.. MAY 18TH
Toni Smilh dances iwo new
W{Irks and " Fast lane " at P.S.
122,1 50 1st Ave. through May
20lh
" MAY 21ST
Various chOreographers at
Awoco. 50 E. 7th SI. through
May 28th
__ MAY 24TH
tsadora Guggenheim premiers
" lifting Belly " at SI. Marks
Church. 10th SI. and zno Ave.
FILM/VIDEO
• MAY 3RO
Our Man In Havana wilh Alec
Guinness. a classic. Also Th.
Key, at Theater 80, 8051. Marks
e.
AI Robbins' Realities video at
Millennium, 66 E. 411'1 51.
. MAY 4TH
Kay lIrgo and The Treasur. of
Sill11I Mldrl wilh Bogart al
t r eater 80. 80 51. Marks PI.
Animation Film Festivalat NYU 's
Biiotl Theatre, 40 E. 7th 51.
teal uring student works
Jean Genet' s Un Chant d'Amour
all(!Jacques Rivelle's Paris
8elongs to Us . attne SQual
tneatre. 256W. 23rd 51. through
May 6th
. MAY 6TH
An evening 01 SuperBI nd 16mm
films at Franklin Furnace. ieaturing shorts by various filmmakers.
112 Franklin SI.
• MAY 9TH
Tenderness .n d Aflg.r, a
documentary on S WISS GYPSIes at
Film Forum 1. 57 watts 51.
through May 2200
. MAY 10TH
Early Video History, a panel
discussion at Millennium. 66 E.
4th 51.
. MAY 11TH
Fritz Lang 's Ministry of Fear.
also The Fallen Idol at t neeter
80.80 SI. Marks PI.
Knile in lhl Water by Roman
Polanski al'ld Barrier at lhe squat
t reare. 256W. 23rd SI. through
May 131h
. MAY 15TH
Wild in thl Streets and Bad Boys
at Film Forum 2. 57 Walls SI.
• MAY 17TH
PIer Marton, reciures and screens
video tapes at Millennium, 66 E.
41h 51.
. MAY 18TH
Crislo: Tin WOfks in ProgrlSS ,
Public P1JCes-Sitl Inc. andfour
other shorts al Squat Theatre.
256W. 23rd 5t. lhrough May
20th
• MAY 23RD
In Heavin Thl rl Is No Belr? afld
Sprout Wings and Fly. two
beauties by les Blank al Film
Forum 1. 57 Watts 51. l hfoogh
June 51h
. MAY 24TH
Ernest Gusella's Whit Undl r lhe
Sun? video lape screened al
Millennium. 66 E. 41h 51.
MUSIC/,PARTIES
• MAY 2ND
Salon Bon Ton presenlS " The
Trouble with Harry," a real eslale
operetta al B Be. 339 E. Bth 51.
"'.h.gClrly, a Brechl opera at
Pyramid. 101 Ave. A
'Aru hOSts a birthday party lor
,PriSCIlla Woolworth and Carlos
,u avrOleon. 9:00,11 pm. 157
Husdon St.
. MAY 4TH
Tony lovi and his On thl Town
Orcheslra perlorm movie music!
Starring John Sex and Phoebe
tecere. Especially recommended .
al Pyramid. 101 Me. A
Judith Ren-la y performs Minor
Venom at P.5 . 122. 150 lsi Ave.
through me 6th
. MAY 5TH
Beastie Boys and Arms Allimbo
play at nanceterta . 30 W. 21s1
l
$1.
Secret Sam SOCilty, Nekron 99
andothers in Damrosch Park
behind lincoln t enter
. MAY 6TH
Roell Agl inst Rl cism fealuring
hardcore. reggae. rap. 100k music
and speakers at the cenlral Park
saneseen. noon 10 B:OO p.m.
Billy Bing and lCarln Borca play
at tne Cafe. 101h SI. & Ave. B.
4:00 p.m.
. MAY 7TH
Visage opens! 610 W. 56th 51.
Wed.·SaI.. 10'00 p.m. 10 4:00
a.m.
Pianosaurus rocks Folk Cily. 130
W. 3rd 51.
. MAY 10TH
live Skul1. Nomad , and Ilona
Granll play at Pyramid, and
KestuUs Nakas starts a series 01
Thursday theme parties. Tonight.
Vuri And.opovin Hell. wilh sovet
songs by Tony lo ve. 101 Ave. A
. MAY 11TH
l ONE and thl Ordinaires play ar 8
Be. 339 E. 81h 51.1 :00 am .
. MAY 12TH
Point Blank wilh Honeymoon
lCillers, Mush. Yellow Grave ,
David Rat, and Vielor Poison-Tell
on Conga Bill at uarcerere , 3D
W. 21s151.
The Cucumbe.s play limbo. 339
E. 10th 51.
'- MAY 13TH
Wuthering Heights opens al
Danceleria. 30 W. 21st St.
Ellen Christi and Us. Sokolov
sing al life Cale, 10th 51. &
Ave. B
. MAY 15TH
The Pop T.ns Play al Pyramid .
101 Ave. A
•~ry GHtler al l imelight. 6th Ave.
lal 2151 Sireel
. MAY 16TH
E. st Vill.ge Eye's FilthAnm"e/sat)' Pltty. Fealuring Newcleus
~ J. m on II), and spetlal guesls.
AI Danceler1a , 30 W. 21st 51.
Il a Troupe M.kandal plays Haitian
,Voodoo music at S.0.8.'s . 204
,varick 51.
Sytvain Syfnin plays Folk City.
130 w. Jrd 51 . 9:00+ 11 '00
. MAY 18TH
.The RaybeJls arKI lhl Cucumbers
playal Danceteria, andon Congo
8ill. TheAndyand Edie Show
fealu ring Joey Arias and Ann
I Magnuson . 30 W. 21s1 51.
