Flaming Pablum

The Only Living Boy in New York: Exhuming "The World, The Flesh and the Devil"

I made what I'd consider a remarkable discovery this evening, and I thought I'd share it here.

Over the course of the summer, while my wife and kids have been out of town, I've been catching up on my film-watching. Last night, I'm ashamed to say, I finally caught up with seeing Susan Seidelman's "Smithereens" from 1982. I was going to write up something about that this evening, but was stuck by something frankly more noteworthy.

Purely by accident, while searching for some stills from Seidelman's film, I caught a glimpse of a shot from a different movie that totally struck me. It looked like a man standing in the middle of Fifth Avenue surrounded by desolation. I started connecting the dots, and learned that it was a Cold War-era film from 1959 staring Harry Belafonte called, cryptically, "The World, The Flesh and The Devil." I was immediately intrigued.

My parents had a couple of Harry Belafonte records when I was growing up, so I certainly know who he is. In more recent years, he's become a tirelessly outspoken champion of civil rights, and kind of a badass in that capacity. But I wasn't really that aware of his acting career, least of all in an ersatz sci-fi endeavor like this one.

Vividly recalling later films like "Omega Man" and the WIll Smith vehicle "I Am Legend," "The World..." finds Belafonte portraying a miner who gets mysteriously trapped in a cave-in. After several days, he manages to dig himself out, only to find the world drastically changed. While he'd been trapped, there's been some sort of apocalyptic cataclysm, and absolutely no one else is around.

He makes his way to New York City, and, in fairly short order, he gleans that while he was trapped in the mine, the world has suffered a global nuclear conflict, and all the cities have been evacuated. He becomes, quite literally, the only living boy in New York ... or so he thinks (c'mon, you knew that twist was coming).

After a while, Belafonte tires of being desperate and quickly turns resourceful, finding a way to power up a building and restore electricity to the proceedings. After some silly bits, the film starts to get a bit overwrought, although you can't fault Belafonte for doing his best. Suffice to say, he soon finds a couple of other people, but things get complicated after that. There then unspools a well-intentioned albeit clunky subtext about race relations and taboo sexual tension, but it's mighty bold for 1959. Unfortunately, however, it devolves into a racially charged, murderous love triangle saga.

Though essentially an extended "Twilight Zone" episode, the solitude that permeates in the beginning of the film swiftly become convincingly claustrophobic. But what makes this film so striking for me are the on-location shots of Manhattan. The first quarter of the movie is largely relegated to scenes of Harry shouting "HELLO, IT'S ME" through the echoey expanse of countless, empty Manhattan streets.

We're treated to beautiful footage of Battery Park, Wall Street, Madison Square and lower Fifth Avenue (Harry walks right by the Horn & Harrdart that is now the tony Lebanese restaurant, Ilili). The shots of abandoned midtown, Times Square and a rain-soaked and deserted Herald Square are stunning in their execution.

Ultimately, I wanted a little bit more from the film (and a little bit less of the love-triangle plot line), but it's still worth checking out if you have the opportunity.

Then & Now: Union Square West

I was originally going to do a longer piece on this, but my life has been consumed with a relatively severe e-mail problem at work, so all my mental resources are tapped out between trying to convince the IT department that I'm not making it up and stopping myself from curling up into a fetal ball under my desk. Isn't technology wonderful?

In any case, courtesy of Flaming Pablum-favorite artist/filmmaker Karen Gehres, check out this rarified glimpse above of the Union Square West of (circa) 1983. A far cry from its incarnation of today, the strip in question (obviously prior to the arrival of Blue Medal and Coffee Shop), looked a bit, shall we say, sleepier. The skyline is also endearingly devoid of that tower of avarice that is One Madison Park (formerly -- and laughably -- known as "The Saya"). Back in 2008, I colorfully referred to said building as "an artless monolith [that] has sprouted up like some gargantuan, robotic erection." That pretty much still holds true.

Anyway, I tried to replicate Karen's photo on my walk to work earlier this week, but like everywhere else in NYC, Union Square is always bustlingly busy, so a friggin' coffee truck got in my way. I was also standing too close -- I should've snapped it from the park. I suck. Such as it is, for comparison's sake....

Beasties on the Square

If you've spent any meaningful amount of time on this blog, you've doubtlessly encountered an entry or two about New York City's own Beastie Boys, being that I've posted about them countless times (see an incomplete selection of same below). In any case, being that I'm prone to tracking down various bits of arcane Beasties ephemera, when I spied the below photograph on Tumblr not too long back (one I'd never seen before), I couldn't resist sharing it here.

Initially, I considered posting this as yet another photo quiz, thinking of putting it to you -- dear reader -- to name the location wherepon the strikingly youthful Mike D, Ad-Rock, DJ Double-R (as he was then known) and the late Adam "MCA" Yauch are pictured...inexplicably attired in martial arts gear (hey, why not?) But, it's a bit of an easy one, so I figured ... fuck it.

