* (restored)

 

Italo disco is a dance music genre that’s never afraid to let its feelings show, and the tearjerking Italo ballad is perhaps the purest expression of the form. I don’t know if maybe this style is the legacy of Italy’s great operatic tradition but anyway, I’ve long had a love for these exquisite songs of heartbreak and pain. The music’s hardly danceable in any conventional sense and the sounds all serve to create a feeling that’s hard for me to define. There’s usually a profound disjuncture between the big emotional force of the lyrics and the limited technological means at the musicians’ disposal. The whole package creates an effect that I find to be both uncanny and psychedelic. I hope this playlist might provide a way in, so see if you can feel it:

 

Dario Dell’Aere – Eagles In The Night

Dario Dell’Aere is a New Wave musician, producer and singer from Milan, Italy. At the end of the 1970’s Dario performed in a mime show that was influenced by the glam cliches of David Bowie. In 1979, Dario met Victor Life outside a cinema and began a lifelong collaboration of projects: Diamond Dogs, Ice Eyes and Fockewulf 190. Musically, the duo were inspired by the Human League’s “Reproduction” and John Foxx’s “Metamatic” and visually they took cues from New Romantic’s Visage and Ultravox. With the Fockewulf 190 moniker, they created their own dark blend of Italo disco releasing the hit singles “Gitano” and “Body Heat” in 1984.

By the end of 1984 the duo took a break and Dario went into the studio and recorded his debut solo single “Eagles In The Night”. One of the most coveted Italo Disco 12”s, it was released in 1985 on Market Records. The song features unique xylophone-like synthesizer notes that Dario’s deep vocals float over. Lyrically, the song is about a spirit that flies above the heights of the world in search of a true love to share with a partner. Clocking in at over 8-minutes of melancholic, the song’s mid-tempo kitsch comes with backing vocals from Dario’s sister, Nora Dell’Aere. On the B-side is the shorter instrumental version with the occasional “oh wacky co-co” refrains from Dario.
https://anost.net/en/Products/Dario-Dell-Aere-Eagles-In-The-Night/

I love this song so much.. His strong, dark voice drives me …going crazy.. Dance with me..
Italogirl1000

 

Fockewulf 190 – Body Heat

Victor Life

The story of Fockewulf 190 started when you and Dario (Dell’Aere) met outside a cinema in Milan in 1979. Can you tell us about how the band evolved from there and what those early years were like?

Full of enthusiasm, we had the power of seducing everyone who got in touch with us, especially the dandy guys from the Taxy Club, the historic New Romantic club in Milan where we used to play live. Everything seemed possible for Fockewulf 190… immediately a crew of fans made us like their little stars.

By 1984 it seems as if there had become a greater mystical element in your music, in tracks like ‘Gitano’ and ‘Body Heat’, and of course you enjoyed greater commercial success in other countries during this time too. Can you tell us about the message you were trying to convey in your music, and also how the band were treated by the Italian music industry at this point?

1984 wasn’t crucial only for us, but also for an entire generation brought up in 1977 between the energy of Punk and the electronics of Kraftwerk, the glorious dreams of the The Thin White Duke and the New Romanticism of synth-pop. The last wave before the end, like in the best apocalyptic prophecies, for us could be only linked to the electronic and futuristic mysticism, philosophically esoteric, imperial in its theatrical shape and plasma’d by oriental sounds. The idea was to re-unite the different styles into one centre of gravity, something so strong in spirit, soul and body, to not leave space for anyone else, recreating something mythological like the Ziggy Stardust era.

Not even the great Bowie himself, who wrote the best mythology of the sci-fi rock, managed to have such an extreme vision… the last link, the final chapter of the Diamond Dogs legend. That was our idea and in the scene they were talking a lot about us, but nobody had the guts to seriously invest in our band, not even the ones who considered us the new Rockets. In the end being Italian, as I said before, was a curse that made us live in a cage, not even made of gold… more or less a silver one!
http://magicwavesradio.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/interview-victor-life-of-fockewulf-190.html

Great melody, synths and Fred Ventura´s performance. Italoclassic! ****
mvalvee5

 

Flexx – Love Theme From Flexxy-Ball

‘Zeit’ was your first song under name Fred Ventura, but earlier you you had project ‘Flexx’ and the song ‘You’ll Never Change (Theme From Flexyball)’. What is ‘Flexyball’? Movie? Could you tell us a little bit more about it?

It was just a fantasy we had in the studio when we were recording the track in october 1983, there is no movie and no soundtrack, just a funny idea….

Fred, who was or were your inspiration(s)?

A lot of different music and artists, not only dance music even if I felt a natural need to make danceable music, but my biggest influences were Joy Division, New Order, Giorgio Moroder, Bobby O, The Human League, Patrick Cowley, Kraftwerk, D.a.f, Etienne Daho…..

You sang the song ‘Bodyheat’ by Fockewulf 190. Did you know this is someone else song? Can you tell more about this please?

Turatti asked me to write a melody and lyrics for the Fokewulf track, they didn’t like the original version, I simply wrote it and sing it in few hours, nothing else, it was very easy to do it and now I love the track more than ever…
http://www.italo-interviews.com/FredVentura_2.html

This release would fit the genre, and definitely is among the italo freaks, classic italo disco. Nevetheless, it’s just an excellent piece of early 80’s italo disco history.

Electro ballad a like song with strong vocals sung by one of the finest italo disco voices, Fred Ventura, telling the story, told millions of times, and giving a man’s point of view regarding an heartache, will, difference and a need.

I love the arrangement of the song. It’s epic, full journey, like a song mixing from ballad to another synthetic dimension.

That’s exactly what italo is all about. You can always expect surprises and miracles, personal mental explosion.

At the end of the song it just goes wild, Fred Ventura has done his vocal job and has left the building, leaving space for synthesizers to create a spacey atmospheric world of italo disco arpeggiators.

