Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Radio on the way home from radio: Can't get the KSRF Drama Hour in the Empire, stopped at some emo on what turned out to be Radio Disney, followed by H. Duff's "Our Lips Are Sealed," which is kinda great. She doesn't do anything but preserve Belinda's phrasing ("sigh-eh-lence"), but there are new countermelodies behind her; heavy guitar sound, surely some dweeb with plug-ins. Don't know if it was a compression effect, but I could barely make out the drum track, which gave the whole an almost orchestral feel. Bridge seems to have be reharmonized, I'll have to get used to it. Hell of a lot better than the updated "Let's Get Together" from the Parent Trap remake a few years back. Then a bleh remake of "We Got The Power" (the '80s are persistent, no?), so went over to KPFK, which comes into range around Altadena. I discovered a few weeks ago that Bill Gardner now has Tuesday nights. 6 or 7 years ago, he did two wonderful shows on KPCC before it went all talk, Rhythm & Blues Times Capsule and Rhapsody In Black. First place I ever really heard Wynonie Harris, Clyde McPhatter, Ruth Brown, plus a great deal of jump blues and doo-wop. Highlight of the 20 mins. I caught: Bull Moose Jackson's "Bow-Legged Woman." Filthy; I can't remember the lines exactly, but the rhyme-words give you the idea: "straddle/battle/saddle/tattle."
~~~
[reconstruction b]
Last week, saw a program of Yves Klein-related material at American Cinematheque, not finished films so much as footage/documentation of gallery openings, actions, his (very Catholic) wedding. Found myself next to Marjorie Perloff in line, who looked at me as though she thought she'd seen me somewhere, so I reminded her of where. Friendly; I do not believe that she knows that I am (even rarely) 'a poet.' Before the screening, the Frenchman who had come over to help organize the related Klein show elsewhere in town (haven't been yet) told us that since the films were silent, and since the pianist hadn't shown up, he had taken the liberty of pairing them with California surf music of roughly the same period! So we watched the naked ladies paint themselves International Klein Blue (well, the first half of the program was b&w) to the tune of "Mr. Moto," "Perfidio," and lesser-known selections. There were some calls to turn it off, one I think from Prof. Perloff, but this didn't happen until much later. Me, I loved it. At one point (once the color portion had begun), after a long passage of blue, blue, blue, a spongy red form appeared -- and received a sizeable ovation.
~~~
[reconstruction b]
Last week, saw a program of Yves Klein-related material at American Cinematheque, not finished films so much as footage/documentation of gallery openings, actions, his (very Catholic) wedding. Found myself next to Marjorie Perloff in line, who looked at me as though she thought she'd seen me somewhere, so I reminded her of where. Friendly; I do not believe that she knows that I am (even rarely) 'a poet.' Before the screening, the Frenchman who had come over to help organize the related Klein show elsewhere in town (haven't been yet) told us that since the films were silent, and since the pianist hadn't shown up, he had taken the liberty of pairing them with California surf music of roughly the same period! So we watched the naked ladies paint themselves International Klein Blue (well, the first half of the program was b&w) to the tune of "Mr. Moto," "Perfidio," and lesser-known selections. There were some calls to turn it off, one I think from Prof. Perloff, but this didn't happen until much later. Me, I loved it. At one point (once the color portion had begun), after a long passage of blue, blue, blue, a spongy red form appeared -- and received a sizeable ovation.