Anyway, probably dating back to about 1985 or so, herewith the Beastie Boys posing in front of 16 Washington Square North, just around the corner from the bottom of Fifth Avenue. I regret that I do not know who snapped this particular photo (anyone? Let me know!)

Given the distinctive ornamentation on the gate behind them and the lattice-laden window details on the door, it was pretty easy to track down the precise location. I live not too far from here and walk by this spot fairly regularly. Witness my weak, hirsute replication below.

You might be thinking: "Hey, but the window on the right in the Beastie photo features an air-conditioner!" Well, true, that it does, but the appliance must have only recently been removed from the window in question, as it still appears in this Google Maps capture. Not for nothing, but 1985 was quite a while ago. Stuff changes.

Here's a bit of period-appropriate music to score this post. Crank it and raise a glass to MCA.

More Beastie Boys stuff on Flaming Pablum:

MCA Day on Charles Street (May, 2013)
Beasties on Broadway (April, 2013)
Back with the Beasties (April, 2013)
Swans are DEF (September, 2012)
Spray Paint the Walls (June, 2012)
The Return of the Flaming Pablum Photo Quiz: SOLVED! (May, 2012)
The Beasties on St. Marks (May, 2012)
Upper Eastie Boys (May, 2012)
Rest in Peace, Adam Yauch (May, 2012)
A Very Beasties Easter (May, 2011)
Filling in Some Blanks (May, 2011) 
Beasties in the Street (February, 2011)
Get Well Soon, MCA (July 2009)
Back to the Boutique (March, 2009)

West 8th Street in `86

Here's just a quick one I spotted on YouTube this evening. Witness this grainy Super 8 film of someone's trip to New York City (departing from Miami) in 1986. Lots of the usual NYC touchstones make cameos, but I was psyched to see some long, slow pans of a now-virtually-unrecognizable stretch of West 8th Street starting at about 04:10 into the cilp, featuring the old 8th Street Playhouse, the original Barnes & Noble location and the Crazy Eddie on the other side of Sixth Avenue. 

It's fleeting, but enjoyable.

Happy Birthday, Elvis

Hey, it’s Elvis Costello’s birthday on Sunday. No longer the "Angry Young Man of the British New Wave," Mr. Costello will be turning 59, if I’m not mistaken. Honestly, I’m just using that as an excuse to post the amazing photograph of him above, cribbed from an old cover of SPY Magazine from the early `90s.

As has been widely reported, Elvis has got an album coming out in September that finds him collaborating with The Roots. While I’m indeed curious to hear that, the picture above always makes me wish Elvis would swing the other way and collaborate with, say, a metal band. I know he’s a stickler for incisive lyric-writing (which is contingent on being able to hear and decipher the lyrics in question, something metal is not always renowned for), but he’s also been capable in the past of shouting over the top of some feisty, clangy guitars. Why not up the ante? Why not team-up with his fellow countrymen in Motorhead? Surely he and Lemmy have met by this point, no? Just a thought.

Anyhoo, not holding my breath for that. Herewith, then, are my twenty favorite Elvis Costello tracks. Not too many wild cards in the batch, but see if you agree. I kinda tapered off after 1988’s Spike…

1. "Beyond Belief"
2. "(What's So Funny)`Bout Peace, Love & Undertanding?" (yes, I'm aware Nick Lowe wrote this)
3. "Lipstick Vogue"
4. "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down"
5. "Goon Squad"
6. "I Hope You're Happy Now"
7. "Let Him Dangle"
8. "So Like Candy"
9. "Seven Day Weekend"
10. "Clean Money"
11. "I'm Not Angry"
12. "This Year's Girl"
13. "Little Palaces"
14. "Lip Service"
15. "High Fidelity"
16. "The Loved Ones"
17. "Welcome to the Working Week"
18. "...This Town..."
19. "Pump It Up"
20. "I Want You"

fuck it... 21. "New Lace Sleeves" 

Herbie's Manhattan

It must have been fate.

Earlier this evening, I was enjoying a rant from a rock-writer friend on Facebook. Phil wrote: 

I've written a lot of dumb shit over the years. But Jonah Bromwich, via the AV Club, has written some of the dumbest shit I've ever read. First, he asserts that Future Shock is "arguably [Herbie] Hancock's best album." All I can really say in response to that is: Really? Quick: Name five more Herbie Hancock albums. Hell, name three songs from Future Shock besides "Rockit." Then, because he hasn't quite proved himself a completely irredeemable dumbass yet, he claims that Hancock's "aggressive experimentation in the realms of electro-funk and jazz can be seen as a direct antecedent to the lush productions of Steely Dan"...who recorded from 1972 to 1980, breaking up three years before Future Shock was released. Where do these people come from, and can we send them back there, please?

To his point, I offered that Herbie Hancock's score to "Blow-Up" (featuring "Bring Down the Birds," its opening hook later sampled by Dee-Lite for "Groove Is in the Heart") takes a giant shit over his early MTV stuff. By the same token, I'm not exactly an expert on the ouevre of the storied jazz musician/composer, so I should probably shut the hell up about it as well.