I just love it. It’s excellent.
GeorgeSpruce
https://www.discogs.com/Flexx-Love-Theme-From-Flexxy-Ball-Youll-Never-Change-No-More/release/387820?ev=rr

 

Flying D.J. – Marilyn

Marzio Benelli

easily my favourite Italo-Disco song of all times. A true gem.
cocabots

 

Sensitive – Driving

It is so easy and so difficult at the same time to review a breath taking masterpiece like this one… What can we say about this song except that it is the best possible example of Italo perfection. Well, at least in my personal opinion. It is loaded with a lot of emotions going through some sadness, melancholy and fragility all in a very refined way with a dark and boosted up galloping baseline. The instruments are just perfect and well thought, and the vocals, well, they maybe are even better.. All the ingredients were there to create something that won’t be forgotten in the years that would follow.

Knowing this, it could be remarkable, but this song is bringing you exactly in the mood you want to be and so it doesn’t have to be a sad or melancholic mood. Me for example I just get very happy with it, tons of emotions and goosebumps from the deepest! It was their very first official release as a group and their love for the music is really painted on that song. You’re feeling that devotion till the very last second.
Weird that it never broke glasses into the charts back in the day.. Maybe because of the tons of releases that came out in a very short period of time in that area, but anyway, it’s a real pleasure to see and discover that it finally gets the popularity it deserves!

A truly wonderful production from David Zambelli, but most of the credits goes to the real creators of it: Sergio Bonzanni as the composer & Salvatore Pileggi on the vocals. Gigi Vavassori gets the same credits for his help in creating this wonderful piece of musical history! The song was recorded in 1983 at the Regson Sound Studios in Milan (Italy), the day after Scotch recorded there famous ‘Disco Band’. The instruments used in the song are an Elka Synthex, a Korg Poly 61 and a E-mu Drumulator. The picture on the sleeve is Sergio Bonzanni in the studio together with Salvatore Pileggi.

Definitely my absolute favorite song of all time!! No words could EVER describe this song as it should be…
Aftering_at_my_way
https://www.discogs.com/Sensitive-Driving/release/422118

 

Decadance – On And On

Franco Rago and Gigi Farina (a.k.a. Atelier Folie, ‘Lectric Workers, Expansives, Decadance, Wanexa, Pleasure Discipline, Message from the Future)

“On And On (Fears Keep On)” is a total masterpiece production in the italo disco genre. The same people behind ‘Lectric Workers and many other infamous italo projects present us with this song under the alius of ‘Decadance’. The song shares male/female vocals – the male has a very heavy Italian accent, while the female vocals are probably the best example of just how amazing an italo song could be. All in all, this is a very dark song and is something like a love song meets electro-synth crossover. I love this song so much and don’t doubt it’s level of demand one bit.
magic00
https://www.discogs.com/Decadance-On-And-On-Fears-Keep-On/release/94807

 

Paul Paul – Burn On The Flames

Fred Ventura

I waited too much
I’ve wasted my time
I’m looking at shadows on the wall of my room
The beat of my heart is so tired to run
The pictures of her make me feel so alone

Burn on the flames! Walk on the flames!

I’ve wasted my youth
I’ve cried too much
Life is so hard and so full of troubles
I make my choice, my mind is still late
I wanna forget from the people I saw.

Burn on the flames! Walk on the flames!
Burn on the flames! My life, my life Burn on the flames! My life, my life Euh-euh-euh.

The night is so clear
My booze is soaked up
I’m looking for something for the bottom of my heart
The silence around sound to me like a theme
And they like it fire alone in the dessert

Burn on the flames! Walk on the flames!

I’ve wasted my youth
I’ve cried too much
Life is so hard and so full of troubles
I make my choice, my mind is still late
I wanna forget from the people I saw.

Burn on the flames! Walk on the flames!
Burn on the flames! My life, my life Burn on the flames!
My life, my life Burn on the flames!
My life, my life Burn on the flames!
My flames, my flames Burn on the flames! My life, my life

 

Hélicon – You … See

All around, “You… See” is one of the finest Italo Disco songs ever created. This one is very beautiful, VERY beautiful! Male/female vocals, softer beat, instrumentation is just perfect. This is definately top 10 for my favorite Italo Disco songs of all time! This song does it for me everytime, always and forever an Italo gem!
magic00
https://www.discogs.com/H%C3%A9licon-You–See/release/299967

 

Felli – Diamond In The Night

Gianfranco Felli

“Diamond In The Night” is a true classic and will rank forever among my favourites. I love it how the refrain changes from “Your love doesn’t shine” to “Let your love shine” in the progress of the song.
latscho
https://www.discogs.com/Felli-Diamond-In-The-Night/release/346417

 

Savage – Don’t Cry Tonight

Roberto Zanetti aka Savage

Were you inspired by some artists to make Italo disco? For example, High-energy music existed before Italo-disco, one could say that Italo is the child of High-energy in some way (a logical continuation of disco music). You know who Bobby Orlando and Patrick Cowley are. Did they have some influence on you ?

Of course they influenced me. as you state Italo disco is an evolution of High-energy. I think our style is a medley between the High-energy’s sound and the Italian melodies.

The year 1983 is far away from us now. Your first single was Don’t Cry Tonight. How did you compose this song ?

I was in a blue, sad moment of my life. the melody went out from the deep of my soul. It was written in five minutes.

Italo disco is a very nice and strong music. Your song Don’t Cry Tonight in an example of a beautiful, soft song, a very good song for our heart and soul, for our thoughts. Italo disco in general is the most beautiful music in the world, don’t you think so?

Yes, I agree. Many thanks for you compliments.
http://www.italo-interviews.com/Savage1st.html

I Loved, I love you and I will love you forever! I remember with this song!
doge663

 

Mike Rogers – Just A Story

I can listen to a recording day and night, thanks to this amazing recording who created it many thanks
yakyle9

 

Marc Line – You Can Break My Heart

Marcello Catalano

Probably one of the most coruscating Marcello Catalano’s jewels, as much smooth for the ears as it is not to be found at every street’s corner ! A record seemingly that’s worth the price.
vinylric

 

Moskow – Come Back

Angelo Valsiglio

Unlike others, I love this song because it’s beautiful and, for me it doesn’t matter if the record is 10 cent the euro or 3000.

