meet The Spiders From Mars, Ziggy Stardust’s backing band. they were originally were called David Bowie & The Hype (only with later manager Tony Visconti on bass). when the Ziggy Stardust album came out, their name was changed to The Spiders From Mars. but, they played on all the tunes, helped craft the music, arranged …
my old pals in 7 YEAR BITCH (i did their logo) have released another record – 20 years later! it’s a live gig played at the club called “MOE” back in the mid-1990’s at the height of ‘grunge mania’ in seattle. this band was at a powerful peak at this point and were one of …
another item that recently sold from Ringo’s warehouse of memorabilia. this is (strangely) the VERY FIRST rock and roll logo/brand/id/trademark in history (note: even elvis didn’t have a logo). the story on it is even more peculiar. according to Bodhi Oser’s amazing little book, “BAND ID, The Ultimate Book of Band Logos” (chronicle books, 2008), …
back in the early 60’s, when ‘Swingin’ London’ was in full flower, it was quite popular to photograph popular british rock bands (and later, american rock bands) to use as “props” in fashion photography. the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Pink Floyd and even The Who were decorative elements in the back of fashion …
i remember holding this record in my hands and almost buying it when it first came out. now it’s rare as hell. it’s a bootleg record of jimi hendrix playing with johnny winter and buddy miles in a french (?) club, jamming. a totally sloshed jim morrison steps up and sings a few songs. the …
i have seen the future of rock and roll and it’s name is SLEAFORD MODS… – Art Chantry
in the 1950’s, portland, oregon, had their very own horror movie hostess – Miss Tarantula Ghoul!!! sure, she was a lame ass rip off of Vampira (the woman who actually BEGAN and invented the whole ‘TV horror host’ schtick in the early 50’s). but, TG had a lot of style on her own. she was …
John Berg died last night. he was the art director of Columbia records through most of the 1960’s and 1970’s. as a result he designed most of the important record covers of the modern era. a small list would include most of the record covers for bob dylan, chicago, neil young , elton john, the …
one more time, i’m posting this amazing record cover. it’s the cover of the LP (issued in 1967, a few months after “sgt. pepper” hit the streets) of the mothers of invention’s “we’re only in it for the money.” the delicious parody of the sgt. pepper cover is beyond cassic. it’s beatles anti-matter. the story …
last wednesday, i was honored to be at a book signing event for a rather momentous and very important little poster book project. scott mcdougall is one of the best experts i’ve ever met on all things psychedelia. his own artwork (he desgned the cover, for instance) is enough to entrench him into the hall …
this is my very favorite MOOG record – The ELECTRIC ECLECTICS of DICK HYMAN (his real name, by the way). stop laughing. i have 3 copies of this (just in case i ever lose one.) this is actually a really great over-the-top MOOG synthesizer recording done by a guy who is a trained jazz musician. …
this is sicks’seattle stadium, a baseball stadium in the rainier valley that was home to seattle’s only baseball team – minor league – for 50 years. they were called the ‘seattle rainiers’ and were funded entirely by the rainier brewing company what was then called “sicks’ brewing company’. it was owned by a guy name …
back in the mid-60’s, there was a huge monster fad. there were two general categories of monsters sold – movie monsters and hot rod monsters. the economic king of the hot rod monsters was ed ‘big daddy’ roth, who promoted a character named “Rat Fink” and a whole family of other assorted ”fink’ monsters. one …
“Hat n’ Boots” was a gas station situated on the old hiway 99 near the Boeing complex south of seattle. as a kid, i remember begging my parents to stop there to buy gas, just so we could go there. it was a giant COWBOY HAT that sold gas! and the restrooms were GIANT COWBOY …
Patsy Cline singing Willie Nelson’s “Crazy” (her biggest hit). in the movie version of her life (her bio/pic) jessica lang never quite “looked right” with that voice coming out of her skull. when you hear the real deal, it makes perfect sense. logic counts for something, still. – Art Chantry Patsy Cline – Crazy by …
we tend to dismiss Toni Basil as a lightweight party gal who had a single lucky hit (“oh mickey”) and then rightfully vanished. sure, it was a catchy tune, but really? it was bubble gum pop trash, right? if that’s all you think Toni Basil ever did, they you don’t know Toni. earliest credits i’ve …
over the decades, there has been an enormous amount of debate over “what is the greatest gigposter of all time?” some talk about elvis or the beatles (like the greatness of the band had anything to do with the greatness of the poster). The Who had amazing posters (try to belittle that infamous “maximum R&B” …
maybe my single favorite Neil Young tune. supposedly written after watching nixon’s resignation speech and then quickly recorded in a single take. a brilliant capture of what the 1970’s FELT like. – Art Chantry
the SONIC BLASTER! (by MARX!) one of the greatest, most dangerous toys ever made. this was a plunger device that would push air out of this plastic barrel with such force that (i guess) it would break the sound barrier. it made a big booming blasting sound like a cannon when you fired it. it …
Robert Frank’s game-changing book THE AMERICANS, published in 1958 by Grove Press (there was a different edition published in france a year earlier with essays many assorted french intellectuals (and cover art by saul steinberg). the american edition had a single essay by jack kerouac. the project itself was funded by a Guggenhiem Grant. what …