Strangely, about two seconds later, I scrolled down my Facebook feed and found the video below, posted by Dirty Old 1970's NYC.

Here's a clip of Herbie Hancock's "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" (from his 1975 album Man-Child) scoring a montage of gritty NYC footage that looks like it was culled from films like "Marathon Man," "The French Connection," "Taxi Driver" et al. (not at all unlike the films featuring here).

In any case, it's righteously groovy. Do check it out.

 

Cross Another Off the List: Bleecker Street Records

The word on this one started circulating a while back, but it looks like it's now official. As reported this morning on Jeremiah Moss' Vanishing New York, Bleecker Street Records on ... wait for it... Bleecker Street, is finally closing its doors. 

All's not lost, though. It's evidently moving to a new space on West 4th Street between Jones and Barrow. So, that's good news.

Prior to its incarnation as Bleecker Street Records, it was actually a (must dustier) spot called Golden Disc. I picked up a few titles there over the years. Golden Disc had the strange habit of putting all their stock in these yellowed, translucent plastic envelopes. Thus, even if it was a brand-spankin' new release, it looked ancient. 

 

As Bleecker Street Records (pictured here... with my kids earlier this year), it was a much more orderly affair. They weren't really my go-to for the far-flung fare, but they had a decent selection and a large-if-unwieldly collection of used stuff.

I wonder what will come to occupy that address when it's gone. Place your bets.

Happy Birthday, Joe Strummer

Originally, I wasn’t going to put up a post about it being Joe Strummer’s birthday. That’s kinda what Facebook is for these days. But then I stumbled upon the two photos below (neither of which I’d spied before), and they were both so thematically suited to Flaming Pablum (however indefinable that might seem), that I thought I should share them.

First up, check out this lovely shot of our Joseph lounging by a hydrant. This was taken circa 1983 by one Dave Hogan. Anybody care to name the corner? I’ll be gobsmacked if you can. I’m going to guess my own neighborhood and say it’s just by the corner of East 9th and University Place, in front of what is now that Korean deli, but I’m very probably wrong.

Next up is one I just randomly spotted on Tumblr, and given that it’s captioned in the lower right hand corner, it looks to have come from a British music periodical like Q or Mojo. In any case, here’s Mr. Strummer – again in NYC, supposedly circa 1978. Eagle-eyed NYC-spotters will notice that Joe appears to be standing in front of Carmine Street’s House of Oldies, an age-old vinyl emporium I left off of my recent vanished-record-store-rundown as it’s unbelievably still there!

Speaking of things Strummer-related that, sadly like Joe himself, are not still there, the memorial mural of Joe that long-adorned the north-facing wall of Niagra’s bar overlooking Tompkins Square Park was blasted away earlier this week, but it is purportedly to be restored at some point “by artists” (as opposed to who? Ocelots? Plumbers? The Illuminati?) In any event, that’s a bit of good news. Herewith my former tribute to the beloved mural.

Lastly, instead closing with a Clash video, herewith Joe’s finest hour (in my opinion) as a thesbian, playing Johnny the despondent British ex-pat and rockabilly aficionado in Jim Jarmusch’s “Mystery Train.” Check your guns at the bar & raise a glass to Joe!

Where The Music Lived: REMIX

Okay, last one of these for a while ... I promise.

A reader recently wrote in response to my vanished-record-store-round-up from a little while back. Arem wrote:

I know they are out of your areas of musical interest, but there were loads of independent hip-hop, dance, and reggae record stores back in the day that have vanished as well. RIP to Fat Beats, Beat Street, Breakbeat Science, Sound Library, Eightball Records, Dance Tracks, Heartbeat Records, Jammyland, Dub Spot, Coxsone's Music City and many others I'm forgetting.

Well, as I cited in this first follow-up, my little rundown was by no means an authoritatively complete list, and as Arem correctly asserts, my list was largely confined to my own areas of interest (i.e. that which rawks). He’s right, though, there’s been a load of shops that specialized in jazz, dance music and hip-hop and reggae that have gone the way of all flesh. I did indeed stop in fairly routinely at Eightball on East 9th street (now a Korean restaurant), and bought a bunch of flight cases for my vinyl there. And I did write a fleeting eulogy to Fat Beats off West 8th Street (pictured above).

I stopped into Jammyland once or twice, but I’m a total reggae dilettante. Jammyland, of course, later turned into the hive of black metal that was Hospital Productions, but that's gone now too. I never set foot in Dance Trax, alas.

I’ll say this, though: If you’re a fan of dance music and hip hop, you should get yourself to Rock & Soul (pictured beneath from god knows when). Not a lot of my type of crap, but an impressive sprawl otherwise, and amazingly still there (on 35th street on 7th Avenue).

Dronin' Downtown

I have no real idea what the Phantom in question is, although I'm guessing it's a remote-controlled min-copter with a camera (or "drone," for those of you who like to get riled-up). In any case, the footage of our own lovely NYC is quite compelling.

FIRST FLIGHT OF THE PHANTOM from Nicolas Doldinger on Vimeo.