Tag: Mike McCarthy

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Glam Rock Picnic

Aladdin Sane Weather Vane in progress (Photo: Mike McCarthy)

Few things are more noteworthy than seeing a photo of your coworker in the crotch of a 10-foot, papier-mache sculpture of David Bowie in progress. That coworker is, of course, Michael Donahue, one of our writers here at the Flyer. In fact, Mike McCarthy, creator of the sculpture, has covered Bowie in Flyers. We’re honored to say the least, but this sculpture is not in honor of us, but rather of a mostly unknown Memphis music history moment.

In 1973, while on his Aladdin Sane tour stop in Memphis, David Bowie visited the now-closed Memphis Academy of Art at the invitation of Dolph Smith, an instructor at the school. Smith had a watercolor he wanted to give the musician, which he happily accepted. Of this story, McCarthy says, he only heard glimmers during his time at the school in the ’80s, but it’s stayed with him ever since.

These days, McCarthy is running a nonprofit Sculpt Memphis, with the goal of preserving Memphis music history through sculpture. His Johnny Cash stands on South Cooper now, and, for the last year, he’s made statuettes of Howlin’ Wolf, Aretha Franklin, Memphis Minnie, Rufus Thomas, Muddy Waters, and the like. “Everybody loves them,” he says, “but [the question becomes] how do these things get to become like eight-foot-tall block sculptures. I think Memphis is extremely under-sculptured, under-statued.

“Maybe this is a little counterintuitive on my part,” he continues, “but I thought, maybe if I do a 10-foot tall David Bowie, it will draw attention also to the fact that there’s lots of Memphis music history, obviously closer to home, that people should be thinking about. If you had Bowie in Overton Park, that would be one more reason to go to Overton Park. If you had all these other sculptures in locales throughout the city, it could drive tourism, create international interest.”

For the Bowie statue, McCarthy chose to portray him in the “Tokyo Pop” jumpsuit by Kansai Yamamoto. Also, instead of one head, the musician has four atop a weather vane, with the four faces representing Bowie’s affinity for taking on different identities — from Ziggy Stardust to Halloween Jack. Why a weather vane? “I don’t know,” McCarthy says, “but I thought, okay, I’ll do a weather vane. Oh, weather vane rhymes with Aladdin Sane. Aladdin Sane Weather Vane.” 

So far, McCarthy has been working on sculpting the piece since December with help from friends, like Terance Brown, who made the resin 3D image of Bowie’s face; Colleen Couch, who made the paper for the Bowie faces for the weather vane;

Yvonne Bobo and Brendan Duffy (owners of Off The Walls Gallery)Alison Heaverly, Off The Walls assistant Terance Brown (3-D artist, maker of the resin 3-D image of Bowies face)Colleen Couch (paper maker, maker of the paper Bowie faces for the weather vane)Geordan Lugar of Lugar Foundry, created the A frame inside the Aladdin Sane Weather Vane.Frank Smith, patron.Jana Wilson of VINTAGIA (Arkmania) and curator of the vendors.Kasey Dees with The Prettiest Star face painting.Drew Whitmire, assistant.Eat At Eric’s Food truckBlack and Wyatt Records (sponsor)The Memphis Flyer (sponsor)
Kansai Yamamoto – costumer designerMasayoshi Sukita  – photographer

but this Sunday, he’ll invite the public to begin the process of covering Bowie with clay at what he’s calling the Glam Rock Picnic. “The ultimate goal is to climb the ladder and start from the heart and start spreading the clay,” he says. “I want people to be involved.”

The Glam Rock Picnic will also have DJ Kitschy Kat spinning entire Bowie albums, a Bowie bar, Eat at Eric’s food truck, face painting by Kasey Dees, and vendors curated by Jana Wilson of Vintagia. 

Glam Rock Picnic, Off The Walls Arts, 360 Walnut, Sunday, June 30, noon-5 p.m., $10.

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Book Features Books Music Music Blog Music Features

Inside John Michael McCarthy’s Teenage Tupelo

Over the past 30 years, Memphis comic book artist, sculptor, and filmmaker John Michael McCarthy, aka Mike McCarthy, has taken self-mythologizing to a level few others have matched, often weaving elements of his compelling personal history into fantastic scenarios drawn from the B movies, comics, and pop icons of his youth. That’s especially true of what’s arguably McCarthy’s greatest work, the film Teenage Tupelo, released in 1995 by Something Weird Video. 

Ostensibly telling the tale of a young, buxom single mother’s odyssey through Tupelo’s underground, circa 1962, as she comes to terms with an unwanted pregnancy, it’s chiefly an homage to the low-budget flicks (think Roger Corman or Russ Meyer) that captivated young McCarthy as he grew up in Elvis Presley’s hometown, echoing those films’ visceral impact via Darin Ipema’s pitch-perfect, mostly black-and-white cinematography and a sizzling soundtrack by surf rock-crime jazz kings Impala. 

