^ That says it all, Chris...! ![]()
Hard Bop Hank wrote:
My name is NOT YET Bond,James Bond.
Marc Bolan (pictured above in the Town magazine photograph) reportedly turned tricks in Soho in the early 60's, ostensibly to fund his wardrobe. Now I like clothes, but I don't like them that much......
I'd reckon some of these chaps - like Guardsmen - were not truly homosexual, but slept with men for money.
You never see this sort of conversation over on Modculture do you? They wouldn't be at home to this sort of palare. More's the pity, innit Jules?
Julian and Sandy were two of my favourite Modernists.
Bona Ivy, Mr 'Orne, we don't practice waist suppression here do we, Sand? We can put a roll in your collar and no mistake.
Harpo wrote:
Marc Bolan (pictured above in the Town magazine photograph) reportedly turned tricks in Soho in the early 60's, ostensibly to fund his wardrobe. Now I like clothes, but I don't like them that much......
Is that a young Jeff Dexter behind him? Nothing faux homo modernist about him! (Thats not a bad thing IMO) Still a bit of a snappy dresser today.
SubtleCool wrote:
You never see this sort of conversation over on Modculture do you? They wouldn't be at home to this sort of palare. More's the pity, innit Jules?
Julian and Sandy were two of my favourite Modernists.
Bona Ivy, Mr 'Orne, we don't practice waist suppression here do we, Sand? We can put a roll in your collar and no mistake.
LOL!
Best not to forget that these lads - whether they were doing it for love or money - were breaking the law. Part of me admires the peacock strand in all this - the insistence on (as Quentin Crisp had been) risk-taking. Gay 'culture' has become a bit of a bore in the 21st century. All the sharp-tongued old fairies I used to know were great fun, quoting lines from Bette Davis movies all over the place. An evening at a Manchester cinema was unforgettable.
Now this is hilarious..... poor little Jimmy doesn't know what he is in for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3S24ofE … re=related
Last edited by Oo Bop Sh'bam (2012-01-27 11:45:17)
Oo Bop Sh'bam wrote:
Now this is hilarious..... poor little Jimmy doesn't know what he is in for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3S24ofE … re=related
Priceless - how much we've moved on.......or have we?
God knows I thought homophobia and racism didn't exist till I had the pleasure of working at a factory, with numbskulls that drag their knuckles on the floor and read The Sun. It was at that point it dawned on me we were completely fucked as a race.
Last edited by Oo Bop Sh'bam (2012-01-27 12:20:46)
Harpo wrote:
Marc Bolan (pictured above in the Town magazine photograph) reportedly turned tricks in Soho in the early 60's, ostensibly to fund his wardrobe. Now I like clothes, but I don't like them that much......
I read parts of an interesting bio of Bolan - specifically the parts about his mod phase. No mention of him (as I recall) being a prostitute or indulging in homosexuality; whether that was because it didn't happen or the writer was ignoring the truth I don't know. What's your source for the above?
http://www.pauldunoyer.com/pages/journa … lismID=289
Mind you - the testimony in that article does come from Pete Townshend........
There was also talk about him and Simon Napier-Bell, a quite enthusiastic gay man. Don't get me wrong here - peolpe should do whatever floats their boat. It's all cool by me.
Yuca wrote:
Harpo wrote:
.
I read parts of an interesting bio of Bolan - specifically the parts about his mod phase.
http://books.google.de/books?id=-yk4U2L … mp;f=false
this one?
Bolan is often mentioned as an "early modernist"... early sixties, that is...
http://www.themodgeneration.co.uk/2011/ … i-saw.html
http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2120778978 … ts/default
I wonder why you can find so few about 50s modernism... you know as John Simons said in that interview for the Graham Lentz book:
"The first period of modernists was 1948 to '58 and this is important because it was an evolutionary period.
It evolved directly through from the thirties and forties cultures, but it didn't evolve by harking back to those days. It evolved in a natural way as the music evolved."
