20 November 2013 DJ Set List for Dr Sketchy

Phew! I am whoppingly behind with my blogging. Life has got in the way in recent months: Iwas in Canada for two weeks over Halloween and since getting back I've been DJ’ing a lot and started a very demanding new job. So I'm exhausted and distracted a lot of the time, but if I don’t document my DJ’ing misadventures, no one else is going to do it for me! And besides, I have overwhelming OCD about these things. So this blog will be a speedier than usual catch-up.

As you can see, I eased into the November 2013 Dr Sketchy at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern with some ethereal and pagan mondo exotica via the magic of Martin Denny, Les Baxter and the genre’s ululating high priestess Yma Sumac. I think exotica’s last real hey day was in the easy listening "loungecore" revival of the early nineties, but I’m determined to bring it back again!  Those jungle noises, cawing birds and ominous tribal chanting sound effects are like aural catnip for me. I also suspect I’m the only DJ currently playing calypso on a regular basis. Not the genuine article, but the gloriously ersatz and kitsch variety of faux novelty calypso performed by jive honky white crackers (in this case, Robert Mitchum – who invented the genre with his classic 1957 album Calypso is Like So, Mamie Van Doren and First Lady of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson).

Otherwise: I continue to be obsessed by the angel-faced “Japanese Elvis” Masaaki Hirao. (I try to sprinkle in some other songs by him, but I’m addicted to his version of “Lucille” – in fact I think I love it even more than Little Richard’s original!). It wouldn't be a Dr Sketchy without some Las Vegas Grind-style sleazy, bump'n'grind tittyshaker instrumentals. While the evening’s featured performer Frankie von Flirter modelled, I sound-tracked her poses with cooing sex kittens (Julie London, Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield).

Speaking of international vintage sex kittens, I played a track by ultra-sultry "ooh la la" French actrice et chanteuse Denise Darcel for the first time in ages (her wonderfully camp 1958 Banned in Boston album used to be one of my staples at Dr Sketchy. She croons in a thick comedic French accent – imagine a sexy female Pepe le Pew). The Parisian beauty pageant winner turned Hollywood starlet (specialising in playing characters named Fifi, Gigi and Lola in films like Tarzan and the Slave Girl and Seven Women from Hell) turned nightclub songbird turned (when legitimate show biz offers dried up) stripper was never exactly a household name. You’d be forgiven for thinking Darcel would be dimly-remembered today by only the most rabid of old movie junkies. In fact, her name tops the all-time most popular search engine entries for my blog! So she is clearly a cult figure out there who gets Googled a lot! Darcel died aged 87 on 23 December 2011 – meaning the second anniversary of her death is fast approaching.  Read her obituary here. (I have written about Darcel before in more detail here).  Merci, Denise Darcel - you made the world a more divoon place.

/ Satan's Angel and I at Viva Las Vegas in 2010 / 

Another fabulous babe and source of inspiration is doyenne of exotic dance and true burlesque royalty, Satan’s Angel (the savagely-pouting and bouffant-haired pin-up featured at the top of this blog). I got to see Satan’s Angel perform and briefly meet and talk to her at Viva Las Vegas in 2010. She was great – a raspy-voiced, hard-boiled but sweet tough cookie and a true old-school broad. Since then I've befriended her on Facebook and am always entertained by her straight-talking status updates. Just two of the reasons I love this woman: as an out and proud lesbian on the Mafia-ruled burlesque scene in the 1960s she defiantly endured her share of prejudice. (Apparently her female lovers included Hedy Lamarr and Janis Joplin). Satan’s Angel also used to play bass in a topless all-girl rock’n’roll band called The Hummingbirds who used to do a residency at the nite spot Tipsy’s in San Francisco’s North Beach. (How Beyond the Valley of the Dolls / Russ Meyer-esque! Oh, for a time machine!). Now 69, she’s still performing, teaches her patented “fire tassel twirling” technique to today's neo-burlesque performers – and still stirs up trouble! Welcome to her wild, wild world!

Satan's Angel with her friend and peer, the late great Tura Satana (1938-2011)

/ Candid snap of a very young Satan's Angel at home at Christmas time in the early 1960s. Now that is a killer bullet bra! /



/ Trailer for an intriguing-looking 2013 documentary about the life and career of Satan's Angel /