The film became a cult favorite in the ’90s, championing the burgeoning garage aesthetic of that era. No prior knowledge of McCarthy’s personal history was needed to savor the raw shock of the film’s visuals and sounds. Its staying power was confirmed in 2020 when Portugal’s Chaputa Records revived Impala’s soundtrack on vinyl, then again last May when the film was remastered and released on Blu-ray. But if the latter’s bonus director’s commentary hinted at the many layers of influences behind the film, that was nothing compared to what came next: a coffee table tome which publisher Fantagraphics Books describes as “a mammoth volume dedicated to one of the last underground sexploitation films of the 20th Century.”

With more than 300 generously illustrated pages, this would be a monumental tribute to any film, yet in this case, beyond honoring McCarthy’s vision, it’s a tribute to the entire Memphis scene of the ’90s. The fact that it’s a compendium of “essays, reviews, articles, and interviews” rather than a single narrative is actually a strength, as the book offers many voices, some from the era, some looking back in hindsight. Impala’s Scott Bomar, for instance, writes movingly of recording with the legendary Roland Janes. There are also reminiscences by the star of the film, D’Lana Tunnell of Texas, and the three supporting actors from Memphis, Kristen Hobbs, Sophie Couch (Christine Gladney), and Dawn Ashcraft (who most Memphians know as McCarthy’s wife at the time, Kimberly Ashcraft). These essays — and accompanying photos — are especially “revealing” as the four women describe McCarthy cajoling them into performing topless, and the spirit of gonzo transgression in which they did so. One might thus consider both the film and this book as bold shots across the bow in the “free the nipple” movement. 

The introduction by the Commercial Appeal’s John Beifuss sets the context perfectly, and the Memphis Flyer is well-represented with writings by Greg Akers, Chris Davis, Susan Ellis, John Floyd, Andria Lisle, and yours truly. Also on display is a letter by McCarthy’s biological father, Terry Blair Carr, published by the Flyer in 2008, though no one knew of that connection at the time. 

And that is where the personal, emotional heart of the book resides. Most of the essays are by McCarthy himself, and while many of them, bursting with wordplay, concern the process of indie filmmaking, the director, an adopted child, also delves deeply into the private family history that obliquely inspired the film. As he ruminates on the parents who raised him as well as his search for his biological parents, the book becomes a profoundly moving detective story. A further essay by Tunnell, in which she reveals that she too was adopted, resonates with this, marking both the book and the film as expressions of very heartfelt histories. 

Part of the mystery and allure of these histories is where they overlapped with the mythic realm of Elvis Presley, and his presence throughout the book lends the proceedings an epic glow. The result is a rich tapestry woven from the families, friendships, fetishes, and fandom of the last century in the land that McCarthy calls “Mythissippi,” but also in Memphis itself. And, as a celebration of the latter, the milieu in which McCarthy’s vision took root, this volume is unparalleled. Far from being mere vanity projects, the film and the book are emblematic of an evolving community. As Bomar writes, “if I were to stumble upon a time machine, I would dial in Mike McCarthy’s Memphis, TN, in the ’90s.” 

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We Saw You

WE SAW YOU: The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party

Mike McCarthy at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Mike McCarthy, a filmmaker, artist, and musician, currently is working on a 10-foot-tall statue of David Bowie. McCarthy’s life-size bronze statue of Johnny Cash now stands in Cooper-Young. “Next to the church (the old Galloway United Methodist Church — now “Galloway House”) where Cash performed in 1954,” McCarthy says.

So, it’s no surprise McCarthy would throw a birthday party for Bowie. And, though he hasn’t yet done a statue of Elvis, McCarthy combines the party with the King, who shares his January 8th birthday with Bowie.

About 50 people gathered for McCarthy’s semi-annual “The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party” January 6th at his Midtown home.

McCarthy, who began throwing the parties in 2017, hasn’t held one since 2019.

“My Elvis obsession has aways been my pop culture interest in my films, comic books, and music,” McCarthy says. “It’s always fueled them.”

When his “Bowie obsession grew,” McCarthy discovered Bowie loved Memphis and Elvis. “There were many similarities, including they shared the same birthday. But then, when my Bowie obsession grew and I found out that Bowie had a love for Memphis and Elvis and there were many similarities, it sort of blossomed into a party.

“For me, the true start of the New Year or my New Year’s Day is January 8th. Their birthday. That’s when I begin my year.”

Part of the attraction of the party is getting to tour McCarthy’s home, including his “Bowie-Elvis living room,” which features “photographs, rarities, and images of Bowie and Elvis that adorn my living room throughout the year.”

The living room includes a velvet Elvis painting and “rare photos from the Bowie fan club circa 1973.”

 McCarthy features live music at the party, but he doesn’t “try to be literal or obvious with the music.”

The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)

“You won’t hear an Elvis or Bowie cover band at this party. You’ll hear other types of local living room punk rock music.”