Clear and easy-to-understand vocals (you’re an Italo, I don’t want you to be clear), excellent drums programming (lots double kicks but why that snare ? ok..), wonderful melody and sounds/effects during the song.

** You might like the Instr. version more

Is that record worth the money for a “love” song ? you decide..
MyMine
https://www.discogs.com/Moskow-Come-Back/release/216797

 

G.J. Lunghi – Acapulco Nights

Such an absolutely perfect song. The keyboard hook and lead female vocals are especially outstanding. Owwww!!!
beagletender

 

Lame’ – You’ve Got The Night

Thank you for sharing this with me Triggerfs, I have been listening to this song in my room for the last 5 hours having an emotional breakdown. This track breaks my heart two ways, first the percussion through the track.. amazing.. The final destruction to my soul comes at 3:27ish when he starts beckoning to her, and then the final “but if you want it, you got it….” and thats when the tears pour out….
partyeffectsdotbiz6

 

The Hurricanes – Only One Night

Tess

If you haven’t heard this Italo classic, then hear it! The intro from 0:17 gives me goosebumps and the voice is wonderful. One of my absolute favorites ever. Produced by Tess (aka Fancy).
webhamster
https://www.discogs.com/Hurricanes-Only-One-Night/release/126243

 

93rd Superbowl – Forever And A Day

Great and crazy synth action, wonderful long break in the middle, this song has it all for me. One of my personal favorites that never left my head since the first time I heard it. Pitch it up a little for maximum effectiveness!
https://www.discogs.com/93rd-Superbowl-Forever-And-A-Day/release/518476

 

Ventura – Another Time

Bruno Tavernese

One that grew on me a lot over the years, with solid production (as always) from the master Bruno Tavernese.
The singer is not out of tune at all, she has a powerful husky voice which I love.
One of few italo 12″ maxis with great (different) songs on both sides, actually the b-side “Another Time” is better for me.
Be sure to watch the incredible and spirited video performance of that one.. what a stage presence!
hysteric
https://www.discogs.com/Ventura-Touched/master/120549

 

Jules – I Want To…

Simply amazing.
My Number One in the Top Ten!!.
TheItalodancers

 

Ghery M & Ocean D – Love’s Emotions

VERY NICE!!!!!

 

George Gray – Life

Those many italo songs I have searched, I havent found. Instead of all that I found this thanks to Qlee Italo Disco Radio. and RSDH in Holland. And I am thankful for it. There is very little music like these. Its not about sounds, lyrics and arrangement only, but how it makes me feel due to the all about this itself.

It also seems more than just mainstream italo ( which was made for money).
alexelaist3

 

Lisa G. – Call My Name

Another wonderful 80s italo disco masterpiece! The intro has a Very cutting crew “I just died in your arms” feel imo. Lisa g”s vocals are quite lovely and the over all production Is flawless!
garyvictor
https://www.discogs.com/Lisa-G-Call-My-Name/release/561437

For my friend and DJ colleague Scott Duncan aka Il Discotto who introduced me to so much of this wonderful music.

