When the present overwhelms, the only workable solution can be to take a little refuge in the past. As I escaped from the TV, this Terry O’Neill photograph helped jog my memory. Back in 1975, rumors certainly circulated about Liz Taylor and David Bowie. To which most of us responded, “Liz Taylor and Bowie? Are you fucking kidding?” I mean, David Bowie was hardly in the same weight class as Richard Burton who Liz remarried in the fall of that year. But it was the 1970s, and all things were possible (especially with ‘ludes) and – where celebrity rumors were concerned – I’ve always worked according to the principle that they’re not only true but we’re only hearing the half of it. So David was 100 pounds and full of coke and Liz wasn’t. It was life and life only, and I certainly wished it was me.
Click here for Bob from the same aproximate time. Everyone was in love until punk showed.
In 1975 the beautiful people were closing in on us. By 1976 the Human Supreme command launched the Punk Program in a desperate attempt to save humanity. Although not entirely successful the Punk Project forced the beautiful people to drop the mask of exclusive alkaloids and unbridled sexuality for the elites. In 1980 the beautiful people seized power but were forced to reveal that they were in fact withered trolls and demented half aliens. The Human Supreme Command has continued to launch commando actions against the beautiful people allowing the terrorized human subjects a glimpse of people acting human. Rumors have filtered out of the beautiful people's top secret hyperborean research station. It seems that even there, under the microscopic scrutiny of the beautiful people's security apparatus, young human workers have been disciplined for their unacceptable and "ugly" hairdos. Beautiful people security operatives are afraid that the hairdo outbreak might be indicative of the presence of secret agents of the Human Supreme Command.
ReplyDeletePut it another way: Sometimes I still hate rockstars and movie stars.
Farren namechecked in Julian Cope's album of the month review dedicated to the early recordings of Soft Machine:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/2118/