Yesterday’s Trash, featuring Frank Bruno on guitar, Aaron Brame on accordion, and Hans Faulhaber on drums, performed at this year’s party. “A Replacements cover band. Which has a Memphis connection because they recorded here with (Jim) Dickinson and Bob Mehr wrote a book (Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements) on them.”

Yesterday’s Trash at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)

As for who he invites to the party, McCarthy says, “Generally, it’s almost sort of like an ‘office of the mind’ party because I don’t have a physical work space. I am self-employed. I do various art gigs. I’ve done them through the last year. So, anybody I worked with or had collaborations with or somebody I’ve communicated with or old friends, of course, were those I invited to the party. All connections and friends I made in the course of 2023.”

Joe Smith and Lauren Wheeler at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Nya Goble and Darcy Thomas at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Courtney Fly and Ross Johnson at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Tyler Lambert and Natalie Rhodes at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Chris McCoy and some other Memphis Flyer writer at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Chris McCoy)
John Beifuss and Mike McCarthy at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: MIchael Donahue)

One of those projects was McCarthy’s Teenage Tupelo coffee table book, which was released last October. “It  weighs six pounds — 360 pages.”

The book is based on McCarthy’s 1995 film of the same name. “It’s essentially a portrait of the Memphis film and punk scene circa 1995.”

McCarthy also released a Teenage Tupelo Blu-ray disc.

Another high point of his year was the release of Super Thrift, a film made by his son, John Marvel McCarthy. Mike had a bit part in the movie.

“And my daughter is back home from Korea. Hanna McCarthy. And she is living with me.”

In addition to working on the Bowie statue, Mike’s plans for the future include continuing to grow his company, Sculpt Memphis. “I’ve created small sculptures to pitch to clients and non-profits so we can have larger than life seven-foot-tall bronze sculptures of Memphis music legends, including Bowie and others because of Memphis influence to the music scene in the 20th century.”

McCarthy is collaborating with Geordan Lugar on the Bowie statue.

“I’ve created a new Shopify page called ‘Super Tupelo,’ where the Blu-ray and my art can be purchased.”

And, Mike adds, “I’m about to start up a new Rod Stewart cover band.”

John Marvel McCarthy, who invited friends as well as cast members from his movie to the party, says he currently is working on his next film. “We’ve been pretty much working on concepts, as of now, and scheduling,” John says.

Asked for hints about his next movie, John says, “We definitely want to explore different stories in the future, but now we want to do a Super Thrift 2 just out of popular demand.”

Also, John says, “I’ve started collaborating with some musicians and some rappers around Memphis to do behind-the-scenes things for them and make music videos for them in the future.”

John Marvel McCarthy, Nya Goble, Caleb Isom, Max Martin, Chas Burbank at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)

As for what they served at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party, Mike says, “My girlfriend Anneliese Jones prepared all the food.”

Jones says her fare included “a meat-and-cheese platter with olives, spinach-artichoke dip, broccoli-cheese cornbread, spicy Chex snack mix, dark chocolate fondue with strawberries, and gluten-free animal crackers to dip.”

Mike McCarthy commemorates the birthdays of Elvis and David Bowie.
Mike McCarthy and Anneliese Jones at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Mike McCarthy)

And, Mike says, “We always have a drink that’s served at my bar. And this time we went real heavy on the concept. One of Bowie’s personas was the ‘Thin White Duke.’ We combined ‘Thin White Duke’ with a ‘White Russian’ and had ‘Thin White Russians’ — vodka, Kahlua, and half and half.”

“Shaken with edible glitter for that added touch of glam,” Jones says.

Pilar and Seth Ruleman at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Charlotte and Chris Davis at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Max Martin, Caleb Isom, John Marvel McCarthy, Ben Schmiedicke at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Elliot Bexley at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Geoffrey Brent Shrewsbury at The Elvis-Bowie Birthday Party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
We Saw You
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Music Record Reviews

SIVAD LIVES: Reissued ’60s Wax by Fantastic Features Host Hits for Halloween

When most Memphians of a certain age encountered Sivad for the first time, John Beifuss wrote in 2005, he was “formally dressed in his trademark Lon Chaney-in-London After Midnight ensemble of top hat, cape, medallion, long hair and loose fangs,” and, as the soundtrack from Destination Moon played, he “rode into view driving a horse-drawn hearse.

“Crouching and smiling ghoulishly, Sivad then pulled a coffin from the back of the carriage and lifted the lid. Smoke poured from the casket, followed by a clip from that night’s feature.”

History confirms that Sivad’s entrance for every Saturday’s episode of WHBQ’s Fantastic Features made quite a mark on impressionable minds gathered around televisions in the ’60s and early ’70s. As Beifuss writes, “this introduction was scarier for most children than the movies that followed.”