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi!!! My pleasure. Yeah, I just found it interesting to read the TJ Lane post backwards, so you start with the ‘evil’ him and inevitably look for its signs in the earlier him, which distorts how you see him, or something. Yay, Nancy Sinatra. One of my boyfriends was obsessed with her and played her albums practically 24 hours a day. We can’t tell our left from right, But we know we love extremes, Getting to grips with the ups and downs, Because there’s nothing in between, G. ** Misanthrope, I can see that, about Joe. Poor Joe. Poor us. ** _Black_Acrylic, His book is so good and fun, right? Someone said there’s a sequel, but I’ve never seen it. Look just above, pal! ** James, I’m pretty sure those British-ly named painted places were/are in fact in the UK. He was a very big Anglophile. I was thrown out of prep school. It wasn’t particularly fun or enviable, actually. Glad you dug him/it. You must have to pee a lot. My parents wrote, but they didn’t read. My dad wrote terrible rhyming poems, and my mom, who was pretty wack, believed she had an invisible spiritual guide named Phillip and she was always transcribing messages and words of wisdom from him. I’m hit and miss at bowling. I can be amazing for maybe ten minute spates and get strikes after strike, and then it’s just gutter ball after gutter ball. Writing or inspiration or whatever has a quirky tempo. You have to be ready when it’s in the mood. The link didn’t work, but I’ll look up that painting and revise it accordingly and try to see you. Finish the novel? I’m just prepping for my trip and having bon voyage coffees with certain pals. ** jay, Hi. Very happy to. Oh, okay, on the angelification. I’ve seen that sort of thing in manga. I guess it does get the point across. Big congrats on your dissertation movement forward! Heads up once we sort out a London screening. Probably not until after I get back from LA. The sorting part. Thank you being so kind and generous with HaRpEr. ** Steve, I only hope that your presence and intervention will finally get your parents situation under control and on the right track. But, yes, that sounds unbearably stressful. Very, very best luck with all of that. ** P, I’m a bit of an amusement park fanatic to say the least. I can’t remember if I read that Gil Cuadros book, but he’s really good, yeah. Nice. Yes, there was a person who commented all the time who decided to adopt a fake persona and comment here under that identity too. The fake identity was very manipulative and creepy, it turned out, and it caused kind of a big mess when the deceit was discovered, and I had to ask the commenter to never come back here again. I’m a trusting person, but when my trust is betrayed, I find it very hard to forgive. That happened maybe 10 years ago. Other commenters since might have been or might be ‘fake’, but not that I know of. I’m not suspicious about that sort of thing until I’m forced to be. Thank you asking that. ** Lucas, Hey, Lucas! Up with me: getting ready to go to LA and premiere the film. Busy with that. Interesting about ‘Hour of the Star’. Very cool that you got all of that from it. Yes, I too felt that about the hollowness thing. Yes. I’m happy you’re working on the story, and writing poems too. I can’t wait until I’m freed up enough again to write stuff. You sound good, pal. Hugs and xoxo. ** politekid, If the festival says no, we’ll find something else. Remind me about that theater possibility, and thank you. We won’t be able to start figuring London film stuff out until we’re back from LA, I don’t think. I do remember that about the nb Marxist. What doesn’t take an age longer than you think it will. Well, actually, a lot of things, what am I saying? I really liked ‘Neuromancer’. I had a period back in that day when I was reading all the Cyber Punk novels. Gibson seemed the best by far. And he’s a really nice guy. I did a reading with him once. I remember really liking the ‘Neuromancer’ sequel ‘Count Zero’ especially for some reason. Good about the PhD and do coast well when you do, which I’m certain you will. You seem like you’re probably really good at gliding when need be. And luck/curiosity about the Mhairi Vari collab. The headache inducing materials gathering/lawyer part of the visa thing is over. Now it’s just fear about not getting it. Everyone thinks I will, but, if I don’t, things would get difficult, so, gulp. Kali Malone is playing the night after we arrive. I will be massively too jet-lagged to go, unfortunately, but I think Zac, who luckily doesn’t get jet-lag, is going. Mostly the LA plan its to try to schmooze or whatever to construct a future for the film. Otherwise, see friends, art, an amusement park or two. What’s your today and tomorrow? ** HaRpEr, Right, the signed books, that’s handy. So nice that you and jay figured something out. LA has become more expensive than Paris, which blows my mind. The reason I’m able to live on my savings and meager income is because I live really frugally, but our film’s ex-producer fucked us over and put the film in deep debt, so I had to put in money of my own to be able to finish the film, so I’m hurting from that. But I’ll be fine. Awesome that you saw ‘Luna’ and liked it. I love that film. I like pretty much all of the early Bertolucci films, but, yeah, I would watch ‘The Conformist’ next. It’s really great. Same here, on the ‘Ulysses’ find. I got to Henry Miller later, and I wasn’t very impressed by him. Although I remember thinking the first 15 or 20 pages of ‘Tropic of Cancer’ were good. ** Joshua, Hey Joshua! Agreed, about early Talking Heads. I saw them once when they were still a jittery trio, and it was sweet, yeah. ‘Eternal Darkness’! There must be some big rights issues with that game. I was so surprised there wasn’t a sequel, and I feel like it would be rebooted for Switch if it could be because the cult following is passionate. It’s a real shame, or that at least other games haven’t taken from that game’s crazy engine and run with it. The admin jobs sound interesting, or at least a way to do something noble while earning. What sort of music do you play? Are you a collaborator or an accompanist or … ? And cool about the zine. Me too, I love collaborating, or at least where you’re lucky enough to find true like minds. Have a terrific day! ** Justin D, My pleasure on the Hannah front, of course. I’m an apparently rare bird who doesn’t get or appreciate Pasolini’s films. I’ve tried and tried. I too find them silly and garish and clunky, but I also accept that I’m just not getting it. The film stuff will be most of the LA trip assuming we can parlay hopeful success into finding future opportunities while we’re there. Otherwise, just friends and seeing stuff and so on, I guess. This blog is very, very fortunate and lucky to have such an amazing group of people entering and commenting here. I’m blown away by how interesting and smart and talented and kind and everything else the blog’s ‘community’ is. You very included naturally. I feel really really lucky. ** Uday, Go for it. Okay, gotcha, about the reverse Guibert concept. Very fruitful sounding. Enjoy your day paranormally! ** Nicholas., Interesting, your bark-y walk. Barks can turn into growls in a heartbeat, so … Everyone, Nicholas. has added to his exciting website with ‘new editions on magic and anima stuff’. Follow the siren to here Oh, ‘and get your copy of my book if you haven’t yet,’ he says. I don’t like taking selfies, so I don’t take them. I do shoot people and things, not as much as I should. ** Tyler Ookami, Hi. I have been wary of ‘Mickey 17’ from the outset, partly for assumptions that match with your reports. I haven’t seen the ‘Terrifier’ films, but word among my friends who are fans is that #2 is the one for whatever reason. I am curious to see why they’re so popular. I doubt they’ll be featured in my impending in-flight entertainment unfortunately. ** Dan Carroll, Thanks, Dan. My memory is that you do in fact get to read ‘Cartoons’, or perhaps not the whole thing, I can’t remember. Funny, your positive review right after Tyler’s negative review of ‘Mickey 17’. Now I’m confused. But I like being confused. Thank you. ** Okay. Today I went back into the archives and breathed new life into _Black_Acrylic aka Ben Robinson’s generous foray into the particular joys and head rush capabilities of the Italo Tearjerker genre. Let’s all rise to our feet and enjoy the beats and emotional outputs, etc. together, what do you say? See you tomorrow.

 

‘The artist Duncan Hannah died at his house in Cornwall, Connecticut, on Saturday, June 11, lying on his favorite bed watching the 1962 film Les Parisiennes, an obscure tale of bohemians, musicians, playboys and love-lost French ladies—everything he enjoyed, not the least the obscurity.

‘This charming riverside cottage was looking at its very best. It was recently remodeled by his paramour of 30 years, Megan Wilson, a leading book designer; it was also packed with his collections of paintings, drawings, films, clothes, model soldiers, boats and planes, vintage advertising signs, music, and books.

‘Hannah’s life was run on generosity, to every sort of person and their equally varied creative work. A self-confessed fan of the old Hollywood mode whose passions were wide as deep, Hannah was an eternally curious lover of culture, both high and low, and of people, both the lofty and the low, and this large love for the world was much returned by we who people it.

‘It would take a book to tell of all the famous and infamous folk who Hannah knew throughout his rich existence, not least during his rocambolesque youth of drugs and drink, and there is indeed just such a volume, Twentieth Century Boy, a selection from his 1970s journals that’s as addictive as his life from that era. It’s an outrageous page-turner where our hero is either about to drop dead of whisky and cocaine or do a line with yet another downtown celeb.

