Author: DC (Page 98 of 1086)

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The Rock ’n’ Roll Camp for Girls builds girls self-esteem through music creation and performance. Providing workshops and technical training, we create leadership opportunities, cultivate a supportive community of peers and mentors, and encourage social change and the development of life skills.

Q: Do I have to like rock music?

A: NO! Rock ‘n’ Roll is in our name but we support all the ways girls want to “rock” whatever that means to them!
We teach, listen to and love all sorts of music from rock to hip hop, jazz to folk, pop to punk! Campers often invent their own genres for the week like “songs about trees” and “I dont care, I’m just here to have fun!”

Q: Do you offer Financial Aid?

A: YES! Our Financial Aid is based on need. We try very hard to make sure Camp is accessible to all girls! Please visit the application page to download our Financial Aid form.

Q: Do I have to bring my own instrument?

A: NO! We can lend you one. We have everything you need to learn your instrument, practice with your band and play a show! But our supply of equipment is limited so you are welcome and encouraged to bring your own equipment and accessories if you have them. We also have a no-cost instrument loan program for basses, guitars and keyboards. Rock Camp has plenty of drum sets, amps, cords and DJ records you can use while you are here, but these do not typically get checked out. We can also refer you to some rental shops and music stores around town.

Q: Whats Rock Camp like?

A:

 

 

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The Paris Sisters
‘The Paris Sisters bridged the gap separating the traditional vocal pop of the post-World War II era from the equally generation-defining girl group sound that emerged in the wake of rock & roll. By the 1961 release of their Phil Spector-produced breakthrough “I Love How You Love Me,” the siblings were already longtime veterans of the music business. Albeth (the oldest), Sherrell (the middle child), and Priscilla Paris (the baby) were born and raised in San Francisco. Their mother, Faye, was the quintessential stage parent, a former opera singer who continued her career vicariously through her children. The Paris Sisters got their start singing and dancing at local Air Force showcases, and circa 1953 they made their recorded debut. Although their records fared poorly, The Paris Sisters toured relentlessly, appearing at county fairs, USO showcases, and even in Las Vegas, casino performances made possible with the aid of falsified birth certificates, makeup, and padded bras.’ — collaged

‘What Am I to Do’ (1962)

 

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Reparata and the Delrons
‘The Delrons started out as a quartet in 1962 at St. Brendan’s Catholic School in Brooklyn, New York, led by lead singer Mary Aiese, who subsequently billed herself as Reparata after Sister Reparata, one of her school teachers. The other originals were Nanette Licari, Regina Gallagher and Anne Fitzgerald, but they were soon replaced by Sheila Reilly, Carol Drobnicki, and (initially) Cathy Romeo. The group were spotted by record producers Bill and Ted Jerome, who recorded them in 1964 first for Laurie Records, and then on the Ernie Maresca song “Whenever a Teenager Cries” on the World Artists label. This became a regional hit but failed to reach the national top 40, a pattern repeated by its follow-up, “Tommy”. However, the trio toured nationally with Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars, and the group’s name became widely known. This song sounds as if it was inspired by “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire, which was a recent hit at the time.’ — last.fm

‘Take A Look Around You’ (1965)

 

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The Daughters of Eve
‘The Daughters of Eve are an all-girl-band first formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1965. The Daughters of Eve are famous for singing and playing their own instruments on pop rock hits rather than using a backing band, as most female performers did in the days of early garage bands. They are particularly known for their international hits, Hey Lover, Stand By Me, Help Me Boy, Symphony of My Soul, Don’t Waste My Time, He Cried, Social Tragedy and A Thousand Stars. The band was managed by Chicago Radio icon, Carl Bonafede (The Screaming Wildman), also known for introducing the Buckinghams to teenage audiences everywhere.’ — DoE

‘Hey Lover’ (1965)

 

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The Shangri-Las
‘Along with the Shirelles and the Ronettes, the Shangri-Las were among the greatest girl groups; if judged solely on the basis of attitude, they were the greatest of them all. They combined an innocent adolescent charm with more than a hint of darkness, singing about dead bikers, teenage runaways, and doomed love affairs as well as ebullient high-school crushes. These could be delivered with either infectious, handclapping harmonies or melodramatic, almost operatic recitatives that were contrived but utterly effective. Tying it all together in the studio was Shadow Morton, a mad genius of a producer who may have been second in eccentric imagination only to Phil Spector in the mid-’60s. Even today, the Shangri-Las’ history remains somewhat murky and mysterious; the original members have rarely reunited for oldies shows or talked to the press.’ — allmusic

‘He Cried’ (1966)

 

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The Shaggs
‘The Shaggs were an American rock band formed in Fremont, New Hampshire, in 1965. They comprised the sisters Dorothy “Dot” Wiggin (vocals and lead guitar), Betty Wiggin (vocals and rhythm guitar), Helen Wiggin (drums) and, later, Rachel Wiggin (bass guitar). Their music has been described as both among the worst of all time and a work of unintentional brilliance. The Shaggs composed seemingly simple and bizarre songs using untuned guitars, erratic time signatures, disconnected rhythms, wandering melodies and rudimentary lyrics. According to Rolling Stone, the sisters sang like “lobotomized Trapp Family Singers”, while the musician Terry Adams compared their music to the free jazz compositions of Ornette Coleman.’ — Wikipedia

‘My Pal Foot Foot’ (1969)

 

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She
‘Driven by the slinky, unhurried pulse of Sally’s bass and Nancy’s taunting cool, She’s sound falls somewhere between psychedelic pop and garage rock. It’s at once dreamy and grounded by grit—head in the clouds while boots insistently stomp the floor. Which isn’t to say they couldn’t write a memorable pop hook, too (She wrote all their music and lyrics, as well as played their own instruments). The raw, Farfisa-driven “Like a Snake” ostensibly takes the familiar form of an early girl-group “advice song” (like the Marvelettes’ “Too Many Fish in the Sea”), as it warns the female listener of a smooth-talking bad boy’s tricks, but both the sound and lyrics (“All the girls he makes get the shivers and the shakes when he moves … like a snake”) were much coarser than any ’60s girl-group song I’d heard. “Da Doo Ron Ron” this was not.’ — Lindsay Zoladz

‘Like a snake’ (1969)

 

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Fanny
‘Fanny, the original “Godmothers of Chick Rock” were the first all-female rock band to be signed to a major label. They toured from 1970-1975, wrote and arranged their own songs, released five albums, and had a number of international hit singles. But most importantly, they played hundreds of fantastic live concerts for thousands and thousands of fans and were instrumental in founding the modern world of women in rock. Many major women rock artists – from Joan Jett to Girlschool to Courtney Love and many, many more – were able to get to the top because Fanny broke down the barriers and opened the way!’ In a 1999 interview with Rolling Stone, Fanny fan David Bowie revealed his respect for the band: One of the most important female bands in American rock has been buried without a trace. And that is Fanny. They were one of the finest… rock bands of their time, in about 1973. They were extraordinary… they’re as important as anybody else who’s ever been, ever; it just wasn’t their time. Revivify Fanny. And I will feel that my work is done.”‘ — collaged

‘You’re the One’ (1971)

 

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Spring
‘Spring were a 1970s pop music duo (known outside the United States as American Spring), made up of sisters Diane Rovell and Marilyn Wilson, who had earlier been members of girl group The Honeys. As with the earlier Honeys, Beach Boy Brian Wilson (Marilyn’s then-husband) played an integral role with Spring, producing much of their recorded material. A 1972 album release didn’t sell well in its time, but has since become a sought-after collectible. Other singles followed, along with album-oriented material, only some of which saw release. The duo unfortunately never caught on widely, and with the divorce between Marilyn and Brian, Spring became dormant. Rhino Records issued an anthology of Spring’s music during 1988, and a 1992 Capitol Records Honeys collection included several previously-unissued Spring tunes. The Honeys also re-formed during the 1990s, to perform locally around Hollywood.’ — Wiki

‘It’s like Heaven’ (1972)

 

