Just finished watching...

...the mini-series "Pistol" by director Danny Boyle.

This entertaining look at the formation of punk's most influential and recognizable band, The Sex Pistols was directed by Boyle ("Trainspotting," 28 Days," "Slum Dog Millionaire") who lived through this period in England and can helm such a rock and roll biopic with knowledge. The series is based on The Sex Pistols' guitarist Steve Jones' 2017 autobiography LONLEY BOY: TALES FROM A SEX PISTOL and features Toby Wallace as Jones. While it is fun to see Wallace and fellow actors Anson Boon as Johnny Rotten, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Christian Lees as Glen Matlock, and Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, what I found particularly delightful is seeing actors portray the people in The Pistols' orbit...we get to see Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Malcolm McLaren, Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood, Maisie Williams as Jordan. We even get to see flashes of Siouxsie Sioux, Soo Catwman, Billy Idol, and Pete Farndon. And regular readers will know that I am a fan of fashion and fashion history so of course it was a thrill to see Westwood and McLaren's shops recreated: first as Sex, then later rechristened Seditionaries, down to the correct lighting and graffiti on the walls.

If you know this part of rock and roll and cultural history, it's fun to see these references, but I will acknowledge that if you are younger and not familiar, the series does not do a great job of giving you clues as to who these peripheral people are much less delving into the social, economic, and political conditions that gave rise to a movement such as Punk. I guess that can be seen as both a flaw but also a feature in that Boyle and crew and cast simply recreated, understanding that this particular incarnation of the story of The Sex Pistols was not for a deep anthropological study. What we do get is a fast-paced romp through the early days, formation, and rise of the band, told in six episodes, each titled "Track:______" and bearing the name of one of The Sex Pistols' songs. And each actor does a wonderful and thorough job of capturing, through voice and body and facial mannerisms, exactly who each of these historical musical figures were.

Recommend? Yep, great fun. Like I said, if you know the history (or were around for it like I was), dive right in and enjoy. If not, you might want to do a little concurrent research to pick up on the events and personalities that go flying by.

https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/pistol

BEAUTY: Men In Make-Up

I do love a smokey eye on a man, but these fashion-forward make-up looks are more post-apocalyptic/future dystopian tribal war paint by way of Goths and Apaches than anything else. Make-up as mask. Make-up as marking.

Many of these looks remind me greatly of the black stripe Daryl Hannah as Pris the android sprays over her eyes in the 1982 sci-fi film "Blade Runner," the first time we had seen such an application...soon followed by Malcolm McLaren's Buffalo Gals (via Vivienne Westwood's "Nostalgia of Mud" collection) in the video for his song "Buffalo Gals," and then finally on Annie Lennox in 1992 when she dueted with David Bowie on "Under Pressure" for the Freddie Mercury Tribute.

BEAUTY: Clothing--Vivienne Westwood

For her Spring Summer '13 collection at Milano Moda Uomo, Dame Westwood--and her husband Andreas Kronthaler who works closely with her on the menswear collection--looked to familiar territory. "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" was the inspiration, both the original 1863 Manet painting and the infamous Malcolm McLaren-helmed Bow Wow Wow recreation (in which the group wore--or didn't wear in Annabella's case--pieces from Westwood's "Pirate" collection).

This rather tame Westwood collection (tame by comparison to past collections), instead of feeling "Pirate-y" or period-themed, simply felt idyllic with breezy tops and sweaters, and trousers with a little slit in the front at the hem! Perhaps it is the floral crowns but I am getting a sort of Greek-toga vibe. And thankfully, the cut of a Westwood suit remains a marvel.

And Kronthaler sweetly walked Westwood down the aisle for a bow...

On her YouTube channel, Dame Westwood says:
"Francis who designs with me and Andreas on MAN and who has to get the thing moving came to us and admitted that he was using the idea 'picnic' as a working title, an anchor to fix decisions.

I thought: why not? We can re-cycle the grass stain and wine stain prints and the insects from previous summer collections.

We remembered Manet's 'Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe' with its bohemian and artistic atmosphere and Manet's naked model, Victorine. As to why she has her clothes off is a mystery but we coloured the collection according to the blue of her discarded dress.

But England owns picnics; fun on the grass and the rain stays away and for example there is Glyndebourne where the opera- lovers take their hampers on the train to sit in their evening clothes on the lawn before the opera and at the interval."

http://www.viviennewestwood.co.uk/

R.I.P. Malcolm McLaren

We have lost more creativity. The great impresario, stylist, artist, and fearless provocateur Malcolm McLaren died today in Switzerland after a lengthy battle with mesothelioma. He was 64.