‘Hannah started early as a lifelong fan. Growing up in Minneapolis, he was suitably excited to meet the drummer Gene Krupa and to get a letter from J. Edgar Hoover, not to mention maybe spotting Nabokov while holidaying in Switzerland. He was given his first joint by Janis Joplin, and he chatted with John Berryman on the very bridge from which he would later jump.

‘Thrown out of the prestigious Blake prep school, he was already an acid-head and serious drinker as a teen. By then, he’d already begun drumming in various local bands, most prominently the Hurricane Boys.

‘It must be explained that Hannah was also strikingly, dazzlingly beautiful, a gorgeous youth, and always remained preposterously good-looking, with a widely celebrated head of hair untouched by age. He also knew how to dress.

‘Thus it was hardly surprising he became a well-known local figure studying art at Bard and only accelerated the legend, pedal slammed, when he moved in the early ’70s to Manhattan, where he became everyone’s dream lover.

‘A central Hannah paradox was that he had all the beauty, panache, fashion flare and gossipy wit that defined homosexual society of that place and time while also being the most committed of heterosexuals. Indeed, he was an obsessive fan of certain actresses and no mean connoisseur of continental cult pornography.

‘The other paradox was that this impeccably suited and tied English gentleman, who ranked on best-dressed lists authored by everyone from Anna Wintour to Glenn O’Brien, was actually a key participant in the birth of the New York punk scene. He was a mainstay of CBGB and Max’s, he drummed with Television, he hung out with Nico at the Chelsea, he was proffered coprophilic pleasure by Lou Reed, or he introduced the young Talking Heads to his friend ‘Andy.’

‘Hannah’s stunning looks and charisma made him a natural actor. The cinema he so adored loved him right back, and he made a memorable debut with Debbie Harry in Amos Poe’s film Unmade Beds and its follow-up, The Foreigner, attending the Deauville Film Festival as a bona fide star, even appearing on stage with Gloria Swanson, Kirk Douglas, and King Vidor. Hannah happily carried on playing curious roles throughout his life whether for the avant-garde director Andrew Horn or playing a murder victim in Richard Kern’s short film for the artist Lucy McKenzie. Oddly enough, Hannah played a pervy photographer in Art for Teachers of Children in 1995 and then a photography professor in Hellaware in 2013.

‘At twenty Hannah had been to London to see the debut of Ziggy Stardust, backed by Roxy Music, and even hung out with Kit Lambert at the Marquee, and rock ‘n’ roll remained a mainstay of his life, continually committed to going to see artistes young and old, famous or just starting, unstoppable.

‘In fact, since becoming sober in 1984 (his commitment to AA came mainly because it saved his life, but also because the group offered a chance to hear stories from its intriguing and sometime famous fellow members), Hannah’s life was pleasingly fixed to a certain groove, an altogether rewarding routine.

‘He loved his New York club, the Century Association, and he loved taking people there for lunch, not to mention proposing his friends for membership. He loved going to the cinema and watching films and new TV series at home, he loved listening to music and going to concerts, he loved reading and also writing, to the extent of his voluminous and carefully maintained journals. But above all he loved painting every day, almost without fail.

‘The sheer range of characters and anecdotes in Hannah’s life story, his impossibly vast ‘back-catalogue’ of counter-culture encounters and adventures, somewhat interfered with a proper appreciation of his unique oeuvre as an artist.

‘Trained initially as an illustrator, he worked for Warhol’s Interview and designed T-shirts for another great friend, Anna Sui. Hannah’s knowledge of art and its practical techniques was nonpareil.

‘As much an ardent Anglophile as he was a fanatical Francophile, he loved Sickert, Whistler, William Orpen, Vallotton, Vuillard, and a host of lesser-known names, from Henry Lamb to Rodrigo Moynihan and Boutet de Monvel. Hannah’s paintings were often compared to Hopper, but their subject matter was rarely as American, his taste running to vintage cars, romantic European cityscapes complete with mysterious poised encounters, and above all beautiful women, cult movie stars such as Nova Pilbeam or Leonora Fani. Notably striking is a recent series of imaginary magazine covers, some with amusingly invented titles, which are the subject of a forthcoming volume from Dashwood Books.

‘Hannah’s generosity to the world was most evident in his interest in meeting and cultivating new people. At 69, he seemed oddly younger than many he befriended, and not just thanks to his notoriously dark hair but his eternal twinkle, the smile of it all. Nobody who met him and was lucky enough to be treated to a dose of his magic would forget him, considering him an eternal friend or brother long after.

‘This politeness, the good-manners and old-world charm, might be considered a legacy of Minneapolis, but his democratic, demotic openness to everything and everyone was very Manhattan, more specifically the New York School of poetry he so loved. He was a close friend of such key participants as Rene Ricard, Joe Brainard, Larry Fagin, and Tim Duglos, and a regular participant at the Poetry Project events, as well as an artist-illustrator to numerous chapbooks.

‘How suitable it is, then, that he should be conjured recently by Gerard Malanga in a memorial poem: “Duncan, / I guess you’ve left a blank wherever your presence stirred. / Just the thought of you not wholly imagined, / like I won’t be running into you at the corner newsstand…”

‘For myself, heartbroken, I think of Walt Whitman, the great-grandfather of the New York School, master of love and generosity (those two words yet again), and his ending lines from “Song of Myself”: “Missing me one place, search another; / I stop somewhere waiting for you.”’ — Adrian Dannatt

 

____
Further

Duncan Hannah @ Wikipedia
Duncan Hannah’s Blog
Duncan Hannah at Castillo/Corrales
PICTURING DUNCAN HANNAH, Part I
Duncan Hannah interviewed in 1982 by Simon Lane
Remembering Duncan Hannah
My brawl with Basquiat (and other wild nights in No Wave New York)
‘Duncan Hannah and Anna Taylor (1981)’
Duncan Hannah’s Seventies New York
Duncan Hannah works @ Paddle8
Duncan Hannah @ IMDb
‘The lady vanishes: Nova Pilbeam’
‘Le dandy Duncan Hannah’
‘Spotlight On Artist Duncan Hannah’

 

__________
The artist in his youth

 

___
Extras

Paradigm Presents Rear Window with Duncan Hannah

Trailer: ‘Unmade Beds’ (1976), starring Duncan Hannah & Deborah Harry

Trailer: ‘The Foreigner’ (1978), starring Duncan Hannah & Deborah Harry

An Afternoon With… Duncan Hannah

Inside Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine with Duncan Hannah

 

____________
Interview about Twentieth-Century Boy
by David Gordon

 

You didn’t look at these diaries for twenty years, right?

