All posts by Andrew Swartz

I am a life long fan of popular culture. This web site is filled with links to clips of musical, movie, and media video clips of things I have found of interest over the years. I hope you find some of this stuff to your liking. Drop me a line and let me know.

EASY RIDER (1969)

I recently caught this movie again and I came away more impressed than I have in the past.  The print I saw had been digitally restored and the imagery benefits greatly from the treatment.  I include this clip because it shows a lot of the road trip that these two anti heroes (dope dealers, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda,  travelling cross country on motorcycle “choppers” and taking it easy on the open road, while taking in the sights) initially debark upon.  It also is accompanied by The Bryds’ “I Wasn’t Born To Follow”, a nice country rock style tune which I like a lot.  The grandeur of the old highways, their quaintness and the splendor of the American landscapes are represented magnificently here.  But times and transportation have changed in the nearly 50 years since this picture was made.   Unless you specifically seek out what may be left of these old roads, they are mostly gone.  That being said, film and video also provide a valuable method of preservation of moments and places in time.  This is what the country once looked like and how these stars once appeared.  Credit Director of Photography Laslo Kovacs for the beautiful visuals.

 

 

CHATO’S LAND – 1972

“Chato’s Land” was a late entry in the Western film genre that had proliferated at the movie theaters for 50 years but started to fall out of favor by the 1970’s.  To draw in viewers who might be lured away by other fare, some of these latter day “oaters” resorted to adding more violence and depravity.   That sensibility shows up in this film, a blood soaked tale of a hastily drawn together posse of cruds who go off in pursuit of a wrongly accused Indian who kills a lawman in their town.

As the misbegotten mob gets drawn deeper into his “Land”, a forbidding desert Hell, they become easy prey for the fugitive Chato.  He manages to outwit the posse and pick them off one by one, in sometimes gruesome fashion.  Charles Bronson is in the title role but his recited dialogue is nearly non existent and composed of one note.

This movie is particularly interesting for the interplay of the cast playing the posse.  Jack Palance, Richard Basehart, James Whitmore, Simon Oakland and Ralph Waite are all fine performers and they work well off of each other.

Nicely shot on location by Michael Winner.  A memorable music score accompanies too.

THE KINKS – “FATHER CHRISTMAS” – SOMETIME IN THE 1970’s

“Father Christmas” is the great rock band, The Kinks, hamming it up and clowning in their Christmas getups in this satirical music video.  The Kinks’ main songwriter, Ray Davies, wrote this Christmas song in 1977 and its theme and attitude fits the times. Punk rock had basically broken out over the airwaves and this song talks about angry, annoyed kids demanding cash money and no toys for Christmas and beating up and mugging department store Santas and generally behaving very badly.  Punk rock was antiestablishment and Christmas is based on long standing traditions, and,  you get the idea.  The music is very spirited and aggressive and chugs along at a good pace.

It is a shame that the video posted here is a bit damaged and indistinct.  There is a lot of color shifting and video breakups and the focus is a little soft.  Oh, well.  What you can make out reflects a fine, humorous romp and “Father Christmas” has become a holiday standard on classic rock stations.  It has become part of the tradition of Christmas.

Well done Kinks!!!

GREG LAKE – PROG ROCK GREAT PASSES AWAY

Greg Lake was a legend in the annuls of progressive rock.  He was a co-founder of King Crimson with Robert Fripp.  With the band, Lake was a youthful, energetic lad with a sonorous voice and a powerful bass player.

Although he remained for only one Crimson album, he did the vocals for this particular song on Crimson’s second recorded venture, “In The Wake Of Poseidon”, which I always found very appealing.

Lake would go on to join Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer in ELP (Emerson, Lake and Palmer).  This outfit allowed him to play guitar as well as handle bass and vocal duties.

Greg Lake had a very distinct voice and playing style.  Witness his songs “Lucky Man’, “From The Beginning”, “Still, You Turn Me On”.

Talent like this doesn’t come along everyday.  A true original who can’t be replaced.

2/14/17 – Sad update:  The Grammy Awards ran their “In Memoriam” segment to pay respects to the music industry folks who passed away in the previous year.  Greg Lake’s picture was not included or mention made of his name.  Emerson and Wetton were there but not Lake.  Very sloppy and stupid treatment.