The Ptp Tarts playal l imbo. 339
E. 10th Sf.
. MAY 19TH
R.d HouSl lrom Atlanta. and 86
atnancereru. 30 W. 21s1SI.
. MAY 20TH
Jem"1 Moondoc and Roy Campbell Play at Ule Cafe. 10th St. &
Ave. B. 4:00 p.m.
. MAY 23RD
Fred Frith and Rhys Cl\alham al
Pyramid. 101 Ave. A
Area's new lheme opens lonlght.
This month. " The Color Red " .
Through June at 157 Hudson SI.
.MAY 24TH
The Popl ans ptay at Beulah l and.
162 Ave. A
. MAY 25TH
nareeteru. The Midnight Beach.
Danceted.l"s Hamptons branch
opens on me Montauk Highway
in WalenrnU. blw Soulhhamplon
and Bridgehamplon
. MAY 27TH
In Ihl Service 01, makes their of·
licial oeout at nancetena. 30 W.
21st SI. A musl!
Wayne HOrvitl and John l orn
p1ayal lile Ca fe. 10th 51 & Ave.
B. 4:00 p.m.
PERFORMANCE/
THEATER
'- MAY 3RD
Rats. a play by tsraet Horowitl at
the la st Resort Showcase . 153
tst Ave. through May
An Ab surd Pitce: AmericJ_ The
Other Side 01 the Egg , speclatle
at the Slorefroni for Art and At·
cnnecnee. 8:30 c.m : alsoMay
41'
Alex Mavro perrcms with The
Sallisla at at Franktifl Furnace.
11 2. Franklin 51. B:30 p.m.
. MAY 5TH
VioIJling the Frame, the world's
mosl beautiful slide show al S
Be. 339 E. 8th 51.
. MAY 6TH
Diane Spodarek perlorms H, 's
O!,Iy , M.A, incorporating slides.
liveaction and audio at limbo.
339 E. 10th 51.
.MAY 7TH
Del /nk' Von Pl/II . a COllage play
' Ilhe Perlorming Garage. 33
Wooster 51. Mon.-Wed. Ihrough
May 2Jrd
l¢ia l unch opens a series 01
happenings, MOnday nlghlSal
11 :00. in lhe basemenl 01the
Pyramid , 101 Ave. A
'- MAY 9TH
Peter Van De ICluthorsl in lhe
Iirst 01 a S1ries Intitled The New
Dutch Masters. Al ABe No RIO.
156Rivington 51. . Ihroogh lhe
19th.
J. Aller EgoI nd t!'le l ost Pointl
play BeuJah la nd. 162 Ave. A
Victory Bonds opens al Ihe New
Thealre. 62 E. 41h St. lhrough
May
Ground Plan. ethoo·tech band.
and the Redmole Thealer Group al
Pyramid . 101 Ave A
. MAY 10TH
The Impossible Mission, a IiIm
Slarring Mark Anderson , Manami
Mitani. Jenniler Mitchell. and
Haoui Monlag. And a penormance by Boom! al Dancetena.
30 W. 21s151.
Roads tl E....rywhell performance
by Rom Linke and Benita Abrams
at al Franklin,Furnace. 11 2.
FrankJin 51.
. MAY 13TH
Wetl I I Horniness (new and improved) at Pyramid, 101 Ave. A
. MAY 17TH
I'm Am Joe 's Body by xestuns
Nakas at Pyramid . 101 Ave. A
. MAY 18TH
Strange Fruit presented by SalOn
Bon Ton al8 Be. 339 E. Blh SI.
Todd Sit'l1I presents an annnucJear installa tion at ABC No
Rio. 156 Rivinglon 51. lhrough
June 61h
. MAY 21ST
Oreamings End presented by the
Reo Mole tte arer group anne
Ohio th eaer. 59 Greene St
through June
'- MAY 30TH
Found la nguage. a group exhlbllion curated by larry list fea turing works by Brian Eno. DaVid
Byrne. Grandmaster Flash. and
others at Franklin Furnace. 11 2
Franklin sr. lhrough July 301h
May22
Poetry 'r G"'"J<8radlo/, £I,,,,bdh vreelerd
Cla' l ical GuiliJr by IJd:vid G#fix
BooI<Art by!Jd vi?TomtJrd
June S
Fic1ion by Bdrb<J"-dDdvis{ Mi,.,dyR:.nnjl:.'rJC.Xcr
Podry by MJom i l...azard
June19
An eve n /'¥} with t he tditol"J ofthe HUD50N
RtViEW Jb<tryt "'bles by Fn!tk6d, MorfPn
Essays About the House by
/lou'" D<;t L
,
Readings areonTuesdays at gp.m.
$3
16Stuyvesant St. (dt COrntro f 9"'SU ] rd AV<.)
POETRY
. MAY 1ST
NYC Poetry calendll benelit at
St. Marks Church. 2nd Ave. and
10th SI. with nine e pcets.
.MAY 2ND
Margaret Randall reads poelry on
women's revolu tionary work. at
P.S. 41 . 61h Ave. and 11th 51.
. MAY 5TH
An af1ernoon 01 20th cenlury
Spanish literature in translation.
David Unger and Magda Bogin
read at EAR Jnn. 326Spring 51.
. MAY 12TH
Kenneth Irbr from l awrence.
Kansas reads al EAR Inn. 326
Spring 51.
'- MAY 18TH ....
An evening 01 Polish Poetry. a bj •
~ ngual reading al lhe Writers'
Voice. 5 W. 63rd St. fealUring
seven Polish poels
. MAY 19TH
Janel HamiD and poet and blood
donor Max Blagg read al EAR
Inn. 326 Spring 51.