More. I never read them—six feet of journals. What finally happened was, I’ve got a friend who works for [rare-book dealer] Glenn Horowitz, and he saw them and said, You know, we could sell this. I thought, Oh, fuck, I should read them first, at least. And I should mine them for natural resources, because I have no idea what’s in there. So in the spring of 2016, I stopped painting, I got Microsoft Word—I think I got a new laptop, even.

I started with the first intact one, winter of 1970, because I thought, Okay, that’s good, it’s a new decade. But really with no ulterior motive other than to keep a copy of something I was going to sell. There was all this LSD drivel, just stream of consciousness. And then there’d be a nugget of a funny story and I’d go, Oh, that’s good. Some of it I remembered, some I didn’t, but it did start to come alive.

The list of people you wrote about is amazing. I guess, right off the bat: Lou Reed. Was that the first time you met him?

And the last. I mean, I’d see him around, but he didn’t recognize me. But that song, “Rock and Roll,” I first heard it on an FM station in Minneapolis, driving in my car, and it was an epiphany. Euphoria. Such a rush. So when I saw him at Max’s Kansas City I thought, That’s the guy! What happened was a great lesson in the dangers of hero worship.

What happened?

There was this small room downstairs with a velvet rope, so you had to stick your head in and see if somebody waved you over. I was sitting with [Stooges and Ramones manager] Danny Fields and Fran Lebowitz, who was nineteen and just the same as she is now, funny and grumpy. She got up to leave and Danny said, Louis! Louis! So Lou Reed came over, Danny introduced me, and he didn’t pay any attention. He started talking about this and that, he wanted to kick Lester Bangs’ balls in, he’d just seen Peter Wolf and Faye Dunaway fucking at the Chateau Marmont while he was with Iggy, he’d just auditioned the MC5 drummer for his band, you know, just kind of Lou Reed stuff. Then he started talking about Raymond Chandler, and that summer I’d read all of Chandler. I thought, Oh, I can talk about this. So I said, “Yeah, I love that, and that bit he actually cribbed from Hammett, except it wasn’t in The High Window, it was in The Little Sister.” And this just stopped Lou in his tracks and he said, “Danny, she’s talking.” And Danny said, “Yeah, she talks.” I felt chastened, so I shut up and he went on, and then I did it again, I said, “Oh! I know! And then there’s that great switch!” And he said, “Danny, she’s doing it again.” And Danny said, “Well, she’s a big reader.” And he said, “Where did you find her?” “I found her at the Waldorf. The New York Dolls had a Halloween party.” And I was thinking, Okay, so they’re talking about me like I’m not here, A. And B, I’m a she! And I thought, Oh, well. What do I know? This is their clubhouse and I’m just a visitor. I’ll see where this goes.

And where did it go?

Danny got up to get cigarettes, and “Walk on the Wild Side” came on and I said, “Hey, do the ‘doop-de-do’s with me!” And Lou Reed said, “Are you fucking kidding me?” And I said, “No, come on.” So he started doing it! We were going, doop, de, do, de, do …” And then he just started laughing, like he was incredulous. Then he said, “You look like David Cassidy. Do you like David Cassidy?” And I said no. And he said, “I do.” And he said, “Do you belong to Danny?” And I said, “No, Danny’s my friend.” And then he said, “I’ll tell you what. I have a hotel room nearby. Why don’t we go there and you can be my little David Cassidy? Would you like that?” And I said no. And he said, “Well how ’bout this? We’ll go there and you can shit in my mouth. Would you like that?” And I said no. And he said, “How about I’ll put a plate on my face and you can shit on that and then I’ll eat it? How would you like that?” And I said, “Yeah, I wouldn’t like that.” And then he just stared at me and said, “You’ll be missing me tonight,” and left. I was just sitting there thinking, Wow, that was so not what I thought was going to happen. Then Danny came over all excited and said, “Lou’s in love with you!” I said, “How do you know?” He said, “I just saw him in the men’s room—he told me.” I said, “You know what he just asked me to do? He asked me to shit in his mouth!” And Danny said, “Didn’t you want to?” And I said, “No! What’s wrong with you people?” So that was my introduction to Lou Reed. He was going through a bad time, I guess.

Do you want to tell me about meeting Dalí? It was such a funny story but I was confused about the end.

There is an end to it, which I couldn’t put in, because I heard about it ten years later. I was at an Interview magazine Valentine’s Day party, and I was really drunk. Amanda Lear, who was Bryan Ferry’s girlfriend, came over to me. She was blond, looked like a European movie star, and she sat next to me and started scolding me, “Dahling, you’re so drunk.” Anyway, she was part of Dalí’s entourage and would I model? I said, “Sure,” in my drunken way. A week later she called and said, “Meet me at the St. Regis and you’ll meet Dalí.” So we’re having a drink in the Old King Cole room and it was happy hour, so it was crowded with tourists and wealthy businessmen, and suddenly in the doorway in a gold cape was Dalí with his eyes bugged out and his crazy mustache. And the noise in the bar went down. And then he proclaimed, “Dalí is here!” And it went silent. So he strides over waving a cane around, completely preposterous. And Amanda says, “This is Duncan Hannah.” So he sits down next to me and says, “Yes! So you are going to be an angel for Dalí.” And I said, “Sure.” And then he said, “But wait! Do you have hair on your chest?” And I said, “No, I don’t.” He said, “Ah, this is good. Dalí does not paint angels with hair on their chests.” And then he said, “But wait! Are you a professional model?” And I said, “No, I’m not.” And he said, “Ah, good! Because Dalí does not paint professional models.” And then he said, “But then what is it that you do?” And I said, “I’m an art student.” And he said, “Ah! Then you love Dalí!” And I said, “Oh, yeah, we’re all crazy about you down at art school,” which was a complete lie because everybody just thought he was kitchiest, worst painter ever.