Indeed, he so captivated the Mid-South viewing audience with his introductions to Fantastic Features‘ grab bag of science fiction and horror B-movies that he was soon a local celebrity in his own right. It was quite a coup for one Watson Davis (get it?), “a former advertising director for Malco who was much honored by his peers for his clever movie promotions,” Beifuss wrote. By 1963, an appearance by Davis/Sivad at the Mid-South Fairgrounds would attract 30,000 people. Thousands more would flock to other, smaller events featuring him.

And part of that experience was buying Sivad’s own locally produced, wacky singles. Now, Black & Wyatt Records has reissued Sivad’s 1963 release on the local Tom Tom label, “Sivad Buries Rock & Roll” b/w “Dicky Drackeller.” It’s a welcome development for lovers of all things spooky and camp, as the original singles have become rather sought after. Collector and author Ron Hall writes in the liner notes that he has “sold a ton of them” over the years.

What of the music? Surprisingly, for a novelty record, the backing track hits pretty hard. This has everything to do with it being recorded at the famed John Pepper Studio, where most local advertising jingles were produced, using some of the ace Memphis players that worked sessions at the time. They lay down a groovy little horn-driven vamp over which Sivad can intone his ghoulish desires.

Weirdly, he’s here to destroy what all the kids loved. “We’ve come to bury rock and roll and leave it here to stay…Dig me a deep dark hole in the ground,” to which an oblivious teen voice replies, “Look Pop, I’m diggin’!” And the groovy Memphis beat chugs on.

The flipside of this graveyard romp is an equally curmudgeonly tale of woe about Sivad’s arch-rival, a teen pop star named — you guessed it — “Dicky Drackeller.” Let’s just say Dicky the heartthrob gets the upper hand in Sivad’s dastardly plot, and we hear the track cut repeatedly to Dicky’s smash hit, driving our favorite vampire bonkers. It’s a prime slice of sound collage comedy, predating “Mr. Jaws” and other such ’70s hits by more than a decade.

But the real comedy gold is Sivad himself. True, as Beifuss writes, there was a healthy dollop of Lon Chaney in the persona Davis created, but the master stroke was blending that with his own Mid-South accent and delivery.

“To whom it may concern: There is no escape! My enemy has caught up with me!” Delivered with Davis’ hard country R’s, the dire news makes you want to laugh before the story’s even begun. And so the tale rocks on from there, but we won’t offer any spoilers. Best to drop some coin for this fine red-vinyl edition, with its extensive liner notes and cover illustration by longtime Sivad booster Mike McCarthy. It’s obviously put together with much affection for the caped host that struck fear into the hearts of the greater Tri-State area, riding on a Memphis groove.

The single’s release will be celebrated at Black & Wyatt Records’ Halloween Rock and Roll Dance Party, Saturday, October 22, 6 p.m., at Bar DKDC, featuring live music from Tyler Keith & the Apostles, Andy V, and Senpapi Red Moon.

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Music Music Features

The Hives: From the Oblivians to World Domination

The Hives (Photo: Göran Broberg)

The Hives took the world by storm over 20 years ago, and the fact that they’re still an A-list act on today’s tours and festivals is a testament to the quality of the tracks they’ve always produced. Rightly or wrongly lumped in with bands like the Strokes at the time of their first hits, their staying power since then has been due to them getting, from the outset, the building blocks of rock-and-roll right: a witty mash-up of European design and American bravado. Yet, for a band with touchstones closer to the Stooges-meet-the-Clash, there are some surprisingly Southern elements to their history and sound.

This week, they begin a brief run through the South that will bring them to Oxford’s Lyric Theater on Tuesday, October 26th, and, excited by the possibility of hearing a Swedish band in this hemisphere — all too rare, post-pandemic — I caught up with Nicholaus Arson, guitarist and collaborative songwriter for the group, to find out where they stand now, as they consolidate the world domination they spearheaded in the early aughts.

Memphis Flyer: The Hives have a history of ties with Memphis, don’t they?

Nicholaus Arson: Yeah, for sure. I’m wearing my Goner shirt now! And for us, the Oblivians was one of the most important bands, growing up. To begin with, we didn’t even know they were from Memphis. They were on Crypt, which was based in Hamburg, just across the water from Sweden. But yeah, me and [brother and lead singer] Pelle went to an Oblivians show around 1997 in Stockholm. We’d been aching to see the Oblivians for a long time, so that was a pivotal moment! It was one of those shows where you go just knowing it’s going to be great. Because if you can release records like that, chances are that the shows will be good. That brand of rock-and-roll is seldom shy.

You’ve even been known to cover “Stop & Think it Over” by the Compulsive Gamblers.

Yeah, definitely. It’s the greatest ’60s song not written in the ’60s. That’s just what Greg Cartwright does.

And you recorded and shot some music videos in this area as well.

