R.I.P. Rik Mayall

So sad to hear that Rik Mayall passed away today, so many of his characters kept me and my mates laughing through school in the 80’s. Mayall and the Comic Strip were our equivalent of the Pythons with episodes replayed on video and recounted word for word in the playground the next day.

Many of his lines are still used around our house to this day (‘hands up who likes me?’ ‘answer that and stay fashionable’, ‘get down and groove, we dance all day in this house’) and characters like Rick – the People’s Poet, Colin Grigson (in Bad News) and Lord Flashheart (in Blackadder) are timeless.

Bad News Tour and More Bad News are two of my all time favourite musical comedies so I’ve dug out their records in his honour, scanned some sleeves and will be listening and watching tonight.

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‘Giant’ 12″ plug and ‘Soul Mining’ Q&A

Nice to run across a little plug for The The’s ‘GIANT’ 12″ I share billing with in the latest issue of Classic Pop magazine (issue 11, Kate Bush cover). For all those who remember Smash Hits from back in the day and yearn to break free of the endless rehashing of the Beatles/Stones/Who/Dylan/Zeppelin pop/rock mafia in the other music monthlies – this is the mag for you. Not as lightweight as Smash Hits but not as nerdy as Record Collector, it finds a fine balance between in-depth interviews, retrospective pieces, current reviews and where are they now and what have they been up to news.

In other The The news (try saying that when pissed) it’s only 3 weeks until I get to quiz Matt Johnson about the making of ‘Soul Mining’ over at Rough Trade East on June 30th. The same day sees the release of the 30th anniversary edition of the album of the same name. You can find out more info here.

Richard Williams’ ‘The Golden Rule’


Last Sunday I was lucky enough to see the 1992 work print of Richard Williams‘ life’s work, ‘The Thief & The Cobbler’ at the BFI on the Southbank. To make the occasion even more special, the man himself was on hand to present it and answer questions, something he’d been reluctant to do for over 20 years since the film was taken, unfinished, from him by the studio and bastardised into not one but two flop versions of his great vision. It’s a long but fascinating story which ends in tragedy and is best told via the Wiki article here or Kevin Schreck‘s documentary ‘Persistence of Vision’.

In conversation with film critic David Robinson after the showing Williams was in fine form, laughing and joking about events during and after the film’s premature end. Several animators and people who worked on the film were present in the audience and he was at pains to mention as many of them as possible. Sadly because of the time that had passed since the film’s abrupt halt, several of the more elderly animators had died and Williams himself is now 81. There was a sense of closure about the showing, with the audience all willing a visibly moved Williams to shakily get through his list of thankyous before the film commenced.

The film itself was incredible to see on the big screen and at a fairly decent quality even though certain scenes were unfinished and shown via basic pencil animations or even story boards. The sound was also unfinished but most of the voice work was in place even if the music featured placeholders or rough drafts. You got a sense of the story and there were several new sequences that I’ve never see before in the various different versions floating around the web.
The incredible war machine sequence near the end was just breathtaking to behold, surely one of the greatest long-form animated sequences ever created. The pace of a lot of the animation was far slower than would be acceptable in today’s ADD world but this added to its charm and the humour was light but cutting. Had it of emerged at the time, after the spectacle of William’s other great work, ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, it would have looked like little else seen before. Since more than 20 years has now passed you can see that ‘inspiration’ had been very liberally taken from it for the animated version of ‘Aladdin’ that Disney released some years later.


After the showing and a rather large applause, Williams took to the stage with Robinson and went through a number of anecdotes connected to the film before engaging in a Q&A with the audience. He was at pains to point out that this version of the film was only the last version they had before all the footage was repossessed, and not a very good quality copy at that. He revealed that his wife had sent the film to an overnight copy house to get a dub of the footage they had in the order that was assembled at the time. In this interview with London Calling he expands further on how the showing came about:

“The Academy wanted to screen my cut of the not quite finished ‘The Thief and the Cobbler’. With their help we reconstructed the work-print as it was on the day we had to abandon the film in 1992. Which is why we’ve called this version ‘The Thief and the Cobbler: A Moment in Time’. The whole film is there in good working order with all the amazing voices including Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims from the ‘Carry On’ films, and the legendary Vincent Price.”

During the session he recounted some of his battles with the studio and how it had affected him afterwards. When asked about why he hadn’t spoken about it he replied that, “when that happens to you, the last thing you want to do is talk about it”. Talking about surrounding himself with the best people in the business so that he could be sure they could be relied on to get on with the job he told a story he’d heard concerning a jazz musician with a drunk guitarist. On finding the inebriated player shortly before a show and realising that he wouldn’t be up to the job he hissed at him, “Don’t fuck with my hustle”, and this appeared to be his attitude to anyone who worked for him who couldn’t pull their weight.

Best of all was a seemingly throwaway comment he made when talking about the control studios exert over their charges once the finance is in place. Summing up probably a lifetime of experience at the hands of the moneymen and relevant to virtually any area of the industry where creativity is involved: “You know what the Golden Rule is, don’t you?” he asked the audience, “The one with the gold, makes the rules”

Many thanks to Mark Nicholson (aka Osymyso) for not only getting me a ticket but for taking these photos during the event. For more behind the scenes info on the original production of ‘The Thief…’ take a look at this blog, written by some of the original animators and creatives involved in making it.

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‘The Search Engine’ returns to Dome Club

My 360º fulldome presentation, ‘The Search Engine’, returns to Dome Club at a new location this summer – the Q Club Complex, Birmingham. There will be three showings – all playbacks, I won’t be present – during July, August and September.