. MAY 22ND
Georg, Bradlevand Elizabeth
Vrl ebnd read al lucky Strike. 16
Stuyvesant St.. 8:00 p.m.
. MAY 26TH
An afllloooo of vinlage American
wriling from the .IWtn lies. featur'
ing Warren Hl rendeen and
.Donald G. Plrh r al EAR Inn. 326
iSpring SI.
,
JOE D AV I S
~o c~ ~ INI0~ ~ H[AD
__ _..1 9 ·, t , - :~
4%?p ,2. .:7
....
---:-
~.
~
.
3
300 MOVIES
_ '. . .. L
. MAT " .. EAST VllLAG< EYE 61
FILMS
conl;nutd from 51
duet documents the Cuban
government 's violation of th e
rights of homosexuals.
dissident s. J ehovah 's
W itnesses, and those accused
of " extravagant behavior" and
"im prope r conduct." Because
of the lack of independently
produced footage on Cuba, the
film takes the form of interviews with persecuted Cubans
and their supporters living in
exile. Although it is rather un cinematic, Improper Condecr
is a logically structu red, eloquent ly presented argument
vilifying Castro' s government
and longing for the rule of law
in Cuba .
Yoshimirsu Morita's Tbe
FamIly Gam e is perhaps the
funn iest , most irreverent
Japan ese film you' ve seen.
cj apanese insrin nions-c-school .
parents. work, study, achievement, a wife's place, etc. , are
all ridiculed mercilessly in this
film about 'a fam ily (hat hires a
tu tor to raise the grades of its
unde rachieving son, with
hilarious results. Several recurrin,R jokes which revolve around
eat ing and drinking culminate
in one of the most absurdly
fun ny moment s you are likely
to see from J apan .
Finally, two German films
(one East , one W~St) are also at
the tOP of th e list. From Gunther Reich and Gunther Rucke
of The German Democratic
Republic, Tbe Fiancee, accordi ng to the press notes, is the
authentic Story of a "Communist activist " who was imprisoned for ten years by the
Third Reich . Wha t makes it
heartbreakingly ironic is that
rathe r than bein g a Communist, she is the lover of one.
Her crime is one of love. not
conviction, and her imp risonment is only bearable tb rougb
the hope that love instills.
As Hetla . juna Wachowiak is
mag nificent . dr iven 1'0 the dep-
ths in solitary confinement and
rising again slronger, tougher .
with hope and the corwinion
she entered prison lacking.
Doris Dorrie's Straight
Th roughl The Heart, though
more absrracr than any of the
other selections, is an amazingIy sure-foo ted feature debut .
Dealing with topics of obsession. loneliness, emot ion and
detachment . Straight Through
The Heart works on several
levels without becoming murky
or unclear. Its narrative line
never wavers. Here the
mysteries of the Story are in the
Story, rather than in rhe style
of storytelling.
The plot concerns a blase
you ng woman who is hired to
live in the home of a wealthy
man (almost 2.S a d ecoration)
but who becomes .so obsessed
with him that she will fake a
pregnancy and steal a baby in
order to ensure her future with
him . It is well-paced , and
often humorous.
If one name should be added to the New Directors
" d iscovery" ad for 1 9 8 ~ . Doris
Don ie should be the one.
JESURUN
conlinlled from 53
Therefore I pass the information along in pieces. Some characters fictionalize. ot hers
don 't. There are SO many ways
of passing along information .
But each character is so
relentless that the audience can
c h ~sc which pieces of infermanon to accept.
" It gives everything more of
an ensemb le feeling," he adds.
" I told the actors in Chang
that they were pan of one huge
character: Chang. There is no
hero. SO the characters are more
or less equal. J don 't want to
squander the audience's focus
on one point of view . That's
why th ere are two actors playing both Chang and J ohn . It
gives another 'point of view,
and Russ Kunkelplayed the
GUEST
conlinue d from 47
called The TVShow, which
was on in '78. We did a
take-o ff on The Midnillhr
Spcc.'i.u. Rob piar ed WolfmanJack and we presented
thisband, SpinalTap. for
that. Loudon Wai nwright
was the keyboard player
drummer on the show, we
all thought it would be fun
to somcday do tt as a larger
pro jec t . So the ideabehind
This is Sp i nal Tap staned
the n and it took years from
the bcgrnntng of rhe idea to
getting the movie out.
11 $«ms like great t imi ng
now w ith HC.':ll "j' Met21 /x'ing sc big :lgain.
That wasobvlousfy an acctdent because we had no
idc:a that that wasgoing to
happen. It's funn}'.
keeps the audience off-balance,
and gives it a sense of
duality."
A good deal of j esurun's
repenoire comes directly from
his pa st training and personal
experience. The simplicity of
idea and execut ion in Robert
Morris' works impressed him as
an artist. His staging has that
same feeling. He regards Pinte r
as one of his favorite
playwrights and occasionally in
Chang and Dog 'J Eye Vi~ w
one can hear the internal
rhythm and understated
violence that made Belrayal so
great.
" I recentl y discovered why J
use SO much interrogation in
my scripts." j esurun explains. I
was once arrested in an
" Alice's Restau rant " situation
and was interrogated for hours.
J guess J never got over tbar.
" Actually," he conti nues.
"Rock'n'roll was my greate st
influence. (liked Phil Spector
and Neil Young . Most young
people's influence has been
music. It 's thei r main cultural
activity. I use a lot of guitar.
singing, and allusions to music.
My scenes are often like linl e
songs in terms of rhythm and
length ."
Although rock is a major
part of his work, Frank Maya
and John Kelly's duet of an
aria from "The Pearl Fishers"
by Bizet was a memorable
Chang moment . "Originally, I
wanted actors who were musicians," he fu rther explains. " I
wanted musicians because they
know how ( 0 project without
falling back on their training as
actors. Eventu ally I met actors
who were talented eno ug h not
to have to fall back on
theatrical tricks."