John Simons - Owner of Ivy Shop, Clothesville and J. Simons
http://www.modculture.co.uk/lentz/
http://modsaustralia.webs.com/modhistory.htm
it goes on:
"... The big bands went into the small groups. It wasn't mannered or self-conscious, and I would say that in a way it did then blur into what became Mod.
The first post-war boom of young people evolved from where their dads dressed in a particular way. They moved forward a bit. Smart, tailored, slightly slicker, American influenced. That took them into the fifties"...
or in the interview with John Gall on the old JS homepage where he talked about the "post-war rebirth of modernism through jazz, art and clothes"....
Maybe that's because it wasn't a "youth cult" (or a "youth subculture" as described by Hebdidge et al) back then?
Great stuff Hank. Thanks.
Evolving is the key word. Away from the numbers, so to speak.
Oo Bop Sh'bam wrote:
God knows I thought homophobia and racism didn't exist till I had the pleasure of working at a factory, with numbskulls that drag their knuckles on the floor and read The Sun. It was at that point it dawned on me we were completely fucked as a race.
I despaired when I worked in the machine and fabrication shops too, I couldn't stand the football talk and the harsh reality of it all. It was only later I discovered Bukowksi and Fred Voss and realised there was poetry here too.
And it was much later that I found out that in this world of hard living and drinking men, my nickname was 'The Mad Poet'. Not bad for a English Literature drop out.
The blokes at work think I'm a bit mental with my obsession with clothes, I got wolf whistles on the works xmas bash. Being a faux homosexual modernist I loved it of course! The harsh reality of it all makes the clothes all the more special in some ways. Or it might be that I just work with a load of scuffy sexist piss heads.
Good blokes though.
Yuca wrote:
Harpo wrote:
Marc Bolan (pictured above in the Town magazine photograph) reportedly turned tricks in Soho in the early 60's, ostensibly to fund his wardrobe. Now I like clothes, but I don't like them that much......
I read parts of an interesting bio of Bolan - specifically the parts about his mod phase. No mention of him (as I recall) being a prostitute or indulging in homosexuality; whether that was because it didn't happen or the writer was ignoring the truth I don't know. What's your source for the above?
June Bolan said that Marc indulged a bit because it was fashionable, but really wasn't keen.
Simon wrote:
Being a faux homosexual modernist I loved it of course!
Good blokes though.
I found these people were normally bigger women than me, all full of thread-bare insecurities about life, whether money or women, hid behind football talk and what ever boring point of topic was going round that day. Exceptions of course were the real psychopaths, they were indeed just nuts. But a lot of the guys were more shellshocked by what a shit life they found themselves in.
Last edited by Oo Bop Sh'bam (2012-01-28 16:04:27)
Dunno about that mate, they seem ok but I don't hang out with them outside of work. I quite like footie and birds with big tits so I'm happy to talk about both!
Blucher wrote:
Yuca wrote:
Harpo wrote:
Marc Bolan (pictured above in the Town magazine photograph) reportedly turned tricks in Soho in the early 60's, ostensibly to fund his wardrobe. Now I like clothes, but I don't like them that much......
I read parts of an interesting bio of Bolan - specifically the parts about his mod phase. No mention of him (as I recall) being a prostitute or indulging in homosexuality; whether that was because it didn't happen or the writer was ignoring the truth I don't know. What's your source for the above?
June Bolan said that Marc indulged a bit because it was fashionable
That's taking following fashion to an extreme.
It was all over the place around 1972: Warhol, The Velvet Underground, Bowie, Bolan, Elton John. I suppose it helped sell records.
The music industry - particularly the pop end, where the performance is more important than artistic values - always attracts gays. The only variable is if it's commercially viable for them to admit their sexuality.
Apparently a number of the most successful rappers are of the gay persuasion, although if it that became public knowledge their careers would be over.
Of course, one of the greatest musical figures of the 20th century, Billy Strayhorn, was openly (I'm fairly sure) gay. I should think that took guts. Cole Porter was perhaps protected by his personal connections. Most of my cultural heroes seem to have been gay, black or Jewish. James Stewart is the exception to the rule!