DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski, Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe. So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs!
With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.
DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" -NEW SERIES! WITH PETER COOK, DUDLEY MOORE, JAN BERRY, AND DEAN TORRANCE. TWO PAIRS OF ODD-FELLOWS, CAVORTING FOR OUR PLEASURE - DOUBLE DOWN!
Right here, squaring off, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, we present: Dueling tag-teams of zaniness — wearing fanciful disguises, winking at traditional forms, and tweeting in a birdlike falsetto… Good stuff!
BEDAZZLED
The Faustian satire Bedazzled, created by genius comedian Peter Cook (who plays the Devil trying to bargain for souls), makes good use of the talents of his Chaplin-esque comedy partner, Dudley Moore (who you might remember from the hit films Ten and Arthur), who plays the shlumpy Wimpy Burger cook, Stanley, willing to bargain away his mortal soul for love.
The team first worked together in the early 60s smash stage revue BEYOND THE FRINGE, then coalesced on the BBC as Pete and Dud, (and, later, even more darlingly in the scatalogical bootleg recordings of Derek and Clive). In 1966, with Bedazzled they were on the rise commercially, and Moore, an Oxford trained classical and jazz pianist, wrote all the music for the film.
In this cut, entitled Leaping Nuns chorus, the sisters of the Order of Saint Beryl (including Stanley in full habit) show their devotion to the Saint by jumping on trampolines.
JAN AND DEAN MEET BATMAN
Also in ‘66, laboring secretly on a similar track, energized by the same Goon Show type inspiration, Jan Berry and Dean Torrance were working to expand, (but not abandon) their surf sound by adding a storyline and special effects, and creating some nutty theater of the mind.
Who knows where this might have led, if Jan’s tragic car collision a few week’s after the record’s release, (resulting in his massive head injuries), hadn’t sidelined the team’s ambitions? Perhaps a blockbuster TV series…?
There was always a comic element to the Jan and Dean performance style. (Check out the classic Rock concert film Tami Show, which they hosted). They may have looked like copper toned surf hunks, but maybe there was some Abbott and Costello lurking beneath the Golden Boy surface.