He and Vivienne Westwood single-handedly changed the course of world pop culture forever. Read his fascinating biography here.
Despite the fact that he invented the snarling, ferocious musical genre known as "punk rock," and despite the fact that he surrounded himself with the likes of Johnny "Rotten" and Sid "Vicious," for me, Malcolm seemed like a delighted little boy, full of a kind of naiveté, almost giddily happy, and ready to make a fool out of himself at any moment. His musical career is peppered with lyrics and performances from him that could be considered "corny," but which I find totally endearing and mesmerizing for the fact that he appeared fearless and without any self-consciousness; he simply flung himself into whatever it was he dreamt up and I admire that. McLaren was a "conceptual collage artist" who threw cultures, fashion, lifestyles, art, and music together and found joy and artful expression in both the similarities and the differences of all the elements in the mix. A good example is his debut release, Duck Rock which treated all "folk music" as one, whether it was African music from Soweto, square dancing music from the Appalachians, hip-hop music form Brooklyn, or voudoun drumming from Haiti.
Take a moment to honor McLaren with two of his videos. In this first video for "Madame Butterfly (Un Bel Di Vedremo)," his glorious version of the classic aria "Un bel di..." from the opera Madama Butterfly by Puccini, melancholy models languish in a steamy, beautiful hammam. This track is from McLaren's 1984 conceptual release Fans, a collection of interpretations of classic operas.

And this video, "Paris Paris," is from his release Paris, a wistful and deeply passionate love letter to the City of Light. It features the elegantly beautiful Catherine Deneuve and has a distinct North African flavor, to reflect the North African immigrant influence on Parisian culture.

The New Romantics

New Romanticism was a music and fashion movement in the early 1980s. Grown out of a reaction to the hardness and anger of punk, the New Romantics, male and female, were eager to wear make-up, dress up in exotic clothing, look glamorous, and dance. The movement expressed itself in many ways. The look was inspired by many different eras and cultures such as the Victorians, the Goths, the “Noble Savage” (which is how Native Americans were thought of in England in the early 1800s, when engravings and accounts of Native cultures were making their way back to the UK), Pirates, the Edwardians, 1920s-30s glamour, film noir of the 1940s, and a touch of space-agey science fiction. Musically, the sound was the opposite of punk: taking the opulent sound of electronic/ synth-pop as a base, some bands added elements such as horn or string sections. The music was richer than punk, more ornate…and certainly dance oriented. Some groups chose to emulate a somewhat tribal sound to accompany the “Noble Savage” look.

Adam and the Ants had two drummers to recreate a sonorous, thrumming African percussion sound. Here, in “Stand and Deliver,” Adam is seen in his Levantine Pirate/ Highwayman/ Fierce Indian Warrior incarnation, hence the tri-corner hat, braided vest, cape and adorned braids in his hair. The white stripe under his eyes is a mark used by Apache warriors going into battle.

“Prince Charming” featured a dandified version of Adam’s previous incarnation, only this time with brocade, satin, velvet and gold lamé. The Native American war paint is still there, but is now “prettified” with the more feminine eye make-up. The sound is still inspired by tribal music and the legendary British bombshell Diana Dors makes a cameo appearance as his Fairy Godmother.

Ultravox, fronted by the amazing tenor Midge Ure, featured a cold, rich, mysterious dance sound. In this highly cinematic video for their nearly-operatic song “The Thin Wall,” the New Romantic interest in the 1930s and 40s can clearly be seen.

The puppet master and creator of Bow Wow Wow was Malcolm McLaren, the musicality came from Leigh Gorman the bass player, and the charm came from lead singer Anabella Lwin (born Mayant-Mayant Aye in Burma) who was only 14 when the band started. The look was conceived by fashion genius and McLaren’s partner, Vivienne Westwood, who exclusively used pieces from her tribal, swashbuckling, heroic collection “Pirate.” Musically, they share a lot with Adam and the Ants (Bow Wow Wow was once Adam’s band) in terms of a percussion-heavy sound based in Native/ African cultures.

Duran Duran were merely one of the biggest musical acts of the 1980s but their roots are firmly in New Romance. Donned in pirate shirts, ruffles and sashes, they were the house band for the Rum Runner nightclub in Birmingham. With a slick and sleek synthesizer sound and Nick Rhodes’ heavily mascara-ed eyes, they were an exciting phenomenon. First up is the original video for “Planet Earth” which has a great example of a couple performing a particular New Romantic dance style that was immensely popular. Next is an alternate video for "Planet Earth" featuring footage of Duran playing their first gig at the Rum Runner back in 1980!

Visage and its clothes-horse front man Steve Strange, with his penchant for drawing hieroglyphs and unusual symbols on his heavily made up face, were at the epicenter of it all. He ran Blitz, a London nightclub—seen here in this video for the eponymous song “Visage”—where all the fashionable New Romantics gathered, and were therefore known as Blitz Kids. A sweeping, Romantically lush dance sound, bolero hats and white gloves… ah, glamorous...