Tickets are £10 or £8 concessions and this will be in the new portable dome they have acquired which means viewers can lie on the floor for the best experience.

Dates and ticket links: 18th July /   15th August /    19th September

Frankie’s ‘Two Tribes’ 30 years old today

Frankie Goes To Hollywood‘s ‘Two Tribes’ – one of the greatest pop singles of the 80’s and certainly one of the greatest 12″ mixes of all time – was released 30 years ago today. June 4th saw a 7″ and 12″ finally burst the bubble of expectation that ‘Relax’ had inflated after its 5 week run at the no.1 spot despite a BBC ban.

Six days later on June 10th ‘Two Tribes’ was also sitting at no.1 and would remain bedded in for another nine weeks with ‘Relax’ returning to the no.2 spot for a couple of those too. The 7″ and 12″ would be joined by three further 12″s, all sporting remixes of the title track or its B side, a cover of Edwin Starr‘s ‘War’, as well as 7″ and 12″ picture discs and a cassette compiling excerpts from all.

Add to that the phenomenon of the ‘Frankie Say’ T-shirts that swept the nation that summer and you had a roller coaster of pop product that no one could have predicted. Over on my ArtofZTT blog I’ve been adding sleeves, posters, adverts and picture discs daily to celebrate along with various quotes and info about the releases.

The ‘Inside The Pleasuredome’ box set I helped design is looking good at 83% funded over on Pledge Music and I’m waiting on the go ahead to post more photos from it. Over on his Failed Muso blog Rob Puricelli has written a great piece about the anniversary of ‘Two Tribes‘ and how it impacted on him as a teen in the 80’s, so much of it rings true to my experience too but he puts it so much better.

shortly after Thursday Afternoon…

Went to an event at Brian Eno‘s studio last Thursday evening and on the way I found this Pop Annual from 1974 in the local book exchange with 4 pages about the man himself. Thinking that this was an Eno-esque bit of chance and how funny it would be to show it to him 40 years after the fact, I bought it. Managed to get him to sign it whilst chatting about his comedy turn interviewing himself in the guise of Dick Flash in an old promo video. I have now officially met God and obtained his autograph.

 

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Dust & Grooves book launch in London this Friday

Friday May 23rd, Dust and Grooves along with Wah Wah 45s, Ninja Tune, MixCloud, Dewar’s + Classic Album Sundays celebrates the release of  their book (released today!) at the Proud Archivist in East London.

DJ’s include: myself, Ollie Teeba, Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy, Jonny Trunk, Kid Dyno, Dom Servini, and Sheila B. They’ve just held parties in Amsterdam and Paris but now it’s our turn – more info here.

Also for those who can’t make it there will be a gathering up at the Vinyl Library in Islington on Sunday 25th from 3-9pm – info here.

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Kid Acne ‘The Return’ exhibition Galo Art Gallery, Turin

Kid Acne‘s ‘The Return’ solo exhibition just opened last weekend in Turin, Italy. Here are some photos from the opening and a film of him at work. The show runs until July 5th and is held at the Galo Art Gallery.

The entire exhibition focuses on his Stabby Women characters – adding new paintings, illustrations and prints to the ongoing body of work, which continues to explore the travels, rituals and mythology of these enigmatic female warriors.

KID ACNE from Tom Sykes on Vimeo.

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Hellboy 20th art show @ the Hero Complex Gallery

Seeing as it’s Free Comic Book Day tomorrow I’ll be posting a little more than usual about related events over the coming week. Another exhibition that just opened is this celebration of 20 Years of Hellboy by artists both professional and amateur.
It’s on at the Hero Complex Gallery in LA from today and you can see more examples of art here plus everything goes up for sale tomorrow .



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Dust & Grooves UK Book Launch, London May 23rd

It’s London’s turn to host Eilon Paz for the launch of the Dust & Grooves book in the UK with an exhibition, signing and guest DJs playing all vinyl sets on May 23rd. After the successful US launch on Record Store Day, April 19th we get the release in Europe a month later on May 20th.

Check out Ollie Teeba, Jonny Trunk, Dom Servini, Coleen Murphy, Kid Dyno and Sheila B spinning for free and enter a raffle to win a copy of the book at The Proud Archivist gallery in Hackney from 6pm. Unfortunately, due to a prior booking of the ‘3-Way Mix’ down in Southampton, I can’t be there otherwise I’d be joining that line up in a second.

There’s more info here and I’m currently working on editing an interview I did with cover star Mr Scruff that didn’t make the book deadline to appear on the D&G website for the launch. See a film of the launch party in Brooklyn below to get a taste of what will be happening and don’t forget to put aside a few hours to visit the Dust & Grooves website.


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Dust & Grooves limited edition book – a look inside

The Dust and Grooves Limited Edition Book from Dust & Grooves on Vimeo.

LIMITED EDITION. Signed and numbered edition of 400. Includes:
* Signed and numbered copy. Edition of 400.
* Slipcase cover with blind de-boss and red foil stamping.
* Original 8.5×11 inch print, printed on matt archival photo paper.
* The Dust & Grooves photo mosaic poster.
Hard Cover, 416 pages, matt art paper.
Only available on the Dust & Grooves online store.

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Trevor Jackson’s new exhibition in Paris


Trevor Jackson has a new exhibition opening today in Paris called ‘yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever’. It focuses on microscopic photography of some of his favourite records, zooming into the grooves and then blowing the images up to a huge scale.

This project has been gestating for years now, I remember it being featured in the Japanese +81 magazine over 5 years back. He’s finally found a home for it though at 12 Mail in Paris and has produced a soundtrack made from the records he’s photographed. There is a 500 copy 12″ and poster available at the show and it runs until the middle of May.

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