Then Amanda took me up to her room. She was changing for dinner and it was dark and she was toying with me like a cat with a mouse. She gets down to her underwear and I’m thinking, What’s going on here? Then the phone rang; it was Bryan Ferry from Toronto, and I just adored Bryan Ferry, and I could hear him saying, “Who’s there?” “Oh, just a beautiful boy …” And he’s going, “What beautiful boy?” And I was thinking, Bryan Ferry’s jealous of me, yay! But then she had to go, Rod Stewart was sitting in the lobby. She called the next Sunday and said, “You have to come up to my room to watch The Ballad of Cable Hogue.” I said, “Sorry, I have to do my homework.” And she said, “This is Amanda, baby. When Amanda snaps her fingers, you come.” And I said, “I know, but I still have to do my homework.” Then she got really mad, saying, “This is it, unless you get up here right now”—which seemed like stud service—”you can forget about modeling for Dalí!” So I said, “Fine, I’m not coming.” Bang!

So anyhow, years later I had a new friend who was very campy, and he mentioned modeling for Dalí and I said, “What? Were you enlisted by Amanda Lear?” And he said, “Yeah, it was complete bullshit. I went up to their suite. There was Dalí sitting in the far corner. But it was all about Gala, his wife. She had me stand on a desk and strip down to my BVDs and there were all these hangers-on milling around being fabulous but Gala was the only one who was concentrated on the model, the angel. And she goes, ‘Why don’t you masturbate, dear boy?’ ” He was creeped out by the whole thing. He said, “I ain’t jacking off for you, lady!” And so he got down and put his clothes back on and said fuck you to everybody. And I said, “Did you even get paid?” He goes, “No! It was supposed to be fifty bucks, but I wasn’t going to jack off for fifty bucks for this old bag.” And that was the thing: all this modeling for Dalí was about Gala’s voyeurism. Because he was … I don’t know what he was.

You’re such a good observer even though you’re young and starstruck. Like with Andy Warhol, at one point you say, “I don’t think he knows he’s Andy Warhol.”

I noticed that he just deflected everything, like it was all about you. He just projected out. And I thought, That’s it! He just removes the Warhol from Warhol. I mean he never was given to reflecting on his past, or even his present, he was just like an antenna or something, a receiver.

 

___
Show

Small Sorrows (2005)

 

Winter is Blue (2011)

 

Lee Remick as Temple Drake (2010)

 

Thames Valley (2010)

 

The Second Mrs. DeWinter (2007)

 

Punting on the Cam (2010)

 

The Loom of Youth (2011)

 

 

Nova Sleeping (2005)

 

Love’s Young Dream (2005)

 

 

Prince & Princessa (2009)

 

The Mystic Twig (2009)

 

 

The Weekend Mystery (2008)

 

By the Sea (2010)

 

Dora (2010)

 

Gamine (2010)

 

Isabelle (2010)

Bugatti 1924, Cap-d’Antibes (2011)

 

Nova (2005)

 

John and Jane (2007)

 

 

En Route (2007)

 

 

Europe (1980)

 

Misadventure (2011)

Air Boat (1996)

 

Blowup (2004)

 

Little Angel (2005)

 

Mykonos (2009)

 

Upper Fifth (2009)

 

Monica’s green coat (2011)

 

Orpheus and Eurydice (2008)

 

 

Regarding Rosemary (2006)

 

The Ascent (2012)

 

Spy Story (2008)

 

The Green Hat (2003)

 

The Partisan (2013)

 

The Shipwreck Boys (2004)

 

The Shipwreck Boys in Yorkshire (2006)

 

The Shipwreck Boys on Regents Canal (2008)

 

 

Fireflies (2013)

