REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE 'EXPRESSO BONGO' w/ Ira Robbins
This week I’m joined by IRA ROBBINS (Editor & Co-Founder of TROUSER PRESS magazine) as we end the year with the 1959 U.K. cult classic EXPRESSO BONGO!!!
We discuss how Ira's influential magazine was started on a whim, and how as outsiders they wanted a different approach to rock journalism, how they got a long-form interview with Jimmy Page, how the magazine made me feel smarter by reading it, the wild highs and lows of publishing Trouser Press, making mistakes in journalism, writing a letter to Pete Townshend and the reply that came back in the mail, how 70s rock journalism still held power in the culture of the time, the Devo/William Burroughs interview, how they got difficult interviewees to open up to their writers, how the magazine become an obligation rather than an opportunity over the years, the hardcore punk movement, how and why the magazine stopped publication, MTV's influence on music journalism, Laurence Harvey’s strange and powerful performance in Expresso Bongo, how young Cliff Richard was in this film, the incredible opening title sequence of the film, how the film pushes the cultural boundaries for young people in the late 50s, the British kitchen-sink drama movement, how the film was originally a West End musical and the differences between the two, how sleazy and risqué the film is for its time, The Shadows, how exploitative the British rock management world was, the threat of the 50s teenager, the alternate ending of the film and so much more.
So let's spin in circles while shattering our espresso cups on the ground on this week's episode of Revolutions Per Movie!!
TROUSER PRESS BOOKS (you can read the entire Trouser Press Magazine run in their archives!):
REVOLUTIONS PER MOVIE:
Host Chris Slusarenko (Eyelids, Guided By Voices, owner of Clinton Street Video rental store) is joined by actors, musicians, comedians, writers & directors who each week pick out their favorite music documentary, musical, music-themed fiction film or music videos to discuss. Fun, weird, and insightful, Revolutions Per Movie is your deep dive into our life-long obsessions where music and film collide.
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THEME by Eyelids 'My Caved In Mind'
www.musicofeyelids.bandcamp.com
ARTWORK by Jeff T. Owens
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