Yeah, I think we did at least two with Mike McCarthy — “Abra Cadaver” and “A Little More for Little You.” It was all on the same day. We were just running between sets and Mike had a whole schedule in his head. And then, we recorded pretty much all of The Black and White Album in Oxford, and also in Como, Mississippi, at Jimbo Mathus’ studio. Oxford’s pretty close to Memphis, and it’s sort of a neat little place. Good food. So we’re sort of tied to the geography. We have friends there.

Rumor has it that you’ve been writing a lot of songs since the pandemic shut down touring.

With Covid, we were able to start finishing stuff, really. I think we have about 25 songs that are ready to record. Since Covid hit, we haven’t been able to go into any studios. But really there are effectively two new albums ready to record. That’s very un-Hives. Usually, if we have an album of 14 songs, that’s the only songs we have.

Any surprises in store with the new songs?

As far as greatness, no. It’ll all be great. And as far as going in some other direction, again, no. They’re new Hives songs. Some pretty good rockers. We’ll play some on this tour. We’re playing new stuff all the time.

One common element in Hives tracks is the guitar interplay between you and Vigilante Carlstroem. How do your different styles inform the group sound?

We’ve always talked in terms of where you are in the beat. I was always a tad ahead of the beat. Vigilante was always lagging a little bit. So it was like the Stones. They were very loose in their tempos. If you play everything too much on the grid, there’s no groove left. My guitar style is very choppy. My right hand was always more important than my left. To play what I play, you need a firm grip, and the rest is all strumming!

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Music Record Reviews

Impala Lives! Teenage Tupelo Soundtrack Enjoys Vinyl Reissue

CREDIT: Cover artwork by Rui Ricardo

Cover artwork by Rui Ricardo

The times I was lucky enough to work with Roland Janes at Sam Phillips Recording Service are burned into my mind’s eye, not to mention my ears. One such moment was helping out some friends in Impala, as they cut tracks for what would become El Rancho Reverbo, their debut full-length on Icehouse. What struck me at the time was the way the late producer, who by then was legendary for his role in early rock-and-roll, yet oddly under-recognized in Memphis, dug into the heart of each musical adventure. As arrangements were hammered out, Roland was right there, brainstorming with the band, leaning forward in his control room chair and listening intently. His focus and quiet enthusiasm was contagious, as was his way of stripping each composition down to its core. 

A similar energy must have pervaded the soundtrack they cut a year later, once again at Phillips under Roland’s guidance. Scoring Mike McCarthy’s Teenage Tupelo was an apotheosis for the band: If their previous blend of surf, crime jazz, and roadhouse R&B borrowed heavily from soundtracks of the past, here at last was a chance for those sounds’ cinematic potential to be realized. And the thrift-store mash up of pulp influences that informed McCarthy’s film perfectly matched the band’s aesthetics.

Bassist and producer Scott Bomar spoke with the Memphis Flyer’s Andria Lisle about the score  in 2005:

“I think Teenage Tupelo is the most accurate representation of Impala and what we were capable of doing,” Bomar says. “It really paved the way for what I did on Hustle & Flow. Mike knew these guys down in Mississippi who used to play with [Memphis rockabilly/country singer] Eddie Bond, so we had this pedal steel player and this piano player who we’d never played with before, and we had to create these two [tracks] that were supposed to be coming from a jukebox. So we had to re-create [the sounds of] a ’60s Tupelo, Mississippi, trucker jukebox. I like a lot of different types of music, and that’s what’s fun about working with movies. People want and need so many different types of music — a country song on a jukebox or maybe a polka.”

Indeed, as the 1995 soundtrack now enjoys a vinyl rerelease on Chaputa Records out of Portugal, it’s eclecticism is striking. Beyond the band’s usual mix of influences, there are touches of country in “Johnnie’s Drive-In” and “Tom’s Automotive,” spaghetti Westerns in “Tomb of the Tupelo Twin,” and even a jarring free-jazz moment in “Pinstripe (Capt. Crypt’s Theme).”  And the band’s crime jazz elements are given more space than ever, in numbers like “D’Lana Walks at Night,” “Rumble Suite,” and “Blue Light of Capricorn.”
Dan Ball

Impala recording with Roland Janes (third from left)

Through it all, Roland Janes’ subtle production touches, such as the tone of the percussion in “Woman in Chains” or the glorious mid-range of the piano in the country numbers, shine through. It is indeed an apotheosis of the band’s and the producer’s vision, and it’s heartening to see this, one of the greatest expressions of the ’90s Memphis scene, honored internationally in this gate-fold vinyl release.

Teenage Tupelo is available at the Electraphonic Recording website and local record stores.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Experience the Special Effects Genius of Ray Harryhausen at the Time Warp Drive-In

Monster on the rampage! Ymir, the star of 20 Million Miles to Earth, hits the town.

The special effects extravaganzas that have dominated big-budget moviemaking over the last few decades could never have existed without Ray Harryhausen. He was a pioneer of not only stop motion animation, in which models are manipulated one frame at a time to create the illusion of movement, but also the aesthetic of the monster movie. Along with Ray Bradbury and Forrest Ackerman, he helped define American science fiction and fantasy during its formative years.