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The Runaways
‘Much maligned band who deserve some recognition. Created by Kim Fowley as a males heavy rock wet dream you have to give credit to the girls for just managing to continue and keep their dreams alive. Revolving around the strong rhythm guitar of Joan Jett, the heavy metal lead of Lita Ford and the sex appeal of the prima donnish Cherie Currie there were too many personalities for all to survive. Cherie was the first to go then Jackie Fox then her replacements before they all called it a day. Viewed as jailbait with no possibility of respect for their music they probably endured more taunts of ‘get them off’ than anyone yet they were a group of musicians who were both sexy and could play. Fowley’s pre- tour training involved “..how to beat up guys with guitars and basses and drumsticks…they could take a bottle, brick or a a stick and keep playing.” They may have looked available, but as Rat Scabies or the drummer from 999 found out, hit on them too hard and you would find yourself punched out! Young, average age was 16, manipulated, they somehow grew up on the road. Their sound though was heavy as hell and their songs about sex, drinking and disobeying parents and authority figures, though typically American, pre-figured later punk.’ — punk77.co.uk

‘All Right You Guys’ (1977)

 

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Mo-Dettes
‘The all-female Mo-dettes were formed in early 1979, originally calling themselves The Bomberettes. And although the assumption is that they were a mod band, this is incorrect: some called them punk, others thought they were more pop-punk, while still others compared their music to that of early Raincoats or Slits. Their first and most highly-acclaimed release was White Mice, released in mid-1979 on their own Rough Trade-distributed Mode label. They released several more singles as well as one full-length album called The Story So Far (which unfortunately got poor reviews due to supposed “weak and uninspired production” – a true shame). The Mo-dettes’ last single was Tonight, released in June of 1981; they recorded numerous demos but never released anything else after that.’ — last.fm

‘White Mice’ (1979)

 

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The Slits
‘This UK feminist punk outfit formed in 1976 with a line-up featuring Ari-Up (b. Arianna Foster; vocals), Kate Korus (b. Katherine Corris, New York, USA; guitar), Palmolive (b. Paloma Romero; drums, ex-Raincoats) and Suzi Gutsy (bass). The band were known for their uncompromising attitude and professed lack of technique, but their music was as aggressive and confrontational as the best of the punk fraternity. Their failure to secure a record contract during the first wave of the punk explosion was surprising. By the time they made their recording debut, Palmolive had been ousted. By 1981, The Slits had lost much of their original cutting edge and it came as little surprise when they disbanded at the end of the year. Ari-Up revived The Slits in the new millennium for a series of low-key live sets.’ — discogs

‘Slime’ (1980)

 

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Bush Tetras
‘The Bush Tetras were a rock band from New York City. Forming in 1979, they were very popular in the New York club scene in the early 1980s, but never had much mainstream success. Their music combined dance rhythms and dissonant rock-guitar riffs. Lead guitarist Pat Place and vocalist Cynthia Sley produced the most distinctive aspects of the Tetras sound. Place’s guitar lines were rhythmic and distortion-filled. She had been the original guitarist and one of the founding members of the No Wave band The Contortions. With the Bush Tetras, Pat continued to pursue some of the musical ideas she had explored in that band, although her distinctive slide guitar is absent from many of the Tetras songs. Sley’s vocals were half-spoken, half-sung. In songs like “Too Many Creeps” and “Can’t Be Funky,” she repeated simple phrases over and over again, creating a hypnotic monotony similar to Place’s guitar rhythms.’ — collaged

‘Too Many Creeps’ (1982)

 

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Bananarama
‘Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Bananarama were founded in London in 1979. The trio were ardent followers of the punk rock and post-punk music scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s and often performed impromptu sets or backing vocals at gigs for such bands as The Monochrome Set, Iggy Pop, The Jam, Department S and The Nipple Erectors. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed most success as a trio made up of lifelong friends Siobhan Fahey, Keren Woodward and Sara Dallin. In 1988, Bananarama were listed in the Guinness World Records as the all female group with the most chart entries in the world, a record which they still hold.’ — collaged

‘Really Saying Something’ (1982)

 

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Strawberry Switchblade
‘Strawberry Switchblade never fitted in. They were faces of the year in 1985, before disappearing into the obscurity they had emerged from; a peculiar punctuation to a peculiar decade of New Pop. Rose McDowall and Jill Bryson were classic Glasgow punks. In the true spirit of the times they created a personal visual revolution with mixed up style that was completely Pop. Attendants to the punk rock explosion that electrified Glasgow in the late ’70s, they were a part of the bohemian art scene who adored the New York Dolls and who followed local peculiarities Nu-Sonics from pillar to post in their brief and blinding ‘career’. Appropriated in true Pop Art tradition, Strawberry Switchblade became Rose and Jill’s moniker in their own chase towards Pop stardom.’ — Alistair Fitchett

‘Let Her Go’ (1985)

 

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Frightwig
‘Since forming in San Francisco in 1982, feminist punk pioneers FRIGHTWIG have been wielding joy and smashing the patriarchy. With life-changing live shows that spread revelry and revolution, Frightwig became a formative influence on the Riot Grrrl movement and paved the way for the likes of Hole, L7, and Lunachicks, among others. The band’s cult-favorite albums Cat Farm Faboo (Subterranean Records 1984) and Faster, Frightwig, Kill! Kill! (Caroline Records 1986), plus the EPs Phone Sexy (Boner Records 1988) captured the hearts of fellow freaks and outcasts. Songs like “My Crotch Does Not Say Go,” “A Man’s Gotta Do What a Man’s Gotta Do,” and “Crazy World” upended the masculine hardcore scene by infusing it with the vicious wit of women on a tear. Tours with Flipper, Butthole Surfers, and Redd Kross saw Frightwig screaming and shredding their way through glass ceilings and unapologetically leaving behind a pile of shards.’ — frightwig.org

‘I’ll Talk to You and Smile’ (1984)

 

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Fifth Column
‘Fifth Column was an all-girl band, which was just about the most political thing that could happen to the misogynist music industry of the 1980s. A rock musician from the 1980s is usually imagined as a metalhead dude with long, puffy hair, and tight jeans. Bands like Moetley Cruee and Poison even forming their own subgenre of “cock rock,” characterized by callous displays of male aggression and heterosexuality. Even hardcore music, which was rock music for misfits, wasn’t particularly friendly towards women. In this climate, Fifth Column stands out not just for being comprised of women, but women who were outspokenly feminist and queer.’ — Shameless Mag

‘Like This’ (1983)

 

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L7
‘The L.A. based band L7, formed in 1985, consists of Donita Sparks, guitar and vocals, Suzi Gardner, guitar and vocals, Dee Plakas, drums, and at various times, Jennifer Finch, Gail Greenwood, and Janis Tanaka on bass. L7’s albums have been released on legendary U.S. labels Epitaph, Sub Pop, Slash/Reprise, as well as their own label, Wax Tadpole. Since their recording career began in 1987, L7 have spawned underground and mainstream hits, such as: Shove, Pretend We’re Dead, Shit List, Andres, and Drama. Their music has also appeared on countless soundtracks, including “Natural Born Killers.” L7 have toured all over the world, numerous times, in clubs, concert halls, and festivals, some of which were: Offshore (Australia), Go Bang (Germany), Lollapalooza (U.S.), Hollywood Rock (Brazil), and Reading (U.K.). In addition to appearing on television shows internationally, including David Letterman, L7 starred in John Water’s movie, “Serial Mom”, and are the subject of a rockumentary by former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, entitled “The Beauty Process.”‘ — L7Official.com

‘Shit List’ (1993)

 

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Bikini Kill
‘Bikini Kill was a punk band of the Riot Grrrl movement formed in Olympia, Washington in October of 1990 (see 1990 in music). The group was infamous for its radical feminist lyrics and fiery performances. While occasionally collaborating (politically and creatively) with high-profile acts such as Nirvana and Joan Jett, Bikini Kill was well known for shunning major labels and the mainstream rock press. After four full-length albums and several EPs, the group disbanded in 1998. Earlier this year, the members of Bikini Kill, the foremothers of the Riot Grrrl movement, announced the creation of their own label. The aptly named Bikini Kill Records will begin by slowly reissuing all the band’s previously available material, as well as old demos, practice tapes, films, unreleased songs, and records by more modern practitioners of that style such as The Frumpies and Casual Dots.’ — collaged

‘Suck My Left One’ (1994)

 

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Tribe 8
‘Tribe 8 isn’t notable just because they were a group of rockers who gave the grunge bands of the early ’90s a run for their money. They were also proud lesbians who are credited as being one of the first “Queercore” bands, members of a genre that would help smash the prevailing homophobia within the American hardcore scene. Their impact can not be ignored, and their epic live shows, which typically featured lead singer Lynn Breedlove topless, will not be forgotten.’ — KQED