" I' ll always do Chang. It
could go on for the rest of our
lives. It's like a d iary for all of
us. But it' s time to move on ."
Number Minus One playJ
May ' , 6, 12, and 13 at 9 p .m.
TicReu are $6 and reservations
can be made by calling
966-3671,
Some people ha"C' $;lid that
the film is not nt7rly :lS ,'icious 2S it could tu vc l>cen.
It 5" not nemy ss de,·:JSt:lt ·
i ng :IS, ~rh:lps. Lemmings
~"'2S.
I don't think the film is vici ous at all. I think Lc.'m ·
mingsW2.S vicious at times.
think the whole intent of
This is Sp i n:lI T:lf W2.S nor
to be vicious. Most of the
time when peopleare doing parod)' of rqck and roll,
it's done by people who
don 't like rock and ro ll. or
I
involved but J canu give you
anyn um bers of people because
J don 't know these figures. But
DIX
6
Sandinisras are MarxistLe ninisrs. They are in a problemaric situation. On rhe one
hand , the U.S. ain' t giving up
- it's leaning hard and heavy
on them . But we have problems with people who feel
they have to rely on the Soviet
Union to fight th e U.S. - and
vice versa-beca use that usually ends you up 2.S not liberated
and not indepe ndent . That 's
our view on Cuba, Ethiopia
and a num ber of situations.
You accuu bOlh the Soviet
Union and the U.5. ofbeing
imperiaftil. If tbet 's the case,
whal 'J going /0 happt1l ?
The problem they face is that
impe rialism is based on
domina tion and economic exploitation. They must continuously expand t hei r area of
dom ination and that means
war. Fundamentally. you see
the rulers here and in the
Soviet Union trying to figu re
OU t how to use these tremendously destructive weapons to
defeat their rival while maintaini ng themselves. J US[ the
dimensions of the crime they're
plannin g-c-and dragging all of
huma nity -r- is reason enough
for their overthrow.
Why would someon e described
as a " Yuppie" wanllhiJ
JyJtem overthrown?
We think even Yuppies have a
reason to want imperialism
overth rown . They don 't see the
d ay-in . day-out degradation of
a peasant in Tu rkey or someone in EI Salvador who has
to dodge the bu llets of the
death squads. but fundamentally, it ain't like life is the
greatest for them . either.
What's in the cards could end
the whole ball game !
How large is tbe nt Ui movement you 'lie announced ?
It is a small movement internationally. There arc 14 parties
co n tin u~d from
c~na.in l}·"C'aq' t play rock
and roll if they wanted to.
Our snu auon W2.S different.
\l7~ Iik~ pl:aring rock and
roll. We JUSt thought t ha t
this parti cular segment of it
w2.S funny. W~ also likNl
the people we were playing. It's not a hostileputdown of the music bustness. It's JUSt rally showing it a lot like it is.
.A lor ofpeople wh o 'veseen
also parties that are preparing
for revolution don't lay OUt
what [he extent of the ir stuff
is. As for the numbers. we' ll
say we haven 't got enough to
do what we need ot do, but we
ha\'c got enough to begin 10
reach OUt and draw peop le to
the kind of stand th at will be
needed . We do n't have a
secure territorial base, but we
do have dedicated revolutionaries. We' rr- prett y confident that we can pick up and
come from behind and do
what is necessary to srop the
world war.
UBI
conlin u~d f rom
one guy I' d always see, he'd be
punin ' New York down saying.
'New York this' , ' New York
tha t. ' So I was singing OUt in
the park and 1 saw him come
by and I JUSt sta rted singing,
' If you don't like New York
City. you don' t have to stay.'
" I don't think anyone really
influenced my music. except
maybe Bob Dylan, who had ,
like the power of the word . I
wasn't really that interested in
music when I was young.
Somet imes in Harlem I'd be in
an afrerbours joint and beat
some skins. you know, play the
dr ums or try to sing a lin k ,
but not much . I JUSt came
about with my own sound by
singing out there every day.
Sometimes I' d stand near a big
truck or the subway or somet h i n ~ so ( could test myself,
make mysel f sing louder
againsr this (tuck. Bur playing
OUt there man , it's the best
edu cation . I' ve become a psychiatrist . I can tell exactly what
to sing or say to people or what
they be thi nkin' or wanrin' to
do. It 's an education . but I've
p u t in my time. paid my dues ."
much of it is true. They're
no r just ca riaca tures of reo-
Everybody saysthat. Prett)'
pie. They're " cC)' closeto
that we've rnet and
been on the road with.
Some of the situations
come from our own ex pertences. I was touring with a
group called Lennyand me
Squigtones (Michael
McKe.an'sand David
Lande r 's band which rcsuited from their Lenny
and Squiggy roles on 1.3verne & Shirk yJ and a loeof
thosesituationscome from
that. We wanted an oppa r-
stick through. The only
part 01 her that ever moved
was the eye which was
shi ny and large, and it
didn't move mUCh. AI
night. with all the lights
off , Theresa wou ld go to
the closet and open the
door. She would stand
relaxed ;n the·presence of
the woman and soak her
up, get strength from her
and the particular power
she needed to continue
writing the book. Her love
for the woman was the entirety oHer lile, complete
and ~und less . The book
was done in love for the
woman and derived completety lrom the woman in
the sense that her ex-
istence gave Theresa a
cenler from which to see
that saw things so clearly
(because it was eternal.
compreheilsive and unchanging) that it immedi·
ately knew the past and
future of everythi ng upon
which it looked and its exact condition in re;ation to
Theresa . Every night
Theresa would go to the
closet door, open it, renew
her capacity to see, and
then spend the follow ing
day employing that capacity in a wor k of devotion to
the being who enabled her
to have it. It was a nice
set-up . It isn't easy to
write 190 pages describing
the stow murder of one's
t he film $;Iy things like, "I
kn o w th :lt man.ager,.. or '"
kn ow th:u pu blicisr."