There’s no better way to experience Harryhausen’s genius than in the arena where they debuted: the drive-in. The monthly Time Warp Drive-In, put on at the Malco Summer Drive-In by Black Lodge Video, Mike McCarthy, and Piano Man Pictures, will celebrate Harryhausen’s genius on Saturday with two classic films from the heyday of the drive-in, the 1950s.

The first film marked the debut of the color version of Dynamation, the system Harryhausen invented for integrating live action and special effects shots. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad takes inspiration from stories in Arabian Nights, but like all Harryhausen-related mythological films, plays fast and loose with the source material. It contains not only the incredible giant horned cyclops, but also the prototype for what became Harryhausen’s most famous sequence, the skeleton fight from Jason and the Argonauts. Take a look at this delightfully retro trailer.
 

Experience the Special Effects Genius of Ray Harryhausen at the Time Warp Drive-In

The second film of the night is 20 Million Miles to Earth from 1957. The first spaceship to visit Venus crash lands with a deadly cargo: a monster that can double in size every day. Naturally, it gets loose from the scientists trying to study it, and carnage ensues. Coming the same year as Godzilla hit American theaters, it’s the most seminal film in the kaiju genre not made in Japan. Like King Kong, which inspired Harryhausen to get into filmmaking, the monster turns out to be the story’s most sympathetic character. I’m just loving these 50s-era trailers:

Experience the Special Effects Genius of Ray Harryhausen at the Time Warp Drive-In (2)

Gates open for the Time Warp Drive-In at 6 PM, and the films start at 7 PM. Tickets available at the Malco website. 

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Long Live The New Flesh! Time Warp Drive-In Returns With a Salute to David Cronenberg

Videodrome

Among the many Memphis cultural institutions hit hard by the pandemic has been Black Lodge. Memphis’ independent video store reinvented itself as a mini-cinema and performance space for music and other countercultural performing arts by moving from its old home of 15 years in Cooper-Young to a big new space in the Crosstown neighborhood. Things were just getting rolling when the coronavirus hit early this year.

The Lodge has been back for a few months, renting films to members from its 30,000-strong collection of DVD and Blu-Ray titles. But like any place that depends on in-person gatherings right now, they are fighting for survival.

The Time Warp Drive-In, presented in partnership with Memphis’ favorite psychotronic filmmaker Mike McCarthy and Malco Theatres, kept the Black Lodge name alive while they were searching for a new home, and new business model. The monthly screenings of classic genre and cult films had been suspended since March’s shutdown. Tomorrow night, Saturday, September 19, it returns with a tribute to one of the most iconoclastic filmmakers of all time.

University of Memphis film professor Marina Levina likes to say that all horror is body horror, meaning that the terror of our own biological weirdness is at the heart of the genre. Nobody exemplifies that axiom better than David Cronenberg. The Canadian director’s movies have long questioned the line between our humanity and the artificial world we create. None of his films were more prescient than 1983’s Videodrome.

Cronenberg’s vision in Videodrome is strictly analog. He did not predict the internet and the rise of computers like his fellow Canadian William Gibson. But in the dream-like Videodrome, he did touch on the bizarre and dangerous side-effects of our information-saturated culture. James Woods stars as Max, the cynical operator of a low-power UHF TV station in Vancouver. When looking for more sensational programming to satisfy his prurient viewers, he stumbles across a secret show that depicts the graphic torture and murder of innocent victims. Rather than be repulsed and report the station to the authorities, he delves deeper into the mystery, and pays with his sanity and his humanity. Videodrome co-stars Debbie Harry, legendary frontwoman for OG punks Blondie, as Nicki, Max’s secret lover who may be either a victim or avatar of Videodrome. The film’s message, which has only become more clear in our current age, is that the power to control the collective hallucination is the power to control reality itself.

Long Live The New Flesh! Time Warp Drive-In Returns With a Salute to David Cronenberg

The evening’s second film is Scanners, the infamous 1981 horror hit which put Cronenberg on the map. The film stars British TV wildman Patrick McGoohan, of the cult sci fi series The Prisoner, as Dr. Paul Ruth, a conscience-free scientist working for ConSec, a shadowy corporate conglomerate investigating the existence of mutant psychics walking among us. These psychics can not only read minds, a skill which ConSec believes can be useful for corporate espionage, they have the ability to… well, just watch.

Long Live The New Flesh! Time Warp Drive-In Returns With a Salute to David Cronenberg (2)

That’s Michael Ironside, the heavy from Total Recall and Top Gun, in one of his first ever roles as the smug, head-banging telepath. The effect was achieved by filling a mask with gore and blasting it with a shotgun, a crew-endangering stunt that would get you instantly sued out of existence if you tried it today. They don’t make ’em like Scanners any more.