‘Femme Bitch Top’ (1994)

 

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Spitboy
‘While the hardcore scene was obviously male-dominated, an even bigger boys’ club was the ’90s anarcho-punk scene that included groups like Aus Rotten and Disrupt and Resist. Spitboy were a shining light among the black clothing, butt flaps and face-jewelry, reminding the shower-hating members of the genre that women’s rights were just as important as destroying capitalism. As you can hear, their musical output (especially their split LP with Los Crudos) sounds just as powerful as it did back then.’ — Rockist

‘What are Little Girls Made Of’ (1994)

 

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The Donnas
‘The Donnas were badass young women whose aesthetic was a studied blend of The Ramones and The Runaways, while their lyrics were thrillingly, unabashedly brazen, introducing me to slang terms for doing drugs (“Everybody’s Smoking Cheeba”) and plotting to kill a crush’s girlfriend (“Get Rid Of That Girl”). Best known for 2002’s Spend the Nightvia Atlantic Records—and the still seminal bossy pop of “Take It Off”—The Donnas self-titled debut LP was full of lo-fi melodies and three chord anthems, mixing sassy teenage rebellion with a punk snarl. With no single song clocking over three minutes it’s the the kind of music perfect for playing on your walkman as you snuck out of your parents’ house for a night on the town.’ — Vice

live 1998

 

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Free Kitten
‘Free Kitten began in 1992 in New York as a vehicle that would allow Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Pussy Galore’s Julia Cafritz to pursue other projects away from their usual work with their respective bands. Guitarist Cafritz and bassist Gordon began playing out, offering their audiences short sets of post-punk numbers. They put out “Call Now/Straight Up” later that year, and proceeded on the Lollapalooza tour. Their singles include “Oh Bondage, Up Yours,” which was originally done by X-Ray Spex. Yoshimi, of the Boredoms, joined the group in 1993, contributing harmonica, trumpet, and drums, as well as occasional vocals. Free Kitten’s debut album, Nice Ass, was released in 1995 and followed by Sentimental Education in 1997. Nearly 11 years of inactivity later, Gordon and Cafritz reunited in 2008 for a new album, Inherit.’ — allmusic

‘What’s Fair’ (1994)

 

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7 year bitch
‘7 Year Bitch was an American punk rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band was active between 1990 and 1997 and released three albums over that time. The band formed at the same time as the emergence of the riot grrrl sub-genre, which is a subgenre of punk music from the early to mid-1990s that emphasized the role of women in rock music. The Riot Grrrl movement began as a feminist response to the violence and misogyny that became more prominent in punk music in the mid-to-late 1980s, and 7 Year Bitch, an all-female punk band, emerged as part of that sub-genre.’ — Wikipedia

‘Hip Like Junk’ (1996)

 

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Thee Headcoatees
‘Thee Headcoatees were formed by Billy Childish as a backing group for his band Thee Headcoats. The Delmonas were the first incarnation of Thee Headcoatees. Member Ludella Black headed up the Delmonas. Their songs were principally written by Billy Childish and were songs that did not fit into his other two bands Thee Headcoats and Thee Milkshakes. In 1991 the band cut their first album Girlsville for Hangman Records. It consisted of songs all written by Billy Childish. In 1998 “Bongo” Debbie Green left the band to work on her other bands Dutronc, Baby Birkin and The Speed of Sound. The band was reduced to a three piece for their final Album Here Comes Cessation. Thee Headcoatees continued to tour with Thee Headcoats until the group folded in 1999. Holly Golightly has gone on to pursuit a solo career, recording more than 10 LP’s.’ — musicianguide.com

‘Come into My Mouth’ (1999)

 

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Sleater Kinney
‘They came from the Pacific Northwest! They were young, and they had things to say. At first, it appeared that the weaponry, the system, the strategy, consisted of a lead singer who had an uncanny urgency to her voice, more so than anyone since Patti Smith, enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. That was the first part of the weaponry, this lead singer, and the second part consisted of a remarkable chemistry between the two guitar players, viz. Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker. One guitar seemed on occasion to finish the other’s lines, and vice versa, as if they were performing the medieval form called the hocket. Initially, these were the strategies. It was urgent, it was fierce. The noise got noisier. Where the songs had orbited around a certain feminist rage on the eponymous first album, the message got deeper as the noise got noisier, especially on “I’m Not Waiting,” and “Good Things,” and “Taste Test.” Sleater-Kinney wasn’t waiting to make the transition from promising girls to women, they were taking, and they were allowed.’ — Sub Pop

‘Modern Girl’ (2005)

 

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Electrelane
‘Electrelane were an English indie rock band, formed in Brighton in 1998 by Verity Susman and Emma Gaze. The band comprised Susman, Gaze, Mia Clarke, and Ros Murray. Their music drew from a wide range of influences including Neu!, Stereolab, Sonic Youth, and the Velvet Underground. Although the band had strong feminist and political views in their personal lives, they generally preferred to not communicate that directly to their fans or through their music.’ — collaged

‘To the East’ (1999)

 

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OOIOO
‘OOIOO are an all-female group founded by Boredoms drummer (and sometimes trumpeter and vocalist) Yoshimi P-We. It’s next to impossible to describe their sound, because — by design — it rarely follows consistent patterns. Some of their music has been described as having “a majestic ebb and flow that suggests natural wonders” or a “witchy, tribal side”. Either way, at any one time it may incorporate chanting and punchy drums, dancer polyrhythms, atonal composition, or psychedelia. The majority of OOIOO’s music originates from improvisations. When asked about OOIOO’s songwriting process in an interview with Pitchfork, Yoshimi (P-we) Yokota said, “When you transform improvisation into a song that people can listen to, it is difficult to recreate the initial improvisation each time because you have to play in a different time and space. In order to utilize the initial impulse of improvisation, we restructure improvisation into songs. Once the song is structured, it is no longer improvisation.”‘ — Wiki

‘UMO’ (2008)

 

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A Lovely Day For Bloodshed
‘ALDFB is an all female deathcore machine, that doesnt take no for an answer. The band has been together since 2006, but early 2008 put on the breaks for this thought-to-be unstoppable band. Personal problems forced the band to call it quits, and brought on the departure of guitarist Lori.’ — last.fm

‘Last Chance’ (2008)

 

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Vivian Girls
‘Behold the Vivian Girls. Just as their alluring name only became passed around mere months ago, this group of three upstart New York females have taken the noisy pop mantra and dipped it in pure gold, right out of the gate. With their debut 7″ on their very own Plays With Dolls Records label already sending out waves of panic and adoration to the outer limits of the underground pop contingent, they have become the newest breakout sirens of the New York loft-pop brigade. Within seconds of hearing their seductive three-part girl group vocal harmonies lushly interwoven with chest-pounding rhythms of beautiful feedback, it’s obvious that their songs are hard to resist, especially if you find yourself keen on the mid-80s noise pop conglomerate of Jesus & Mary Chain, The Vaselines, Black Tambourine, and Shop Assistants. The echo-filled songs resonate with such sweetness and provocative noise, that it culminates into a wall of beautiful vocals interplayed with a simple yet timeless beat that will have no problem crossing over genre lines and warming up to virtually anyone with an ounce of good taste.’ — Todd Killings, VictimofTime.com

‘When I’m Gone’ (2009)

 

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8 Inch Betsy
‘Best known for an aggressive yet melodic style of punk rock similar to that of the Distillers, Chicago queercore band 8 Inch Betsy were on the cusp of a breakthrough thanks to a reputation as a terrific live band and the strong 2007 debut This Time, Last Time, Every Time. Although the follow-up The Mean Days was recorded over the course of several years since 2010, it was never quite completed, and sadly this past January singer/guitarist/songwriter Meghan Galbraith passed away at the age of 35.’ — Pop Matters

‘Doomed’ (2010)

 

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Grass Widow
‘Though Grass Widow could easily be grouped with the tons of other retro post-punk groups that have occupied the indie rock scene for the past few years, their musicianship and needlework melodies should never be forgotten. They released plenty in the six years they were together, and all of it is worth picking up. And if you’re still jonesing for rocking-yet-pretty jams after you’ve gone through the entire Grass Widow catalog, I highly suggest checking out the rip-roaring shoegaze of Cold Beat, which features Grass Widow bassist Hannah Lew.’ — Kevin L. Jones

