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What do Billy Bragg, The Edgar Broughton Band, Paul Carrack, Carlene Carter, John Cooper Clark, Elvis Costello, The Damned, Dr. Feelgood, Ian Dury, Dave Edmunds, Peter Hamill, Hawkwind, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, The Psychedelic Furs, Larry Wallis and Howard Werth have in common?
Well (apart from being core artists on North Fork Sound) they've all had their music wrapped in the art of Barney Bubbles. Born Colin Fulcher in 1942, he obtained his National Diploma in Design (with honours) from Twickenham College of Technology and in July 1963, created his first piece of commercial art - a poster for the Rolling Stones' appearance at the college's end-of-year dance. Now it's one of the rarest pieces of Stones memorabilia. Around the same time, he made a poster for the college's in-house group, the Muleskinners featuring none other than a soon-to-be member of the Small Faces, Ian McLagan. A love for music, fashion, art and photography played a huge part in Colin's development and in '67, he was inspired by a Pink Floyd event at London's UFO club to purchase four old projectors and create his own mobile light-show. He combined coloured inks with oil and placed the mixtures between glass slides which, when heated by the lamps' warmth, would 'bubble' and make gloopy shapes on walls at clubs like UFO, the Roundhouse and Middle Earth. An introduction to Oz magazine's Richard Neville and a move into 307 Portobello Road placed Barney bang in the centre of London's blossoming underground. He became art director for Friends (another counter-culture mag) who set up offices next door and soon freak-friendly labels like Island, United Artists and Vertigo were commissioning artwork for acts like Quintesscense ("Everything's great in Notting Hill Gate"), The Sutherland Brothers, Cressida, Cracious!, Quiver, Brinsley Schwarz and Hawkwind. It wasn't long before Barney's meticulous, expertly executed, pioneering designs were being used to separate stems and seeds across the nation. Reasons To Be Cheerful - The Life And Work Of Barney Bubbles by Paul Gorman tells of Barney's highs (and lows) so much better than I can and you'll find a huge amount of Barney's work presented magnificently between its covers. If you have even a half-decent record collection, you already have some of his work. Here, you can check out the rest.
Elvis, Nick & Robyn,
Manhattan Center, April 9th '08
Nick Lowe and Robyn Hitchcock played contrasting sets in the Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom, this past Wednesday night. Robyn's was bent, cerebral and had moments of righteous clarity while Nick's was brilliant, uncluttered pop with the occasional pervy twinge. They each backed themselves with just an acoustic guitar and both their voices get purer and better with age. Highlights of Robyn's set were Full Moon In My Soul, Daisy Bomb, Glass Hotel and a new commission called (I think) 'I Declare', honouring the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. Apparently, David Crosby was invited to supply a song to be sung at a festival in Holland but couldn't get it together.
Nick's set focused mainly on his YepRoc years and included I Trained Her To Love Me, Shelley My Love, Soulful Wind, The Beast In Me, Has She Got A Friend, When I Write The Book, Man That I've Become, Lately I've Let Things Slide, People Change, Long Limbed Girl, Cruel To Be Kind, (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding and I Knew The Bride. He debuted a tune called 'I Read A Lot' and for his encore brought out Robyn to assist him on a spin through Johnny Kidd & The Pirates' 'Hungry For Love'. Next, he brought out Elvis Costello for Indoor Fireworks and then they all did The Beatles' 'If I Fell' and Elvis Presley's 'Mystery Train'. A very successful, satisfying show and the audience left happy.
Robyn wasn't finished though, and after a change of shirt, a glass of wine and some handshakes, he sped off downtown to the Knitting Factory where Gary Lucas was curating 'A Celebration of the Music, Poetry and Art of Don Van Vliet', who is known to most as Captain Beefheart. A surprise guest, Robyn joined Gary and his National Steel on-stage to perform 'China Pig', 'Sure Nuff 'N' Yes I Do' and 'Click Clack' to the delight of the punters that were still there after a long night of Beefheartian artistry. Sadly, we missed Alan Vega reciting 'Orange Claw Hammer' but Gary said he done it good, Brooklyn-style.
Gary Lucas
23rd Street, 2000