The third film of the triple features was Cronenberg’s second of 1983. The Dead Zone is a Dino De Laurentiis production based on a 1979 Stephen King novel. Christopher Walken stars in one of his iconic roles as the creatively named John Smith, a schoolteacher who awakens after a five-year coma to discover he has developed psychic powers and can see the future. When a chance meeting with politician Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen, deliciously sleazy) reveals that the would-be president will one day cause a nuclear war, Smith must decide whether or not to act on the information and try to change an apocalyptic future.

Long Live The New Flesh! Time Warp Drive-In Returns With a Salute to David Cronenberg (3)

Admission for the Time Warp Drive-In is $10 for the triple feature. Gates of the Malco Summer Drive-In open at 6:45, and the first film starts at 7:15. 

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

My Favorite Burger …

Since it’s Burger Week and many Memphis restaurants are selling great burgers at a great price (see page 17 for details), we decided to ask a few local notables to tell us about their favorite burger. They gave us some very mouthwatering choices. Enjoy.

Fredric Koeppel, Writer

“Our favorite burger in town is the WJ Burger at Acre, a re-enactment of the original burger sold at Wally Joe restaurant that closed in 2007. Acre now offers these on Thursday nights. Beef dry-aged and ground in-house, confit tomato, roasted garlic mayo, truffle cheese, frisée on a house-baked horseradish bun — it’s just the best. Get it medium rare.”

The Office @ Uptown’s black bean burger

Jared “Jay B.” Boyd, Program Manager, WYXR

“My favorite? The black bean burger at The Office @ Uptown. I’m a new vegan, and having veggie options around town is helpful. With more Impossible and Beyond options popping up around town, this particular take on a black bean patty stands out for its taste and texture. Not quite like meat, but still flavorful enough to hold its own.”

LBOE garlic burger

Pat Mitchell-Worley, Executive Director, Stax Music Academy

“LBOE has a garlic burger. It’s no longer on the menu, but if you ask for it, they’ll make it. It has so much garlic, I can’t be around people after I eat it. But it is just divine. Not only is it flavorful, I love the smell of garlic. It’s just so relaxing. In another life, I would be a garlic farmer. Sometimes I get it as a turkey burger, too. And it’s consistently good.”

Marjorie Hass, President of Rhodes College

“I don’t eat hamburgers very often, but I am partial to the one served at Libro, the restaurant attached to Novel. A chance to browse at an actual brick-and-mortar bookstore is an increasingly rare treat. And then, to sit down to lunch over a new book and a delicious burger — perfectly cooked and covered in caramelized onions and melted cheese — makes for a perfect afternoon.”

Al Kapone

Al Kapone, Hip-Hop Artist

Al Kapone’s favorite hamburger is a toss-up between a Tops and a Dixie Queen cheeseburger. In both cases, he says, “There’s something about their cooked-to-order burgers. They both have that same almost diner burger thing about them. It’s the type burger you find in any mom-and-pop store that cooks burgers. And I want my onions grilled. Something about the grilled onion flavor I can’t explain. When they grill the onions, it gives a flavor the raw onions don’t give. I love that flavor. I think raw onions sometimes can be too strong.” And make sure and toast those buns. “If they toast the fresh bun and brush some butter on it as they toast it — oh, my God. I’m getting hungry. I want one right now.”

Mike McCarthy, Director, Sculptor, Preservationist

“I have to admit, my favorite burger is generally my most recent burger. Take last night, for instance. It was 9:30 p.m. and I was starving. Tops BBQ and Steak & Shake were closed, and the golden arches were as dark as burnt french fries. I found myself in the drive-through at Krystal on Poplar. I soon realized that I was having, perhaps not a favorite burger, but rather a most-ironic burger, a burger based in deep-rooted Memphis memories — yet no different than any other Krystal burger in any other American town. As I waited in line, I saw Krystal’s large poster advertising ‘The Hangover’ burger, which, naturally in these trying times, is now served 24-7.

“But I chose the No. 1 combo. I pulled into a parking space and began the time-honored process of getting shades of red and yellow all over my pants. I thought about how my parents would always eat at this particular Krystal when they would visit from Mississippi and how we process memories through physical shapes. But those dang Krystal marketing folks kept interrupting my thoughts with their class-struggle advertising: Each individual box containing my four burgers boasted the phrase ‘IF IT AIN’T BROKE …’ — which might really mean ‘If only we weren’t so bankrupt (in all meanings of the word), we could be eating somewhere else or enjoying a better life.’ If only Krystal restaurants looked as cool as they did in the 1950s, then I’d be feasting on Memphis history and I’d be doing it 24/7.”

Graham Winchester

Graham Winchester, Musician

Graham Winchester loves Memphis food as much as he loves Memphis music. His Instagram account has been his outlet for “Poor Man’s Food Reviews,” which he calls “30-second bursts of mania and sloppy eating. I love putting in my two cents about some food.”