‘Fried Egg’ (2016)

 

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Wild Flag
‘Wild Flag is a Portland, Oregon- and Washington, DC-based quartet consisting of Carrie Brownstein, Rebecca Cole, Mary Timony, and Janet Weiss. The members of Wild Flag have played in numerous and notable bands including Sleater-Kinney, Helium, Quasi, The Minders, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, and others. The four musicians who make up Wild Flag have known one another for well over a decade. Brownstein and Weiss were in Sleater-Kinney and toured with Timony’s band Helium on numerous occasions. Brownstein and Timony played in a side project called The Spells. Rebecca Cole’s Portland-based band The Minders was a frequent opener for Sleater-Kinney. Weiss and Cole play together in the 1960’s garage-rock cover band The Shadow Mortons. If someone drew a visual representation illustrating the ways in which all indie bands are interconnected, Brownstein, Cole, Timony, and Weiss would be in the same tiny sphere, so playing together felt almost inevitable.’ — Merge Records

‘Black Tiles’ (2012)

 

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Skinny Girl Diet
‘London’s Skinny Girl Diet knew what they were doing when they chose a moniker that, on the surface, could be read as sexist: they were taking it back. By naming themselves after impossible beauty standards forced on women everyday, they’re commenting on it. Their music does the same thing. It’s not sweet. They snarl. They’re a better band because of it.’ — Maria Sherman

‘Dimethlytryptamine (DMT)’ (2012)

 

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Trippple Nippples
‘Trippple Nippples (Japanese: トリプル・ニプルス) is a Japanese electropop band from Tokyo. Famous for their unique performances, the band was formed in 2005. The artists go by the stage names Qrea Nippple, Yuka Nippple and Nabe Nippple.’ — genius.com

‘LSD’ (2020)

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p.s. Hey. ** jay, Hi. I don’t not share that neuroses, and, in fact, might question if it is a neuroses even. They’re lots of fun: the films, I predict. You can never trust people’s self-publicised opinions these days. I’m going to find out for myself. I remember ‘The Conversation’ being awfully good. Is it? ** Steve, I realise I know absolutely nothing about Jeff Bezos as a person and am tempted to keep it that way. Given the happy election result, which I assume you saw, I would venture to guess that the Left being now the largest party in parliament will have a positive effect on culture funding if it has any effect at all. The French respect culture, yes, even the Right, but the Right’s idea of valuable culture is quite different from the rest’s. Well, thanks to the humidity for keeping your nose planted to the music then. ** _Black_Acrylic, Obviously, my pleasure. Yay, now I have a soundtrack to my celebrations of the election results. Everyone, Listen up. Here’s the maestro: ‘The new episode of my show Play Therapy v2.0 is online here via Tak Tent Radio! Ben ‘Jack Your Body’ Robinson says our lives hang by a delicate thread and sometimes we can pull on that thread. It is so exciting, isn’t it?’ ** Dominik, Hi!!! Aw, thank you so much, pal! I’m so really happy you liked it. That warms the cockles of my heart, and that’s the only form of heat I like. Really, thanks, D. No film news. The giant mess continues, awaiting some kind of miraculous resolution. Otherwise, we’re waiting nervously to hear from a couple of film festivals, this month sometime. The new script is going really well, I think. I worked on the first draft all weekend. Zac will undoubtedly want changes when he reads it, but I’m pretty excited about it. Thank you for asking. I’m sure you got that cut when you were fighting with Darth Vader. Don’t you remember? Love wondering if you have a favorite all female rock band, G. ** ted rees, Hi, ted! Loveliness to set eyes on your type! Oh, right, I think I remember you telling me about the night at K&D’s. So cool. I never got to meet him, sadly. Oh, someone sent me ‘Hand Me the Limits’ because a copy arrived. Maybe it was Lonely Christopher, I can’t remember. Anyway, it’s an amazing and great book. I think my favorite collection of yours so far. Massive congrats and even more thanks! And thanks a ton about ‘Flunker’. Pleasing the likes of you is no small thing. I hope you’re doing great in every respect. Love from newly relieved Paris, me. ** Uday, Have you ever been to Charleville? I made a pilgrimage there in the 70s. It’s very sleepy. Well, be so grateful that you’ve survived this long without becoming uncurious and aesthetically self-protective because you will stay ‘young’ when your current friends don’t, and most of your friends will become younger and younger, or that’s what happened to me, and it’s ace. I guess I did miss that comment somehow. Trends don’t have endings, they just have lulls, sometimes lengthy lulls, but still. I, of course, think your idea for the novel is a very fine one. I’ve done things like that. Don’t worry about the ‘not skilled enough to do it’ because you’ll get any missing skills while doing it. I think we have about a week until Paris locks way down. ** Lucas, Hi, Lucas. Yeah, me too. I’m on it. I’m hoping the tea chugging has pretty much gotten you completely upright and exuding your preternatural sprightliness. I, and everyone here with any brains or heart, is very, very relieved by the election results, yes! Oh, yes, there is a way re: ‘Jerk’. I’ll email you. Thank you for the bird. It seems highly likeable. And of course for the resplendent green world as usual. I hope Monday lets you forge ahead. xo. ** Sarah Cummins, Hi, Sarah! Thank you a lot for saying that about ‘Flunker’. I’m super happy you liked it. How’s everything with you? Our summer has barely been summery so far, more like spring’s continuance, so it’s been good, knock on wood. ** Cletus, Hi, Cletus. $10 is a steal. No, I have not done a post about Kentaro Miura, and that is a very good idea. Let me get on that and see what I can come up with. I know his work only a little, but I’ve really liked what I’ve seen. Thanks a lot. You good? ** Harper, Bon-nest jour! No question Kathy’s persona is a big lure to her work and one of the reasons it pops more than more lowkey experimental writers’ works. Burroughs is the classic example of the experimental writer as brand. It’s dreadful that ‘Eden Eden Eden’ isn’t in print in English. I asked my friend who runs Semiotext(e) why they haven’t reprinted it since they’ve published several Guyotat books, and he said there’s some really fucked up rights ownership issue that’s keeping it in the dark. I love that Radiguet too. Really awesome reading you’re doing, needless to say. Curious to hear your thoughts. ** A, Hello, A! Thanks, prayers are needed, but, yes, one way or another, the film will get born, and then things will be easier. I assume you got the hardcover of ‘MLT’. That’s my favorite of all my book covers. I was shocked when they replaced it with most boring ever paperback cover. Once you publish a second book, and people finally get what you’re doing, and your work is legitimised in their eyes by having staying power as evidenced by the publication of more than one book by you, you’ll stop being crucified. Whatevs is the word. ** Charalampos, I don’t think ‘Empire of the Senseless’ is one of Kathy’s best, but it’s still very good. She was a big deal while she was alive. Her post-life bigness is just a continuance. I wish the very best for your week too. ** Justin D, Hi. Thanks, Justin, thank you so much. About ‘Flunker’. I still have yet to see a copy. Interesting: I was actually thinking about the form of Russian nesting dolls when I was writing ‘Gold’. Good eye. I’m obviously happy you have ‘The Devil, Probably’ under your belt, and, yes, no denying the Bresson impact on ‘PGL’. I think the new one is a little less Bresson-y, but we’ll see. Of course now I am going to pull up ‘The Road Not Taken’ and scour it for clues. Huh. My weekend was okay. Decent writing work and a very relieving election. How was your batch of days? ** darbyy🛌✍, I am imagining what you asked me to imagine. It’s very relaxing. Strangely? Ouch, your grandad, especially a grandad that gives you serial killer books. Wow. You do realise that most grandads don’t do things like that with their grandkids. All I remember about my grandad was that every time he saw me, he bit my ear, sometimes so hard it bled. I disliked him. I like seeing the book covers. They’re so old school in a charming way. Thanks. I didn’t know Rumspringa, but now I’m starting to. Liking where your book’s going. My liking of what you’re building there is not surprising, I know, but liking doesn’t have to be surprising to be effective. The particular glossiness of that thing in that gif made me feel really weird. Good weird, duh. Comment’s display was A-okay. ** Oscar 🌀, Wow, you wrote to me on the same Monday morning that I’m writing back to you? That doesn’t happen very often, as you can imagine. Chappell Roan is a genius! Clearly! I just sat down at a very old typewriter, and now I’m typing: *click* H *click* i *click* O *click* s *click* c *click* o *click* *back space/delete* *click* a *click * r *click* , … (thinks) … I’m glad that later ‘Animal Crossings’ accepted the wrongdoing of its guilt-tripping ways. It is one of the great mysteries of the world to me why ‘Eternal Darkness’ is the only game I’ve ever seen that employs the obvious meta possibilities of game playing. I’m holding off on ‘Riven’ until I get further on the new film script because it would kill my buzz. You’re court jester-like? Mm, I can see that. My weekend was work-filled in the good way and topped off by a shock/happy election. How was yours, sir? ** Okay. I went down a particular youtube rabbit hole the other day and decided to drag you all along with me with some judicious edits. See you tomorrow.