46
IXOPIe
tUliity to do something
more than a sketch. W~
really wanted to p1.2}' real
people not just people for
ten minutes.
You r intert'St in rock and
roll goes b2ek
:J
long W2y.
Yes, As you know I was doingthingslike that in temmings.and that was ten
yat'S ago and I was playing
in groups five years before
that. I haven't Stopped
playing. So this seemed like '
the perfect thing for us to
do~.as far.ashaving fun and
being funn}'.
,
conlinuedfrom 28
every tenth page. The relationship Ihatthe two strike
up during the course 01
the shooting is one of the
most profound in the
history of the world. Each
bullet acts as a new
chapler or a new extreme
close-up, a shot from a
different angle, a sudden
new slide of my trip to India: from the Taj Mattal to
a pilgrim at the Ganges to
a white rib protruding fro m
the red edges of the brown
s kin of a torso. To two
fis hes in the deep. She
thought she'd killed her
friend, but two bullets
later Mary staggers around
to see Theresa with her
small ·caliber pistol smoking. They're in a sunken
living·room like the
Beatfes. Incredible permutations of love and
history of the world.
Writing the book was
unspeakably harrowing for
her and she began to
sense the presence 01 a
person for and lrom whom
the book was being
created. It was an old
64 EAST Vll LAGf EYE MAY 1914
woman who existed in
Theresa's closet lying in
the clothes immobile and
bent like a fetus except lor
her erect head. She was .
there when Theresa opened the closet door. not
subject to gravity, but
stuck in the impression
she'd made in the clothes
like head on a pillow or
the gun in its velvet box.
The woman was a cyclops
with the remnants of the
two eyes ~elow her midd le
one still visible but
shrunken, sunk deep
below her eyebrows , and
fused shut. Her hair was
dark and filthy and her
' face li ke a patch 01 dirt a
kid had been pulling a
a
best friend by oneself and
it's just as difficult to imagine why one wou ld want
to write such a book, but
Theresa knew it was the
will of the hag in the
closet. And it was the will
of the hag in the closet.
Perhaps the hag in the
closet is a snake handler
hoping Theresa's poison
witl supply a serum.
Perhaps the hag is a
teacher trying to cure
,Theresa 01 her fear of
death. Who knows? It sure
is a great book though.
Theresa sends pages to
Ups as she writes them.
He swings open a page to .
find hours of insect-free
privacy and is transported.
I
----------------: CLASSIFIED AD:
$1 CLASSIFIEDS
Tribeu _ 'W, Got the Ug tlW' 1800
U. eI.WiliOI building . conven ien t
Ioetllon . ",. ., kileh&n. one
~
bedroom. S225,OOO, S8OO.00
malnt....nce. Call GI"e9 Clu t...
L. .ell'IlI eono.ota Ql·1338
lOWER EASTSlOE. one bedr oom,
eo<lO' own, " In. price of renting..
Tl klng ~IIJonI pr_U,. Call
CrMtl¥lllNlng Concaptl 431·1338
HANOI ROCKS U.S. FAN
CLUB f or lnlOl"lTll llon w, ltl ; P.O.
110_ 1591. Murr. y Hill S t"lon. NY,
NY 1015l!l
Athlns I nd Allan'.. GI . ~ WI"
Ind 1Wdc:or' blndI: 1 ... II.bII lor
cl Ub ~ IIIL Call 101,,111114(N)
JIl6.OOlllIInd book some olIn. bill
mulle: your c:tutl his _
hII'd .
Available now.
H llnd r~ .
01 pho! ogr l Ph$ ol you !
Famous pho!ogrlpllllf. I Utt>orol
booI<. lont with Wililim Burtoughl l
- ' tl pun k l ollli lor we ird eeelaborl tlonl. send photolpohone 10
SO- 745. Wooc:tltoc:k,NY 12948.
101 good IltNl lfId wild j)lrlie$.
COuoIes weiOOtI'Ie. 21-40. Slimprltterled. H.I'IlI nic:I PIll in M¥I\il tWl .
ART
ltM Afllml!tfl
WKCA.f"M
NYC
Jazz · C1ulllc:.t . Transllgurld Night
24 houq I dIy. Stll' WIlICI
MIN NIE BIRD
PLEASE COME HOME
ALL IS FORGIVEN
.umsTS: Eul Village GlllIfY . . . .
to r...... work In I K IMdIL Ca ll
8l!I6-5oI7l!l Of.-d allOn and _
10"....,. 30tl AIMfIklI
Dr. 14-0.
NYC 10025
Arlli tl Wlnted
l~t curltOfli aa NII<lng
l iides and ...-urnetl IOf poallble
group Of one llIflJOll Ihovrrl . Sand to
Publ ic: Worb. so. .. 337 Eut 10th
S lteet, NYC 1000ll
REAL
ESTATE
L E.5. - IOOO sq . II. ~1 , llnollalld
1I~llI(I lolt w/g real right. br l<:k wi lli ,
lully 1I.lured $925 mn . No FF . Alto:
1000 sq . II. d upll•• bric k will•. full,
IIxtulet;lS130tl mon th. No FF. l ' k'
43 1-lJ38. CrN Il.,. U IIIIl(I Conc:ep tl
TrltMtc:a - 1800 IQ . It. 6Ilt hru . 12' ~Ii·
11l(I', brick wal talln ls'*' wood IIrl.,
new kitc he n " bl th. $1700 month.
l e k'43 1·1338
TrIbec:I -1.co sq. ft. with Ilntlltle
ligh t. bflck willi . I k,Ug hll , nice
views. l uli klt cl'len" b11lh. seoo
month Inc:ludeI hell . S2QK FF. llkl
431·1338
SOho-250 sq . ft. 7OOsq. It. .. 1000
IQ. II. I lorll. SlIOO-$ I2OO mon Ul.