 

THE CAVE – 2005

What happens when you go to explore a massive underground cave/water way and you get about three miles in and one mile down from the surface of the earth?  Naturally, you run into hulking, ravenous monstrosities that can see in the dark better than you and are intelligent enough to trap and hunt you.  And, much to your dismay, there is no dependable way out of this cave and the nightmarish situation you find yourself in.  (Sounds like work.  Just kidding.)  Very effective horror/thriller that stays engaging until about the last 10 minutes of the movie.  By that point, we become well aware of the true appearance of the monstrous underground dwellers.  Maybe not so scary after we get more familiar with the beasts.  Prior to that point, creepy!

HALLOWEEN AUDIO ATMOSPHERE – “CTHULHU” BY CRYO CHAMBER

Here’s some good background chatter to play during your groovy Halloween party or in your haunted playhouse.  A veritable assemblage of white and pink noise layers and ambient pads build to a cacophony of dread induced drones.  Lovely!  Inspired by themes and nightmares explored by H.P. Lovecraft and his multifarious ghastly denizens of the very Deep and Dark.

RACE WITH THE DEVIL – 1975

Ah!!!  Here is a delightful little trifle called “Race with the Devil”.  Two vacationing couples take their RV out into the wild and make the mistake of setting up camp smack dab in the middle of human sacrifice country!  Truly terrible luck.  After this unfortunate incident, the movie becomes one long chase sequence as the blood thirsty devil worshippers continue in hot pursuit of  the couples.  Great action and some nice turns by the always dependable actors Warren Oates and Peter Fonda.  This one is definitely not an Easy Ride.

THE GODFATHER EPIC

Spend this Labor Day weekend absorbing this 7 plus hour combination of Frances Ford Coppola’s two finest “Godfather” entries.  There is a lot of footage included that didn’t appear in “GF I or GF II” that fills in some of the storyline and weaves these two productions together.  Beautiful cinematography, outstanding acting and eminently watchable storytelling all combine to make this a 7 hour viewing experience well worth the effort put in.  Coppola’s directorial masterpiece, in my opinion, and magnificent acting from Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.  You’ve got three days.  Watch it more than once!

Riddick vs. The Rock – 2016

Check out the details of this juicy feud which erupted on the set of “Fast and Furious 8”.  Seems Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and co-star Vin Diesel are at odds. This story unraveled on August 9, 2016.  Don’t you just want to go see the latest installment of this franchise now?

the rock 2http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/the-rock-and-vin-diesel-are-beefin%E2%80%99/ar-BBvslBg?ocid=spartandhp

IN THE YEAR 2889 – OVER 2 MILLION VIEWS!

I like this talky, little tale of a group of characters trying to hole up in a cabin and ride out a nuclear holocaust.  We see some stock footage at the start of this thing that compiles various angles of mushroom clouds.  A prophetic voice over accompanies the footage.  Great start!  We get more rehashed, archive films of mountains, trees and the outdoors to enable the finishing up of the audio narrative.  The folks who end up reluctantly spending time together are running out of space and time.  Radioactive fallout may soon be encroaching onto their turf and the surrounding countryside is inhabited by unfortunate, radiation poisoned mutations who are hungry!  Still, there are folks who would rather venture outside the compound to take their chances somewhere else.   That’s what creates drama, after all!  This is a rather plodding flick but it has a quaint, amateurish style that I find attractive.  2 million YouTube viewers CANNOT be wrong!

Suicide Live at Hurrah – “Ghost Rider”

Alan Vega was the vocal half of the synth duo, Suicide.  Vega is no longer with us.  Rev’s scary, repetitively sequenced synthesizer drives their songs accompanied by Vega’s frenzied, reverb-drenched rockabilly delivery.  A very influential band whose work would impact many future musicians.  Their early stuff is rawer and more intense.

Led Zeppelin Live at Knebworth Festival 8/11/79

Superb live document of this legendary rock band.  Led Zeppelin seemed to be performing near their peak.  They had by 1979 been recording and performing together for over a decade.  The band sounds strong and tight.  But, alas, things don’t always work out for the best, and this would be their last tour.  A great sounding set from this great rock band.

PROG ROCK 101

Here is an easily digestible grouping of profiles on popular progressive rock bands from England.  Witness some brilliant footage of King Crimson, Genesis and those lovable space cadets, Hawkwind in concert.  This video might get you to start searching in depth for more clips on these bands.  I am investigating Genesis.  Such theatricality!  The King Crimson segments featuring the lunatic percussion playing of Jamie Muir are also most memorable.