* (restored/expanded)

 

‘George Kuchar (1942–2011) was one of the most creative, original, and influential filmmakers of our time, straddling two generations of North American iconoclasts, from Stan Brakhage, Ken Jacobs, Rudy Burckhardt, Kenneth Anger, and Michael Snow to Warren Sonbert, Ernie Gehr, Abigail Child, and Henry Hills. Often collaborating with his twin brother, Mike, George Kuchar started making films as a Bronx teenager, and the brothers’ early films already show the ingenuity, exuberance, and do-it-yourself charm that would pervade scores of their subsequent films.

‘Every year Kuchar made a large-scale scripted film with his students at the San Francisco Art Institute, where he taught for nearly 40 years. His students were deliriously incorporated into his queerly epic visions, shaped by his uncanny approach to lighting and color filtering, scripts, costumes, overlaying of images and effects, and soundtrack, which are comparable to the greatest Hollywood films, but all done on shoe-string budgets. Rather than being constraining, Kuchar’s production budget enriched the aesthetic power of his films. It helped that he was a genius when it came to lighting, editing, make-up, cinematography, directing, musical soundtrack, and script writing; but his commitment to film as something that can be done idiosyncratically and without huge expense has been an inspiration to generations of independent filmmakers after him. Indeed, Kuchar’s films anticipate the work of younger video artists for whom cheap digital cameras and the Web are the tools at hand.

‘In his films, Kuchar is always poking fun and always having a good time, in an apparently sweet and charmingly self-deprecating way. Yet this court jester of avant-garde cinema had a sardonic edge that was as sharp as an editor’s blade. His vision bubbled out of the cauldron of his gay, Catholic, working-class childhood. This led to his lifelong tango with the high, and often dry, seriousness of the art world.

‘Kuchar stayed true to his American vernacular instincts throughout his life. The body of work he produced, now archived at Harvard, is a testimony to the power, and importance, of film done without the hindrance of large-scale production.

‘As a writer, Kuchar combined his genre-obsessed irony and self-reflective bathos into scripts of scintillating wit. The opening monologue in Thundercrack! (he wrote the screenplay for Curt McDowell) rivals and extends the best of Tennessee Williams’s plays.  Kuchar’s soundtracks, collages from his extensive LP collection, are exemplary for using already existing music in new contexts so seamlessly that you would have thought the music was composed especially for each scene. Kuchar’s films offer object lessons in how a splash of sound totally colors a scene; his quick sound segues contribute to the dynamism of his work and give it that wonderful, much sought-after, B-movie aura. But make no mistake: his editing is as diacritically perspicacious as any sound/image juxtaposition in Godard (even if his ingratiating style would not usually give rise to such terminology).

‘Kuchar made the switch from film to digital relatively early, fully embracing the dominant technology, and as he had done with film, making it completely his own. Much of his later work consists of an ongoing diary—a sprawling, picaresque series in which he documents, in addition to the weather, his meals, his friends, his trips. These funny, endearing works, in which he is the principal character and which he shot entirely by himself, are films that revel in the sublimity of the ordinary.

‘Kuchar created a small but notable body of work outside of his films: drawings and paintings in oil, watercolor, and tempera. George Kuchar: Pagan Rhapsodies, organized by Peter Eleey, including films, videos, and works on paper, is currently on display at MoMA PS1 (through January 15, 2012). He was trained as a commercial artist and after graduating from the School of Industrial Art he drew weather maps for a local news show. Speaking of his paintings, he told Eileen Myles, “I make ’em cause I like painting and I don’t like to paint my apartment. These cover the walls, they cover a lot.” Kuchar researched his paintings, looking for stories that he wanted to paint. Indeed, his paintings look a lot like his movies. “I pick characters, and I’m used to working in a box.” They are studies in light and color and are chock-full of Kuchar’s personality. He became involved in comix through his neighbor in San Francisco in the 1980s, Art Spiegelman; he went on to do many comix storyboards as well as underground comix.

‘Weirdos, kooks, outcasts: these are not the people in Kuchar’s films but the ones on national TV, paraded as normal. In Thundercrack!, Kuchar plays a circus truck driver who has fallen in love with the female gorilla in his charge. In the final, touching scene, we see the driver in bed with someone in a very campy gorilla costume.

‘From Baudelaire’s “À une Mendiante rousse” onward, artists have tried to find a way to portray society’s “others” without voyeurism, pity, condescension, or romanticizing. Kuchar in bed with an actor in gorilla suit is the perfect realization of the possibility of the pataque(e)rical as a quest for “otherworldly humanity” (to borrow a term Kuchar uses in one of his last class films, Lingo of the Lost).

‘A man with a movie camera: nobody’s done it better.’ — Charles Bernstein and Susan Bee, The Brooklyn Rail

 

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Stills

 

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Further

George Kuchar @ IMDb
George Kuchar @ Video Data Bank
Book: ‘The George Kuchar Reader’
The George Kuchar Collection @ Harvard Film Archive
George Kuchar obituary @ The Guardian
‘George Kuchar, Filmmaker and Provocateur Who Inspired John Waters, Dead’
Ed Halter on George Kuchar
‘Storm Squatting at El Reno’
‘George Kuchar’s Voice’
George and Mike Kuchar Appreciation Page
‘George Kuchar 1942–2011’ @ Frieze
George Kuchar @ Underground Film Journal
‘The Day the Bronx Invaded Earth: The Life and Cinema of the Brothers Kuchar’
‘Hold Me While I’m Naked: Notes on a Camp Classic’
‘Reflections on George Kuchar’
‘Color Him Lurid: Deceased Artiste George Kuchar’

 

_________
It Came from Kuchar
‘It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, the Kuchar brothers. George and Mike Kuchar have inspired two generations of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and artists with their zany, “no budget” films and with their uniquely enchanting spirits. George and Mike Kuchar grew up in the Bronx in the 1950’s making “no-budget” films, compulsively copying Hollywood melodramas with their aunt’s 8mm, home-movie camera. In the 1960’s the New York underground film scene embraced them as the “8mm Mozarts”. Their early films deeply inspired many filmmakers, including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Todd Haynes, Cory McAbee and Wayne Wang. IT CAME FROM KUCHAR includes numerous clips from the Kuchar brother’s early films including HOLD ME WHILE I’M NAKED, SINS OF THE FLESHAPOIDS, and many others. IT CAME FROM KUCHAR features interviews of many of the filmmakers, artists and writers who’ve been inspired by the Kuchars.’ –– Jennifer Smoot

 

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Underground comix
‘Although mainly into making movies, George Kuchar has also done some notable underground comix work. Kuchar was trained as a commercial artist and upon graduation drew weather maps for a local news show. He became involved in underground comix through his neighbor, Art Spiegelman. He drew for the comics revue Arcade in the 1970s, for which he created among others his comics biography of HP Lovecraft.’ — Lambiek

 

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Stuff

George Kuchar Interview 2010

Portraits of George Kuchar at Work

George Kuchar & Guy Maddin in Conversation

George Kuchar on The Counter Culture Hour

George Kuchar’s Parting Message to the People of the Future

 

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Interview
by Steve Lafreniere @ VICE

 

Were there a lot of big movie palaces in the Bronx when you were teenagers in the 50s?
George Kuchar: There were a lot of theaters, and a lot of people in the Bronx went to the movies. The big one was the Paradise. It was on the Grand Concourse near Fordham Road, and that was quite a spectacular theater. It looked Roman. They had stars twinkling on the ceiling and clouds moving by. There was another theater around Southern Boulevard that played foreign pictures, Antonioni movies. I remember going there and the place was packed to see L’Avventura. And they always had a sign that said “Air-Conditioned.” You’d walk by in the summer and, man, the blast of cold air that came out of that place.