Long leaMa 1. llll blt. l lkl 431.1338
Crealr.. LN. III(I eonc:.ptt
Slorl tOf Ren t
200 E. 3r d SI,. .I. Suitable IOf Sou-
llq ua. Hl lra tytlsl or oll leM.
Reuor\IbIe ..m. ga tll. Call f"eny
43 1·133&.CrM II.... LNslng eonc:.ptt
STUFF
FOR SALE
SuI)' SOHo Aac:Of(l S tore. prill'll loulion. lIaIapICI ..,.lllblllO INti
wllh ~ bouIlqu.. Renl
$5OOtmontll. Ca ll 475-6m. 1-3 pm
MUSIC: .
PEOPLE &
MACHINES
2 uSu lllf Ut, " series30. 5 " E.F •
Mo¥Ie Profectlon lenin. Old. good
...... "'"
r;ond.
BII' of l". Calt
2()3.f78-5I»Q.
""nual. SIlO. m -ll157
There' , A PI. e. N•• r Union
I~~
10 owiIft. 8SS9tMtd f/dlf ~ O'l
pa,_
£~
e$$MII"'. CdOl wrife E.' f Vill.~
E.,..6118fc.lway.N YC 1001%.
177-$l S1. A.tk lor ~.
YAM AHA HEADF'tiONES YH· I. SIlO
S lII HeadphOnes SK3. S65
Grado 61 .. c:.rl rldga . S50
~~ S~ro lmp~ld~
"""
kit Ind demo 10 337 E. 10t h 5 t. SONYC
10 00 9 . P u b li c
Wo rk $
1173-N 7e
mini mig. Send $2.00 to Blldcfy F.
Yulz""n (Humor Monge, Il larg, )
640 BfoadWI , . SO- 89. Dln ver CO.
Female ModIls to PoH Nude lor
wefYw&l l known pllnt". Tribec:;1
sl udlo . Olne"a I nd col orful IyPllil.
" poLegIlU ne " I btlt mU$t be
unhlblled. CIII 219-0610. Les\'ll name
I nd no. US per "Our.
FOR SALE: Ca slo (MTt I) Brlnd ~
- S40. Ufldfiwood ellc: lflc:
T,pewrilltr - used - good c:ond.
SiD. Ca ll Ma r901 522·1711
F,,,,. II Voc:alli l wllh Oflglnll. 1001<·
111(1 for e.PIII,nee. Hynd e. Lenno .
a t, 11 . oc:ala, gu llir Ibllity. Into new
wa~' " d anel mUllc. DorOlhy. Lea...
me ssage tor Rm :lOS. 59S-3027
Muslc ll nl wllh R&BldllCOldlnc:e
I b ility wl nted lor m us k: wll"Oul
prac:onc:l1ltlOOI . J B Stooge.. sex
Pfllols . Ubu . Wlter• • Ylrdbl,ds ,
Blmbllt... ISllc HI ' es. No Immed.
S. Fri nk ll6&m
RABID CITY HUMOR
MAGAZIN E. A.Den~"·bllICl
.".,
PERSONAL
Domlnanl w/m. 30 , leekl nl u.ghly
g llil who nNd d iscipline " mild
$Pl n kl~l. Call Mll ter I nyllme l
He n. EP. Tour .
Hi le YOU' Job. 8011 , la ndlord ,
l Q\'llflSjlO\l" , Mother, Shrlrlk. Dog,
Unio(l,ep, Oru.g lu pplle f. Guru ?
What ll\l" you r bill w, itl I nd w, '11
publlih \'9Urlelter In lull. NO Idvl ci
g l\'lln. Totll l non , mlty. Beel s
Anon ymou l . P.O. SO. 3831. NY, NY
5744014,533-71117
'0020
ROCK VIDEO
PRODUCTION
Delached nltl¥l NY BIlly IdOl Ian
seeks rebel lor midnigh t hour
Iltachrnen l. Stancil -P.O. SO. 8(11,
QRUMGODWHO
SCREAMS wlnled by He l lth
""" qUllity w\deOt; I t IlCHltln Ihlt
pr~ Rotll ll(l Stonn. YokoOno.
lor I lractlon ollhel' COlI1.
ImIga Ml kar m-!i5T1
I
!
0
~.1t ~
fll
By WIN STON c ,
ROBINSON,JR ,
conlinl/ed from 44
percussion and the electron ic
no i~ that swoosh in and OUt
throug hout th e m ix. Yeah ,
tho~
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Q
5•
o
~ Q
o:! ~
'.
~ u
~
Fem l le Model$1 Phol og r;lpher look ·
111(1 lor . ltrl c ll.. $tender $ubjec:ts .
No , . perle nce nllClIISI'Y. Also Iree
phOlographl lor I nte ,n tl ~ mode ls.
cen Fred e,lck 8S1.1036.
ffi
·- ."
1: 0
• o .
~ ~
u .
••a ••s-
•:2:2s
WANTED
0
Got a GOOD l oldi ng bi c y c lB
you want t o sell?
CIII Robert. • 1S-2853,
7~
0
55
"n::"
>
•0•
.
p.m.
00
~~
••
••
0
0
• !•
0
~
0
.
0
c c
NYC 1002:2
grunts: "Ooh-ah . ooh·
ooh. ah -ah-give me what you
give me last n ight" are spo ken
in the a:otic JamaiC2n patois
that Ame ricans find so irresistabl e. I'd like to see people
try and " grind " to thiJ record .
RCA Records th rew a reall y
I
1
'"
a.
0
0 0
ill
1
RECORDS
1
11
1
1
1
.