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** politekid, Hey, O! How lovely to see you! You’ve had the ‘Out 1’ experience. Rite of passage, that one. And you’re still sparkling. I’m good. Uh, gosh, life has been pretty fully ‘RT’ related and impacted by a visa thing I have to apply for, gulp, and little else, honestly. But life will return to a more random-like thing to some degree post-premiere, I think. ‘RT’ is submitted to a London film festival. Not a ton of hope it’ll get in, but we’ll show it in London for absolutely sure. We’ve just been too busy to figure out what the options are. But, yes, count on it. Sad state of affairs that it took two years to get you a subscriber, but surely word of mouth will have you going viral and sorry you ever volunteered for such a thing soonish. You generally good? How are your projects going? Ace to lock texts with you, pal. ** _Black_Acrylic, Haha. Oops, Surely the loss is a mere blip and fluke. Sorry, though. But still. ** Misanthrope, Awesome! Don’t be deterred. ** jay, Hey. I like how when you get to the big reveal at the end, you can go back and see all the signs of it coming. Dude’s poker face was not very persuasive. Angel surgically … so just the expected implanting of wings and maybe some ‘beatific’ sculpting facial surgery and so on? I can’t wait for you to see the film too. We’ll sort it. Hope I’ll get to see you again pre-liftoff. ** James Bennett, Thanks, James! Gosh, I hope so on the premiere success. It’s a strange film, but I think likeably so? We’ll see. That is exciting news about the DIY press! Great! All the encouragement possible from me re: that. ‘Inland Empire’, yes, so true. If I don’t get to see you again pre-vacation, I hope your weeks ahead are super rich. ** Nick Toti, Hi, Nick! Oh, wow, it’d be really nice to see you there. I’ll know my schedule, whatever it is, better after I land and check in with the festival planners, so hit me up after Friday, if that works. And ideally I hope to see your screening. Nice, man. ** Dominik, Hi!!! I liked how he couldn’t quite manage to hide his ‘evil’ no matter how hard he seemed to be trying. Thanks so much about the film. Gin Wigmore … you’re introducing me to all sorts of brand new (to me) entities. I’ll go listen. (Are) we in love like I think we be?, It Ain’t a long rhyme, It took ages to think, I think I’ll hurl it in the water, baby…, G. ** PL, Hi there. Wow, memorable first kiss. Nice that it was so complicated. Nice to be in charge. Hm, no, I don’t remember my first kiss. Must’ve been pretty glancing or something. Huh. ‘Strait-Jacket’, oh, right. I agree about her performance off the top of my head. She was definitely best when she was ludicrous. I can’t remember any jokes about my work. I guess they weren’t very funny, or they were behind my back. I think my work is ripe for jokes? I do like House Music. I don’t wilfully play it much at all, but I like when I’m somewhere and it fills the air. You do, I’m safely assuming? ** James, Blog returns your hello. Glad he riled you up. Or glad to observe the results of your riled up-ness. My parents didn’t read, and our ‘library’ was full of books they bought in bulk at thrift stores intended to make them look like they read, but I did find ‘Ulysses’ wedged in there at a tender age. Dennis is actually my middle name, legally. My egomaniac dad gave me his name, and I ended up being called my middle name to distinguish us in conversation. Bowling, nice. I hope to go bowling when I’m in LA. Lightest ball possible, please. I think I like every nut, but maybe not much almonds. Yes, I suppose consistent is a better term than hard. How does one ‘kind of’ look like someone in a painting? Whoever said that must have been afraid to commit to his opinion. Have an exploding day. ** Steve, Hi. Um, it would be good to meet with distributors in LA. I’m not sure. Yes, the Mahmoud Khalil arrest is deeply shocking and horribly unsurprising. I hope he has good lawyers because that really seems like an illegal act, as if that even matters these days. ** Bill, Hey. Today I start packing and making lists and checking things off. Hopefully our airships will pass  safely. I must say I don’t feel the usual confidence in the US air traffic controller scene these days. Nice, I’ve never seen Joy Williams read except on video. I don’t think she’s very known over here. Easy preparations, and I’ll write to you pronto. ** Steeqhen, Feel better. I don’t know any of these TV shows. I really just don’t watch TV. It’s too much of a whirlpool for my busy brain. Okay, yeah, email me then. The festival is at the beginning of April, but I’ll get to it as soon as I’m post-that. In normal times, that does seem like a very good angle to get funding. And it’s probably inoffensive enough to be an attractive funding option even in the current world. Sounds great. ** Joshua, Hi, Joshua. It’s great to meet you. Thank you so much for coming in here. And thank you for the kind words about my work. You played ‘Eternal Darkness’? Such a great game. I wonder why they haven’t spruced it up for Switch. Wow, you were right there, proximate, for the Chardon shooting. He was a particularly spooky shooter. Thanks for wanting to come to the premiere. Hopefully we’ll be able to start getting the film out and out from here on. What are you up to? What do you do that interests you? ** P, Hi. Yeah, the passholders, whoever they are, get first picks on the events. Hopefully there aren’t too many of them or too many that want to see our film. I’m a bit worried that the screenings wil sell out extremely fast. Haha, ridiculous thing to worry about, I know. Being a hardcore amusement park nerd, I know about Little Amerricka, at least in a general way. Wow, that haunted house looks really nice. My type of haunt. Thank you, that was/is exciting. The park looks sweet. One of Zac’s and my plans is to do a big East Coast/Midwest US road trip targeting as many amusement parks as possible, and that one will get a pop-in if we do. That’s a wild story there, the John Wayne ->. I’ll read the articles when I’m out of p.s mode, thanks. You’ve helped my day start on a tasty note. ** HaRpEr, Oh, maybe yeah, hm. Agreed, and I think J.T. is a perfect example, as far as I can tell. I’m happy you liked the Kay Gabriel book. She’s a really special writer, I think. Me too on the trying to survive the month thing. With the trip west and a bunch of film finishing expenses, I’m very skint as well. But, like you my feet seem to know how to land in such a way as to keep me going. Very best of luck. What would you sell if you have to? ** Darby𓃰, Howdy, D. I will very happily eat Pho with you. Way yum. Let me know what your overall thoughts on ‘FoKA’ once you get there. I’m rarely awake at 3 am because I need a lot of sleep at night, but, yes, I have walked around at that time, and there is nothing quite like that silence. Well, except maybe how it was over here all day every day during the Covid lockdown. That was really, really trippy. If I don’t get 8, or at least 7 1/2, hours of sleep at night, I’m a wreck. I listened to the start of the Labyrinth Ear track, and, yes, I like it. I’ll finish listening a little later. Thank you! ** Justin D, Hi, Justin. ‘Guide’ is the novel of mine that’s most set in my actual real life at the time. With the obvious exaggerations. So, yes, your reading makes sense. Thank you for the song. I’ll hit it shortly. Lately I’ve been listening mostly to the new Destroyer album and the new Sparks album and the latest GbV album. And the other day I fell into a Byrds hole snd listened to ‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’ on repeat. ** nat, Hey. Thanks about the teaser. It was hard to pull something out of the film, but I love that little scene. The boy (Desmond) was so amazing. An unresolved disappearance is certainly an ultra-novel-worthy premise or area. Exciting to contemplate. Why not start with ‘Less Than Zero’, yes. It’s excellent. Hm, I think my favorite Mario game is ‘Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door’. What’s yours? ** Corey, Hey. No, other than it having been made before I made the gif novels, I don’t think it fed that work. It was more from the thematic gif posts I was making for a while. Yes, spend a bit of your month making a guest post. That’s a capitol idea! ** Okay. Today the blog becomes a galerie consisting of paintings and words and other things by the artist/writer/actor Duncan Hannah who sadly died too young a few years ago. See what you think. See you tomorrow.