How often did you go?
Three times a week. Sometimes we’d see the same movie three times.

Do you remember the ones that made you want to make movies?
I went to see a lot of Douglas Sirk. That was like going to see work by adults. You felt like it was grown-ups making those pictures, and they really looked good. But then there were the Roger Corman pictures. They were done cheap and we thought, “Gee, it could be fun making those.” They would be double bills. Sometimes there would be pictures about Indians with Marla English, and then one of the low-budget horror movies. I used to love seeing those.

Marla English is criminally forgotten. Did you follow certain stars?
Yeah. And it didn’t have to be the big ones, sometimes it was the stars of the B movies. Or a lot of times I went to a movie because they had listed who did the music. If Bernard Herrmann’s name was on the ad, I went to the movie. I loved the sound of the score in the movie theater.

You and Mike started making movies when you got a camera for your 12th birthday. Was it expensive to process the film?
The film was $2.65, and the developing couldn’t have been more than that. You’d bring it into a drugstore, and they would process it at a place locally. But it wasn’t very good. After a few years it would crack, the emulsion would come out, and it would look like a fresco. So we would send it to Kodak. They did a much better job. A projector didn’t cost that much money in those days. They were kind of tin-looking things, with little plastic reels. If you got a better projector it could take bigger reels, so you could make longer movies.

How did two teenagers from the Bronx connect with the underground-film crowd in Manhattan?
We had friends, like bohemians or whatever they were called. A friend of mine, Donna Kerness, she was very pretty. We went to high school together, and then I started putting her in pictures. She made friends with this man, Bob Cowan, who was about ten years older, an artist. He came down from Canada with two other Canadian artists, Mike Snow and Joyce Wieland, to get into the culture scene. He was infatuated with Donna, and she introduced me to them, and they introduced my brother and me to that whole art world in New York that was going on.

Ken Jacobs helped you guys out, right?
We went to Ken Jacobs’s loft because Bob Cowan, I think, was acting in his 8-mm movies. At that time it was like a little theater there, and every Friday or Saturday night he would play underground movies. So my brother and I came with our pictures, people liked them, and we were asked to come back. Ken Jacobs told Jonas Mekas about us, and that’s how the whole ball started rolling.

Even though you were teenagers and didn’t have an art background like those other people, you were accepted?
Yeah! That place used to be full of painters and other artists making movies. We sort of became part of that crowd and began showing at the same venues, and an audience developed. But we had never known anyone like this. These were crazy people. They didn’t behave like the people we were working with at our jobs. A lot of them had never grown up. They were sort of fun, wild, and free.

Where was Warhol in all of this?
I would see him on the street with his entourage, and then he would come to our shows. I remember him coming once with a whole group of people five minutes into the screening. At that time I was also friends with Red Grooms, who was making some 8-mm movies. He asked me if wanted to go to a luncheon that Harry Abrams was holding for pop artists. Since I’d just finished Hold Me While I’m Naked in 16 mm, he asked me if I’d like to bring a projector. Warhol was there, and Rauschenberg, and Oldenburg. We showed the movie, and afterward Warhol said, “It’s good, George. It’s too good. Go back to your old style with the 8 mm.”

He got a lot of his ideas from you and Jack Smith.
Actually, at that time there was a big crosscurrent of people looking at Jack’s work. But he was an odd character, Jack Smith. He was way off in left field or something. He was very talented and all, but he had no stability. The rug was pulled. I put him into a movie because he was living next door to the guy that I was using as the star. Jack was going to the Factory one afternoon and he took me along. Warhol was doing a silk screen when we got there. Jack Smith had acted in a Warhol picture and he was mad because he had been off-camera during his biggest scenes and Warhol never told him, “You’re out of the frame.” Warhol didn’t seem to get too disturbed. He just kept silk-screening.

It’s funny that right after the macho Beat era, here come all these queeny guys like Smith and Warhol.
It was just what was happening. Around the Beat time they all wore ties and shirts and jackets. They’re kind of dressed up, you know what I mean? But then this other thing, this strange exotica, came in. It just happened.

Do you prefer editing to shooting?
I like it all. I like shooting because it’s like one big party. You get a chance to do compositions, lighting, and your wardrobe and makeup. It’s excitement. But it can be hell too, especially if you’re doing a scene and the question arises, “What do we do?” I don’t know what the hell to do.

You improvise that much?
Yeah. So you have to say, “Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom,” and then you can get your thoughts together. When the cameras were bigger and I didn’t know what to do to progress a scene, I’d just hide behind the camera. It was big enough to hide your face and you’d make believe you were adjusting the framing.

Maybe it’s because the plots are so much about your own, uh…
Probably obsessions. They always peek out. Sometimes there’s a seam of something that’s on your mind or bothering you. Or else you find somebody interesting and you wind up putting them in a plot, and somehow the plot unravels in the picture. But it’s other people playing them, so it’s all sort of dressed up. And 15 years later you realize what this picture was about, or that it was a pre-shadow of something. Pictures are kind of spooky. Especially when you handle the film yourself, and you got yourself in there. I compare them to little voodoo dolls.

Kenneth Anger believes that film collects more than just light and shadow. He said it made it hard to tell when they were finished.
Sometimes I finish a picture I’m working on and I think, “What a monstrosity.” Then I play it for a group of people and they sit there like, what just happened? And I think, “Uh-oh, what have I unleashed?” But if there’s something wrong with the picture, I fix it. The thing never gets finished unless it gets my complete seal of approval. Otherwise I’m haunted by it.

 

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19 of George Kuchar’s 217 films & videos

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Corruption of the Damned (1965)
‘The film is a cross between The Silence, L’Aventura, and Terrytoons… In it there can be found beauty, glamour, sophistication and smut. An enormous amount of people were rounded up to participate in cameo-roles. For some it was the first time in front of a movie camera but that did not stop them from behaving just as wantonly as they would under normal circumstances. One thing of interest is that Donna Kerness meets Gina Zuckerman at the climax of the film. The motion picture screen’s greatest sexpots are together for the first time in the same scene! If you don’t know what the word sexpot means, wait until you see Donna Kerness’s frying pans! And, if you think they’re great, stay awake and you’ll get a peek at Gina Zuckerman’s noodle-strainer!’ — George Kuchar

the entire film

 

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Sins of the Fleshapoids (1965)
‘An amateur effort starring the filmmaker’s friends and shot, without a script, mainly on weekday nights in various Bronx and Brooklyn apartments. Like Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising (1964), Fleshapoids has the look of a home movie, having been shot on the amateur reversal stock Kodachrome II and all the more richly saturated for having been printed on Kodachrome as well; no less than Antonioni’s in Red Desert, Kuchar’s “specific aim,” the filmmaker maintained, was “to bombard and engulf the screen with vivid and voluptuous colors.”