.OOapaCIill. Send PfISI
(2 12) 564 ·1734
ALL AGRAVATIONS AIRED
1
1
St.,.
1a.co •• lL"":~
I "' · ·
1-;;e:~ !!
.-:
great pa rty at Limeligh t on
March 26 to celeb rate the
release of Nona Hend ryx's new
Ip , The An of Def~ns~, and
like her last album , it tOO is
prod uced by Material. When
No na went on, around 12:30
AM, she gave a brief, thou gh
---------_.
heanfdr performan ce of " I
Swea t (Going Th rough the Molions)" -her n~ single. and
of " Strictly Confidem ial". her
previous one. " Sweat " is funky
·1fld well-crafted . Once it gets
going, (he dave takes over un·
til you ' re grooving on that one.
singular Ix2t. pierced by d ectroni es, vocals and a wh ining
guiu.r that enters 2nd disap·
JK'an: at will.
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Attention Retailers:
You can order
Bomb-Contact II'Details
Pure Entertainment'Raw-Stop-ZG
and other fine publications from
NY New Papers
st MA ,"~S p\.~C ~
"
1
1
1
1
e
P l rlo rme rs
Wln t l d
Ind epeml en t book ing Igency seeks
I U typel 01 perlorm " l lor $howl II
~.rioul CIubl
,_
1
FEATURES EDITOR NEEDEDI .... .
Squ.,.., '
20 jlII ge joumaI by BI"
DohIrt)' the artl l " Send $8 10 Epoc:h,
473 P' 1IOl'l1l A... JetMy City NJ
FOR
1 •
~ 1J«Ide. " Ir~ eit·
COMMODORE VIC·20
Computer wllh RF 1n11l'1_.
1 COST OF AD
1
I
0tWt with tItIs fonn.
1
HELP
WANTED
eumslillI(:U. NotrWYI
mont)'
1 CIty
I......
ARTISTS ASSISTANT KlSlTlON
AVAI LAaL£. VkIIo, film produc:lIo n.
are/lMng. Ptoduc:tlon u.perllnc:l
higI'ltf' uMtvl. Ablllty to c:omplatl
lISb on your own. Ratl. 43t~.
1-6 pm W....dIys
Enc:Ioet "sit, elMct. «
1 Nomo
1 _..
Lh Iln,
1
1
1
: June deadline: May 23 :
I
Altrac...... Ilim WIM. 30 seeks tema les
CallKen (2 12) ~ tl 34.
VILlAGE-One tlIdroom aparlmlflt.
3_
, 1114n klIchen. Call Gfag
CrMtl¥l UoIIlng Conc:ap tl 43t ·1338
1 Classifleds are $1.00 for the
1 first four lines, $1.00 for
1 each additional line.
Send for our free cas/ogue at:
611 Broadway, rm 214
New York, NY 10012
or can (212) m-6157
MAY '91. EAST VI llAGE EYE 6S
SOIR
by BEAUREGARD HOUSTONMONTGO MERY
socialite-goddessOliver Rish
roused me out of bed at the
crack of noon, arriving soon after
in Jaguar coupe owned and
wo of the most rude operated by handsome and dapand obnoxious ques- per satellite tycoon Rick Blume.
tions I'm asked is
After stopping in Tribeca (Q col" Who ace you and
lect mistressof beauty Francine
what do you do ?"
Hunter and the: chann ing and
In answer to this
sleepy-eyed R ichard Skidmore
inevitable invasion
we arrived at P.5. 1 and Francine
of privacy , I indeclared it was "such a Sunday
variably reply: " I am school," a busy school indeed!
Beauregard and I do Every floor was teaming with acexactly as I please."
tivity. My very favorite expert on
What follows here is the arts Edit De Ak. took me in
a perusal of my tehand and gave me a delightful
cent social agenda.
tour of twO floors; tantalizing
Starting with my
me with her dishy expen ise. Her
binhda y party which best quote was: "She is like a
I threw as a distracreptile in head" Never mind
tion from the certain wbc . this is a social column.
panic any aging nar- darling. not me sports page. J
cissist feels at the
paused long enough 10 greet the
passing of time, I invited 85 of
cool and collected Abnna Heiss .
my closest friends. 35 carne. The surveying her brilliant handiwork
other hundred that showed up
as though it were all as effortless
wert total strangers. but they
as she makes it seem. Alongside
brought wonderful gifts. Guests was photographer ecraordin included socialites Abn and
naire Timothy GreenfieldRebecca Rish . handsome man
Sanders. whose work is included
.about town Dieter Kearse .
in every worthwhile permanent
fashion hall-of-farner Joey
collection this side of the HorNapicrkowski, GQ's Lisa
chow. Also in evidence were the
Thackerbeey , Pulitzer prize win- tall and elegant Peter Hujar and
ning pioneer feminist Ruth
Herschberger (who developed an
attachment to Lower East Side
buffoon Brian Goodfel low). US
•
magazine's Mary Kay Sctlllling.
Sandy Dancer. whose poodle
JUSt carne back from the taxidermist in ('W Jersey. Prince of
publishing Peter Begar. sex icon
of St. Mark'sJohn Sex, those
twin tremors of Beekman Place
Charles and Ahn Rosenberg,
fashion darlings Terri Toy and
Sresen Meisel , the beautiful
julian De Rorhschild-Blau and
historic preservationistJohn
Boorom, who made batches of
Pink Squirrels.Jane Krupp and
Prince Alex Neraroff CUI capers
galore. Gallery owner Colin
Deland practiced hisTaylor
Mead rendition for P.S. I the
"a feisrv Arlene Gottfried . Kim
next day. After hours we all
Jones had one of the best
performance-installations this
went to ex-Pulsallama gals Andi
side of House and Garden. In
and Darn's new club on Ave. B
the artie was a recreanon of the
between 10th and I l th sneers.
old Warhol Factory. it was all
It was literally smoldering . . .
very cute (and mobbed). How
Later that morning blonde
-
Ludders, who told me "We
know everyone, we've had
everyone . we will have
everyone." Now pause to connecr the adiecnves and fill in
your own retort ... The evening was salvaged by the sudden
vision of legendary screen goddesses Sylvia Miles and Monique
Van Vooren chatting together. I
left on this high note. beating a
path to Danceteria (a blessing in
disguise) for Haoui Monr:aug's No
Entiendes anniversary parry.