Winchester won’t commit to naming an all-time winner but says his favorite burger “right now” is the B-Side Memphis Burger. “It’s new,” he says. “It’s kind of in that classic Soul Burger style, like Earnestine & Hazel’s, but it’s a little bit bigger. It’s a flat-top grilled burger. You get pickles and cheese and onions, and they give you mustard and mayonnaise on the side, so you can dabble with it as much as you want.

“It’s perfectly cooked, perfectly greasy so that the cheese and grease just kind of fill up the front of your mouth. It definitely reminds you of that Soul Burger flavor, but it’s really hardy. And it comes with fries, so you’re pretty fulfilled.”

Mark Greaney, Novelist

Memphis writer Mark Greaney (whose Bond-like Gray Man series of spy novels is now a staple on bookshelves everywhere), has two favorites: the house burger at Maximo’s on Broad for high-style days, and for everyday meals, the ever-popular Dyer’s burgers, famously marinated in their own ancient grease.

About the latter he says, “They are the perfect thickness, and the texture is amazing. (Anything fried is amazing!) They have an incredible beef flavor that blasts past the tanginess of the mustard and pickles.”

Categories
Music Music Blog

Ceremony To Celebrate Johnny Cash Statue By Mike McCarthy

CREDIT: Dan Ball

Dan Ball

Mike McCarthy with his clay sculpture of Johnny Cash, before casting.

Wednesday, June 12 at 5:00, Memphis will finally behold the culmination of years of planning and painstaking work, with the unveiling of a statue of a young Johnny Cash. The larger-than-life likeness at 999 South Cooper will stand only a few feet from where Cash played his first paid performance at Galloway Church with Luther Perkins and Marshall Grant in December, 1954.

I spoke with Mike McCarthy, better known for his underground comics and films, about the process of making his original vision a reality, and his experience with working in the new medium of sculpted clay.

Memphis Flyer: How did this all come about? Many people don’t even realize that Johnny Cash played at what was then called Galloway Church.

Mike McCarthy:  So seven years ago, I thought to myself, ‘Cooper-Young needs a Johnny Cash statue. And Galloway Church needs to be saved.’ Then I met this strange cast of characters that took me on this journey that, seven years later, amounts to a statue.  I’m extremely happy. And maybe I’m amazed, to quote Paul McCartney. Because I can’t believe that it actually happened. These things take time. At one point, we were in a moment of crisis where, if I didn’t do the sculpture myself, it wasn’t gonna happen. And frankly it was an honor and a privilege, and I would have done it for free. Many people don’t even know I did it. They think I’m affiliated with it, but they don’t understand that I actually sculpted it. At the end of the conversation, they’re like ‘Wait a second, you actually sculpted it?’

I have said that Memphis is under-statued. And it’s becoming more under-statued. So why don’t we replace these statues or create new statues that are rockabilly-oriented, blues-oriented, 70s rock-oriented. Create an entire milieu of Memphis music history with statues, so American Dream Safari, say, can drive by that. We need more statues of historical musical legends in Memphis. That’s why I helped start Legacy Memphis. Then, when I became the sculptor, I stepped down from that nonprofit. From the beginning, our motto was ‘Every neighborhood has a hero.’

You usually work in other media. How did you rise to the challenge of sculpting?

Thirty-five years ago, I had a sculpture class at the [then] Academy of Art with John McIntire, and you can read about him in Robert Gordon’s It Came From Memphis. After I read that book, it all made sense to me, the beauty of the man who is John McIntire. When you move here from Mississippi to do your thing, you’d be best off just being quiet and soaking it all in, and go ahead and do whatever someone like McIntire says.

So I had that experience, and I knew I was up to the task of this project. I sculpted it in oil-based clay in my living room for about ten months. It was here in my house over Christmas. We strung Christmas lights on it. For me, having a piece of public artwork that supersedes anything I thought I would ever be able to accomplish, after coming from film and comics and other underground things I’ve done, is very gratifying.

I tend to be very philosophical about these things. Having something that was spawned out of my living room, that my kids were around and watched take shape, and can still go see after I’m gone, is wonderful. They’ll always be able to drive by that statue, and that means a lot.

How did things proceed once you finished the clay sculpture?

Then it was cast into bronze at the Lugar Foundry. One of the nicest things to occur out of all this is my friendship with the Lugar family, with Andrea and Larry. I’m sure the Flyer readership is very familiar with their statues: Chief Seattle at the zoo, Bobby Blue Bland downtown by the Chisca Hotel, Elvis on Beale Street. When I went out to see the statue at the foundry in Eads the other day, I was extremely gratified. I’m very happy to have worked with all these people to have made this happen.

Johnny Cash Statue & Historic Marker Unveiling, Wednesday, June 12, 5:00-7:00 pm, 999 South Cooper; with refreshments and music by Roy Cash and Thomas Gabriel (Johnny Cash’s oldest grandson).