‘Set “a million years in the future” and chronicling the conflict between indolent humans and their robot “fleshapoid” slaves, Kuchar’s epic is in essence a silent movie with a tremulous voice-over narration (supplied by Bob Cowan) and a more or less continuous montage of movie music (also compiled by Cowan and including, among many other things, snippets from Bernard Herrmann’s score for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad [1958]). The action is punctuated with strategic sound effects and occasional superimposed speech balloons, the movie directed as a silent movie would have been. “Intensive rehearsing was not necessary,” Kuchar recalled in an early interview. “In fact, sometimes what I did was to yell out directions of what the actors should do while the camera was on and the film was rolling.” Decor is all. Fleshapoids’ true ancestor is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.’ — J. Hoberman

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Hold Me While I’m Naked (1966)
‘In a time long before YouTube, the Kuchar Brothers borrowed their aunt’s Super-8mm camera at the age of 12 and began making their films: poorly-acted, cheapo productions as much parodies as homages to the Technicolor movies they grew up watching in the 1950’s. The sweetly oddball Kuchar sensibility was also informed by the SF underground comix scene (via friends Art Spiegelman and Zippy the Pinhead creator Bill Griffith) when George ended up teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute. George, the more prolific of the twins, has made over 200 films, mostly with the help of his SFAI students, with memorable titles such as I Was A Teenage Rumpot, Pussy On A Hot Tin Roof, Corruption Of The Damned, Hold Me While I’m Naked, Color Me Shameless and House Of The White People. His best known film is probably the short, Hold Me While I’m Naked.’ — Dangerous Minds

the entire film

 

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Eclipse of the Sun Virgin (1967)
‘Eclipse of the Sun Virgin is a 1967, 16mm, 17minute film; directed by George Kuchar. The film is based on dealing with a poignant self-identity and the feeling of void between pornography. The short film was filmed in the late 1960’s, in this era a lot was going on with politics, social surroundings and economics. The short film is set in a small apartment. There is little speaking between the characters and a variety of music and sound in the background of the film. There are a lot of visual aspects of the characters mainly focusing on George Kuchar. Observing the way the film was shot there are a lot of shots and cuts in all the scenes. I think this film is based around maturity physically and emotionally in some ways, for example in the beginning of the film the camera is focused on a slightly attractive guy and then the camera cuts to George who is not so much attractive looking.’ — gwenn k johnson

the entire film

 

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Color Me Shameless (1967)
‘A tale of impotence. The hero is an artist who suffers from a creative block and who cannot bring himself to sexually perform. He has a variety of encounters with women and at times steals articles of clothing from them as sexual fetishes. His frustrations culminate at an art party where he observes others behaving freely, while he can only get drunk. After visiting someone and seeing a “sculpture” in their apartment, he becomes inspired and rushes home to paint. He writes letters to his women friends, telling them to come at once for he has painted a masterpiece. Upon receiving his letter, the women prepare to leave to visit him, but are distracted by their lovers. The man waits in vain; in frustration he destroys the canvas. The fetishes he had been collecting jump out from the drawer where he had been hiding them as if to haunt or taunt him, showing him what he is.’ — George Kuchar

Excerpt

 

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Pagan Rhapsody (1970)
‘Since this was Jane and Lloyd’s first big acting roles, I made the music very loud so it would sweep them to stardom. She once hurt Bob Cowan’s back by sitting on it so this time I had her laying on his stomach. Donna Kerness was pregnant during her scenes but her stomach was kept pretty much in shadow and it’s not noticeable. My stomach was the same as always except it contained more mocha cake than usual since that type of cake was usually around when I filmed in Brooklyn Heights. Being that the picture was made in the winter, there are no outdoor scenes because it’s too cold and when the characters have to suddenly flee a tense situation, it’s too time consuming to have them put on a coat and gloves. Originally not scheduled as a tragedy, things swiftly changed as the months made me more and more sour as I plummet down that incinerator shaft I call my life.’ — George Kuchar

Excerpt

 

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The Devil’s Cleavage (1975)
‘Restless nurses! Lovesick sheriffs! Sexed-up Girl Scout leaders! Lonely motel managers! And other degenerates populate George Kuchar‘s early ’70s mock-Hollywood soap opera, The Devil’s Cleavage. Ainslie Pryor stars as Nurse Ginger, who is stuck married to a total slob, so she takes to cheating on her hubby with anybody she cans. Eventually, she leaves home and becomes the object of obsession of a seedy Oklahoma motel manager played by Kuchar compatriot Curt McDowell. The Devil’s Cleavage is one of Kuchar’s rare feature-length outings. The film is credited by its distributor, Canyon Cinema, as having been completed in 1973. While the film may have had screenings in that year and in 1974, it gained a wider release in 1975, perhaps to capitalize on the success of Thundercrack! the semi-pornographic cult comedy directed by McDowell and written and starring Kuchar.’ — Underground Film Journal

Excerpt

 

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I, An Actress (1977)
‘One of the most enduring factors of Kuchar’s films is just how endearing his passion and peculiar personality was, especially when he was yelling things like “I’m on my knees, Harold, haven’t you seen women on their knees before or is it only on their backs?” He said that one while on his back during the screen test, kicking up at a dummy wearing a coat and a curly wig. The whole ordeal was supposed to be Barbara’s gateway into Hollywood, but George made it his own, tagging a title on the film when it was done. He called it I, an Actress, a George Kuchar picture © 1977. The clip blends his styles together great, maintaining both the exaggerated script reads and camp, while documenting an event in real time and showing the artifice from behind the camera. Watching I, an Actress makes me realize I had boring fucking teachers.’ — Vice

the entire film

 

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Wild Night in El Reno (1977)
‘While the 1977 film Wild Night in El Reno is not the first of Kuchar’s films to have been shot in Oklahoma (A Reason to Live [1976] prefigures it with scenes filmed there as well as in California), it is the earliest in which weather is the principal character. The only human beings seen in the six-minute piece are a woman briefly shown trying to use a payphone during a downpour, and the filmmaker himself, posed enigmatically beside graffiti proclaiming that “Jimmy Rush is a Pussy”. The majority of the film’s frames draw the viewer’s attention to the wind, clouds, rain and lightning strikes that accompany an El Reno storm. Many of the initial shots especially recall an Eric Sloane painting in composition and subject; his renderings of cloud formations in pastoral settings were an influence on the young Kuchar and it’s no surprise that a film bringing out the nature observer in the director would resemble one of Sloane’s landscapes put into motion by the camera shutter and the churning winds.’ — Senses of Cinema

the entire film

 

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The Mongreloid (1978)
‘The Mongreloid runs for about nine minutes. It opens with images of a city. Then, with Kuchar having a heartwarmingly one sided conversation with his dog, Bocko. He recants stories of their travels and all the people they’ve met together. He asks Bocko if he remembers salami and pooping all over San Francisco, “America’s favorite city”. He remembers their trip to lakes and to see a horse, one who didn’t take kindly to Bocko. He relates between them what his dog likes, like curling up with Kuchar as he has dinner, and how his dog’s aged since taking some of those trips.’ — smfafilm

the entire film

 

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The Asphalt Ribbon (1978)
‘Adapted from a pamphlet of “sentimental essays”. This film uses original text from the book, cuts it with sex, violence, rock n’ roll, an actor driving a fake truck, and footage of actual trucks. The story is an ode to American truck drivers.’ — KB

Watch an excerpt here

 

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The Nocturnal Immaculation (1980)
‘Two men, two women, one God and many devils. Add a pinch of vengeance and a dash of mental illness, let simmer with high ideals, then take a mouthful and hang over the railing.’ — zen xiu

Watch the film here

 

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Ascension of the Demonoids (1985)
‘One of the most insanely confusing longer creations by George Kuchar during the 80s, just before he switched to video. This was made after a collection of movies on UFOs and George was looking to “make a spectacle” and “wanted to get off the subject”. So the film wanders between scenes of cheap effects, insanely colorful and pyschedelic montages, discussions between UFO nuts and a woman who shares her recipes, angelic visitors from outer space, religious hallucinations, bigfoot and a couple playing a flute, an Arab massaging a woman, a woman beating up a walking blonde doll in her bathroom, and scenery of Hawaii. I’m lost.’ — The Last Exit

the entire film

 

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Andy’s House of Gary (1993)
‘A youth and a geezer or two chew the fat about cosmic mysteries beyond the realm of scientific digestion.’ — George Kuchar


the entire film

 

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Society Slut (1995)
‘The story of a matron and a midget in the heat of an unbridled passion. The colors run thick and heavy for paint and prurient pleasures as the electronic canvas unscrolls to reveal a bevy of beasties and beauties of nature and the unnatural. A non-stop melodrama of a patron of the arts shot by real art students in a real art school! A collaborative project I worked on with my class at the San Francisco Art Institute.’ — George Kuchar

the entire film

 

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Secrets of the Shadow World (1989 – 1999)
‘With a new millennium almost upon us, images of space aliens invading the marketplace and sleeping habits of consumers worldwide, this miniseries abducts the viewers into the universe of John A. Keel (via a video time-warp supplied by me with Rockefeller Foundation funding). It’s a leisurely expedition through a maze of kitchens and cerebral convolutions in search of the mysteries behind the mundane (or vice versa!). Mr. Keel, an author and stage magician, has made a profound impact on the pop-culture we swim in. His research and books on the UFO enigma have ignited an explosive wild-fire of imaginative invocations such as the X-FILES TV show and the Men in Black blockbuster movie. Yet you never hear about him and he never hears from the movie and television companies. In this video you see and hear him. You also see and hear a whole lot of other people and some animals. The whole show runs almost 2 hours and 20 minutes, but be sure to stay for part 3 as the UFO/Horror author, Whitley Streiber, teams up with my old star, Donna Kerness to reveal exclusive revelations on the ‘visitor’ experience. See this video… then read their books — and pray it’s not true!”‘ — George Kuchar

