// Category Archive for: Retrovirus

Duran Duran, Hammersmith ’82!

By Less Lee Moore

As a longtime Duranie, I remember all too well the anti-Duran Duran sentiments of the 1980s. Duran Duran’s career has now lasted about thirty years and due to the band’s impressive longevity, unique sound, undeniable influence, and general affability, I thought that phase was long past.

After seeing one incredibly nasty comment made about the band recently, I felt almost personally offended, shocked that anyone still clung to such negative thoughts after all this time. Haven’t Duran Duran more than proven themselves by now?

I invite such haters to watch the newly-released Hammersmith ’82! DVD and defy them to feel anything but joy after seeing it.
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The Reality Of Time Travel: Cal Band Alumni Day

By Christian Lipski

General Douglas MacArthur said, “Old soldiers never die; they merely fade away.” Some former Band members can’t even fade away. For them there is Alumni Band Day.
—from The Pride of California: A Cal Band Centennial Celebration

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A Guide For Getting Into: The Tubes

By Matt Keeley

I have many things to thank SCTV for in my life. Mostly, all the great sketch comedy and showing me how it should be done. But there’s something else: my Tubes fandom.
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This Charming Man: Peter Cook in The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer

By Emily Carney

Before alcoholism, various drugs, loose women, and cigarettes took their toll, Peter Cook was perhaps one of the most gorgeous, sought-after men of his generation (oh yeah, he was also exceedingly witty).
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It’s a Mod Mod World

By Noreen Sobczyk

I’ve always had a tradition of becoming obsessed with something. Not obsessed in the peeping-around-in-someone’s-bushes way, nor by writing famous people letters, or boiling some guy’s bunny, but becoming deeply engrossed in one particular thing. Be it music, film, or a book, there’s always something that strikes me and becomes my most prized form of entertainment.

When VCRs were first released I would rent the same videos over and over, never tiring of them. One of the first movies I watched ad nauseum was The Who documentary, The Kids Are Alright. Something about the movie had me hooked, and I particularly enjoyed the early clips, fast forwarding through the fringed Woodstock period.

One word kept getting tossed about: Mods.
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Character Actor In A Movie Star’s Body: Roger Livesey

By Michelle Patterson

Acting isn’t that hard to figure out; either you keep it simple or you make it seem simple without giving away your hand. While I’m not an actor, I do know that as a woman in day-to-day life, I have to be able to become a different woman to different people. This is something we all do; people can tell when we really believe in what we are saying and when we do not. Life is full of performances, which makes it that much easier to decide who is a good actor and who is not. The act itself is invisible and instead of seeing a character, we see a person.
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A Young Person’s Guide To: Powell & Pressburger*

By Chelsea Spear

Who They Are

In the late 1930s, Michael Powell had left banking to study film in the south of France, working his way from lowly production assistant to director of silent films and early talkies. Meanwhile, Emeric Pressburger—a Hungarian émigré—had written screenplays at the legendary Ufa Studio in Germany and in France before settling in London. The pair met as hired hands on Alexander Korda’s 1939 feature Contraband, and spent the following two decades crafting some of the best-loved features to come out of the UK, including The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.
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I’m A Writer, Not A Fighter: The Secret Cult Of Gilbert O’Sullivan

By Emily Carney

Most music fans probably associate Gilbert O’Sullivan with a song called “Alone Again” by Biz Markie from Biz’s 1991 album I Need A Haircut. Markie sampled Gilbert’s 1972 hit, “Alone Again (Naturally),” without securing the necessary copyright clearance to sample the song; O’Sullivan famously sued the living shit out of Markie, and set the legal precedent that all samples had to be cleared with record labels prior to using them. (The Jams/KLF would run into a similar issue when they flagrantly —and hilariously—sampled “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, who were clearly pissed).

While I like Biz Markie, I can safely and proudly announce that I am a bigger fan of Mr. Gilbert O’Sullivan. While many may dismiss his music as early 1970s AM-radio schlock, I see O’Sullivan as the forerunner of singer-songwriters such as Morrissey and Orange Juice’s Edwyn Collins. He truly deserves to have a secret cult following—his music’s appeal transcends mere “hipster-y” trends and inane revivals. (Remember when Tony Bennett did a song with Bad Religion? What the fuck?)
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Big Star, Keep An Eye On The Sky

By Kaye Telle

The mythical proportions of Big Star are hard to deny, so I won’t. Big Star are a treasure worth (re)discovering; they have gems worth seeking out and examining over and over, for years to come.
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Blowfly for Motherfunkin’ President!

By Ann Clarke

Now That’s Class, Cleveland OH
March 14, 2009

Photo © 2009 Julie Finley

Wanna hear something sad? I’ve only been to one concert this year! I love going to concerts, too. I’m usually hired to shoot the live shots for a plethora of them, but every show that has taken a dump through Cleveland has been absolute shit. So shitty, in fact, that I haven’t been motivated to let the shutters go wild. I hate shitty concerts, and that’s all we’ve had in Cleveland since last summer. . . all but the one show I did attend.

That show? Was motherfunkin’ Blowfly! How awesome is that?
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