Dianne Brill and Rudolf were
still glowing from their encounter with the King (he' ll sue
if I say Queen) of Qiana and
precursor of drag Liberace
time flies - who says cute doesn't himself Rudolf, always impeccable. was wearing a stunning
age well, or is it that apalling
Liberace plastic pendant. I turnages cute?
ed
green with envy and forgot to
... Monday and Tuesday I
ask
for drink tickets (it was an
thanked God for Passover and
bar. but I'm a born rolleropen
saw to my Personal Life . which
tor).
culminated with din ner at the
On Thursday i had a late lunFour Seasons on Wednesday,
cheon at the shiny new 5th Ave.
with a tall. dark. handsome,
loft of relocated west coast
mysterious and Greek baconphotog. Liz Crenshaw. We sipcheeseburger heir. I ordered veal
ped champagne while she told
auxJeanne Moreau (I swearl)
me her plans for the future.
and saw cult actress Meg Miles
from All At] Children and Sa/an With her curious sense of honesin High Hed s. I continued on to ty and applied glamor. her success in commercial and fine an is
the Limelight for a pany in
assured .. . On fO Kamikaze . or
honor of another Greek. Esquire
Kamikaka as a certain blonde
columnist Taki and his book
Princes, Playboysand High ClOJs socialite goddess refers to it, for
a Mark De Angelis soiree. CunnTarn. Role model Cindy Adams
ing Mark has a knack for taking
promised Debs. Snobs, Hustlers.
a boring record parry and tuming it into a brilliant mix and a
swell time, starring with that
dreamy door diplomat Be-Bop.
Celesre-Mcnique Lindsey was
trading snide quips with beef)'
Vito Bruno. ....cui, Bettina and
Maurice were all there. Francesco
Bemaducd and Bcnjamin
detoured on their Wlly to Area.
ditto Colin Deland and Eric
Bordiga du Monaco. Oliver Rish
lost her scarf. Hours later I finally arrived at the Thierry Mugler
parry at Area only to be completely ignored and then rudely
rebuked . Ebullient Annie
flanders pf De/ails and wonderwoman Dianne Brill came to our
rescue as they were exiting. We
had out own little pany on the
sidewalk as they filled me in on
Snoaen and Pretenders . In atttndance were Cornelia Goesr,
all the juicy Derails inside. Once
seen basking in such bright
Christopher Makos, Larissa,
light, we were giventhe high
Tadeusz, Alexis Del Lago
Blassini and primitive painter
sign to enter. I returned my own
Gaylord and buxom transsexual gesture and ran off into the
night. avoiding further ConfineHoney Palmer and escort.Eric
mem ofull of great tidbits. Of
I could never repeat
anything I didn 't actually
observe. Dianne is off to Santa
Barbara. Another earthquake is
imminent.
On to Lauren Podesta's penthouse cocktail party where a patient Michael Musco (adjectives
are tOO numerous to apply to
this one) waited for the muchin-demand Agapito to minister
to his beauty needs. I sipped Tequila and took notes on the
guests. chatt ing with Dutch
designer Ray Makers. The guests
seemed to be better-boutique
dad up the corporate ladder
young women and tattooed and
earringed younger men. On to
Studio 54. backdoor, dressing
room where Michael M. was performing in the Bunny Hop
Show. After the show a radiant
RickJ ames came downstairs to
compliment Michael on his performance for /hru boen: Mr.
James' recent hospital stay did a
world of good. Today's celebs go
at such an exhausting pace!
Easter Sunday I took respite at
Edward Brezinski 's Sunday salon
featuring Brien Coleman's
wonderful. intricate, famasmic
paper mosaics. Gallet)' owner
Patrick Fox. Gary Indiana and
Tony Heiberg popped in, as has
everybody else in the downtown
an scene, one Sunday or another
since Edward srancd it all a few
weeks ago . . . From there I went
on to Vinnie's Clam House at
Thompson and Bleecker. where I
took in hypnotist Dr. Marshall
King with the indefatigable
Oliver Rish (he's her Uncle Marvin) . The clever doctor made
fools ora packed house, with his
assistant (who reminded me of
Brother Theodore) and a Mexican band that do lionel Ritchie
tunes. thrown in. My vivacious
and aged pomeranian Pilar
Crespi , iUS( back from Argentina. adored the show. especially
Uncle Marvin 's goatee and
sharkskin tuxedo! I left: pondering another rude question: " Is
A) MichaelJackson ; B) Boy
George: q Liberace gay???"
Why people ask me this I cannot
imagine, since I don' t even
know them (yet). but it isn't
hard to deduce that with the
pressures of stardom. they are
more likely downright morose.
Let us be above all compas...innate...
COU fS('
POLICY CONTAINEDTHESE TYPES IN CERTAIN AREAS. INTERVENTION IN INTERNAl
SQUABBLES WAS RARE. THE INHABITANTS •
COULD MAKE OF THEM SELVES WHAT THEY
WOULD . THEY PROVIDED A USEFUL POOL
FOR THE GUARDIANS . - TOBE CONTINUED
OPENING WEDNESDAY NIGHT. 121W. 31S T
MAY 1914 EAST VILlAGE EYE 67