George Kuchar talks about Secrets of the Shadow World

 

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Butter Balls (2003)
‘To counteract the talkie I had done with graduate student the day before, this undergrad project has no dialogue but just a steady stream of images we dreamed up on the spot. A psychodrama that’s heavy on the beefcake, our picture deals with the sexual dementia of a sex addict undergoing hypnotherapy. It’s a mixture of fantasy and desire with some animals thrown in and lots of strange angles of the leading actor’s attributes.’ — George Kuchar

the entire film

 

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Dynasty of Depravity (2005)
‘This European flavored melodrama depicts a fictional country of refined manners and debased desires that explode into chaos, sending its prodigal son into the pit of 20th Century technology. That technology externalizes his hidden beauty just as he tries to hide the heritage of horror which was the curse of his lineage. That curse now threatens the already damned.’ — George Kuchar

the entire film

 

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Water Sports (2007)
‘A trip to the Marin headlands at the Golden Gate of San Francisco Bay headlines this video diary. The viewer gets to eves and eye drop on various verbal and real time activities that are of a wet nature now and then. There’re boats and bodies and some spoken unspeakables amid the splendor of natural and unnatural expressions befitting the rim of a pacific paradise at low tide.’ — andyrod0077

the entire film

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** jay, Hi. I guess if nature or whoever built those spiders specifically to eat hummingbirds, they’re not evil. But, by the same logic, mosquitos wouldn’t be evil, but they are! Oh, right, I did like ‘Dogtooth’. I forgot he did that. I’ve only kind of read the headlines of the violently negative reviews of ‘Kindness’, but they seem to be saying it’s overly cynical and too deliberately provocative in the sense of giving away the game in a condescending way or something? So I guess they’re heady, I guess, sort of. It’s on my favorite illegal streaming site so I’m going to kick back with it with my mental cache emptied. ** Dominik, Hi!!! I know, it’s like the plot of one of those 60s’ American TV series. Thank you googling that. I honestly was very curious. It seems the head jerk would blur the vision, but I’m not a pigeon. I’m not even a stool pigeon. I’ll use love’s superpower, thanks. I’m actually really into writing the new film script right now, and that superpower won’t have any problem finding a receptive vehicle in me. Love remixing a song’s remix until it sounds like the original, G. ** _Black_Acrylic, The mural is kind of nice. Oh, gosh, did France win? Really, everyone’s so consumed with the election tomorrow that it’s like normal things are hardly even happening. ** Jack Skelley, We are born! And so are our covers! And … I got my copy of ‘Myth Lab’ yesterday. It’s so wee. It’s an adorable thing. I can’t stop cuddling it. Wow, cool about the instagram Flunkermania. I don’t know if I’m glad I’m not witnessing that or not. Sad not to see you tonight, but what’s a week in the world shaking lives of us? Does it mean something different when you put the ‘o’ before the ‘x’? I’m going to find out. ox, Dennis (Oh, it spells ox!) ** Lucas, Hi, Lucas. And that is precisely what I will do. I always seem to wait too long to buy concert tickets, so I should probably grab the Xiu Xius now. I hope this weekend fully kills off your flu. Seems likely, no? It’s good to think/know you’re getting better, for sure, but sometimes there’s something ineffable in the primitivism of things you made when you were less skilled that’s beautiful and that you can’t really see because your concentration is on getting better, all of which is to say at least keep the older stuff in a file and don’t delete it because you might come around to seeing its charms one day. ‘Blue of Noon’ is my second favorite Bataille fiction. There’s that beautiful green again. It really almost makes me want to eat it. The weather remains bizarrely nice. It’s strange. Okay, I’m going to move ‘Barbarian’ down my future watch list then, but not eliminate it entirely. That’s better. Have a productive and heavily bouncing back-oriented weekend! xoxo, me. ** James Bennett, Hi, James. It wasn’t a tough choice for me. Just the ceiling of Hell alone was a clincher. Oh, gosh, I like everything about ‘Lancelot du Lac’. It was the first Bresson film I saw, and it changed my life permanently, or my writing permanently at the very least. If I started saying what I love about it, I wouldn’t know how to stop. Okay, I do think the jousting scene, along with the Mr.-Amberson-assesses-his-life scene in ‘Magnificent Ambersons’, are my picks for the greatest scenes in the history of cinema. I’m very happy it pulled you in. And you have a splendid weekend too! ** Sypha, Well, of course I think you should slot it into your novel. Just describing those clubs’ interiors alone seem up your talent’s alley. ** Daniel, Aw, thank you so, so much for saying that, Daniel. That means really a lot. You know I hold your mind and being in the highest regard. xo, Dennis. ** nat, Most things are better imagined, it seems to me. Pretty tempting and open category. Nice verbiage too. My copies of ‘Flunker’ are now somewhere in France itself, according to tracking, so I might just beat you to it. You know Kier’s stuff. Kier did the cover of my novel ‘I Wished’. The photographs of Norway we took did not nail its particular magnificence. I think scale is a big part of it? I hope you make it to Monday happily. ** Steve, my deep condolences on the heat/humidity, need I even say. Disney would fuck/cute-sify l’Enfer, but a rogue Disney Imagineer … that’s a whole other thing. That could totally work. Where to install it though. In the original location, duh. The supermarket interloper on the property would be no loss. I’m into the new film script, so I’ll probably work on that a lot this weekend. Re: the election, the Far right is going to win the most Parliamentary seats pretty much for certain. The giant hope is that the temporary alliance between the Left and the Center Right, and the consequent strategising, will be enough to keep them from gaining a majority big enough that a Far Right person would have to be installed as Prime Minister, because that would be a huge disaster. At the moment, it looks like the alliance strategy will work, and that outcome is the best everyone’s hoping for, and that would be a happy result. ** Harper, Oh, yeah, for sure, writers, and, well, artists in general, go in and out of fashion unpredictably, and if Apollinaire is on the rise, that’s good and a good sign. Hope so. I mean, when Kathy Acker died, there were some years there when she was quite forgotten. I co-edited her Selected Works book soonish after her death, and there was no interest in it at all. But then she gradually became the big deal she is now. It’s interesting, those currents. ‘Superliminal’ sounds great, and it’s on my list for my imminent reengagement with my Switch. Thank you! All seemingly very true: your thoughts on l’Enfer and nostalgia and movements. Online revolutions are certainly easier, but they’re a little dry, but dry can work. ** Justin D, Hi. Thank you so much, Justin. I’m super touched. Really, thank you, that means a lot. I hope you have/had a really fruitful weekend. Anything out of the ordinary cross your path or even anything pleasingly ordinary? xo. ** Oscar 🌀, I’ve never played Worldle, so you’re one up on me. I like seeing the little mysteriously organised colored boxes in my social media feed. Ha ha. As for you, …. Hi! I don’t know what the later ‘Animal Crossings’ are like, but, in the first one, when you stop playing for a few days and return, the townsfolk are all freaked out and kind of pissed off that you left, and they guilt trip you and tell you everything is horrible because of you and stuff. I think I’m too sensitive to objectify that appropriately. I’ve not played either ‘Dark Souls’ or ‘Firewatch’. Heavily noted. Did you ever play the Gamecube game ‘Eternal Darkness’? That was incredible. The player kept going insane and hallucinating, like walking through walls and getting trapped in the game’s behind-the-scenes internal structure, and the game would fuck with you and suddenly say your controller was unplugged and you had 10 seconds to plug it back in or lose your game, and lots of things like that. Amazing. I remain shocked that they never made sequels. No, we’re still good, weatherise. Not as good as you. 16-19 degrees … my mind is doing the cerebral equivalent of drooling. Max that out for me. ** Right. Two separate people have recently asked me to restore the blog’s old George Kuchar Day because the original had become totally decimated by dead imbeds and other internet time-based tomfoolery, so I have done that and even expanded it a little. I hope I have made the right decision. See you on Monday.