Jungle Madness - Les Baxter
Taita Inty (Virgin of the Sun God)- Yma Sumac
Misirlou - Martin Denny
Anohi Kara - Masaaki Hirao
Sleep Walk - Henri Renee and His Orchestra
Caravan - 80 Drums Around the World
Kismiaz - The Cramps
Monkey Bird - The Revels
La-bas c'est naturel - Serge Gainsbourg
Champagne Taste - Eartha Kitt
Cocktail for Two - Cliff Dauphiney
The Whip - The Originals
Tonight You Belong to Me - Patience and Prudence
Long Distance - Garnell Cooper and The Kinfolks
All of Me - Mae West
Honey Rock - Barney Kessel
Here Comes the Bug - The Rumblers
I'm a Bad, Bad Girl - Little Esther
The Coo - Wayne Cochran
Intoxica - The Centurions
Leave Married Women Alone - Jimmy Cavallo
Bombora - The Original Surf-aris
Nosey Joe - Bull Moose Jackson
Coconut Water - Robert Mitchum
Dona Wana - Wanda Jackson
Go Calypso! Mamie Van Doren
Vesuvius - The Revels
Save It - Mel Robbins
Night Scene - The Rumblers
Ain't That Lovin' You, Baby - The Earls of Suave
Serenata - The Jonah Jones Quarter
Give Me Love - Lena Horne
Sexe - Line Renaud
Some Small Chance - Serge Gainsbourg (Strip-tease soundtrack)
What is a Man? Denise Darcel
I Want a Boy - Connie Russell
Crazy Vibrations - The Bikini
You're the Boss - Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret
Bewildered - Shirley and Lee
Intoxica - The Revels
Tina's Dilemma - Ike and Tina Turner
Little Queenie - The Bill Black Combo
Jailhouse Rock - Masaaki Hirao
Margaya - The Fender Four
Suey - Jayne Mansfield
Pass The Hatchet - Roger and The Gypsies
Handclapping Time - The Fabulous Raiders
Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun - Mink Stole
Black Coffee - Julie London
Je me donne à qui me plaît - Brigitte Bardot 
You'd Be Surprised - Marilyn Monroe
Lucky - Lizabeth Scott
The Beast - Milt Buckner
Torture Rock - Rockin' Belmarx
Je t'aime moi non plus - Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot
The Whip - The Frantics
Love is Strange - Johnny Thunders and Patti Palladin
Kool Kat Walk - Julee Cruise
La Javanaise - Juliette Greco
Last Call for Whiskey - Choker Campbell

11 September 2013 Dr Sketchy Set List

/ Cult movie actress / burlesk artist / convicted felon / naive outsider painter / gangster's moll ... the fabulous Liz Renay (1926 - 2007) /

For this Dr Sketchy, Frankie Von Flirter and Violet Strangelove performed and modeled, and the cadaverously elegant Dusty Limits injected a bit of Weimar Republic decadence into proceedings as emcee.

As usual, when the Royal Vauxhall Tavern was dark, candle-lit and gradually filling-up I cast a pagan and taboo spell with some ethereal Mondo Tiki tropical lounge music (the operatic ululations of Peruvian high priestess Yma Sumac, Les Baxter, Martin Denny), gradually cranking up the tempo (and lowering the tone) with bump-and-grind titty shakers and greasy rhythm and blues.  

At Dr Sketchy I also aim for a touch of Continental sophistication, and love to drop in some foreign language exotica. On this night the musical globe-trotting encompassed Japanese (Eartha Kitt’s ultra-kitsch Japanese language version of Rosemary Clooney’s "Come-On-A My House" from her essential 1965 Eartha Kitt in Person at The Plaza live album; a Little Richard cover by the Japanese Elvis, Masaaki Hirao) and even more French chansons than usual, via Brigitte Bardot, Anouk Aimee, Juliette Greco and gravel-voiced German diva Hildegard Knef crooning en francais.

Elsewhere, I also amused myself by weaving in some conceptual / thematic musical connections. For example, I paid tribute to two of my favourite filmmakers: John Waters (by playing a track each by two of his wonderful character actress stalwarts Edith Massey and Mink Stole) and David Lynch (a song from his ghostly angel-voiced chanteuse Julee Cruise; Milt Bruckner’s sleazy instrumental “The Beast” featured in Lynch’s 2001 film Mulholland Drive).  Later on I offered a musical valentine to the divine Jayne Mansfield (my patron saint) by playing “I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield” by Japanese girl band The 5,6,7,8s followed by “That Makes It!” by Mansfield herself (she coos this song in the 1966 B-movie The Las Vegas Hillbillys).

/ "Oooh baby that makes it!" I've almost certainly posted this clip from The Las Vegas Hillbillys already but hell - it's a rancid classick! /

/ The regal Queen Mutha of Rock'n'Roll Little Richard in the 1960s /

I also worked in a topical honour to the perennially fierce Bronze Liberace Little Richard (the king and queen of rock’n’roll) by playing Masaaki Hirao’s Japanese language interpretation of “Lucille” (it rocks!) followed by perhaps the Georgia Peach’s own definitive statement, “The Girl Can’t Help It.” As you've probably already heard, Little Richard announced his retirement last week and reportedly intends to spend his remaining days praying and designing clothes. I revere Little Richard as one of rock’s true pioneering wild men (and someone who injected an unapologetic queer sensibility into rock’s DNA). But when I saw him headline at the 2013 Viva Las Vegas rockabilly weekender (you can read my account here) it was a mesmerising but messy and bittersweet car crash of a concert. 80-year old Little Richard (wheelchair-bound and visibly and audibly ailing) was clearly a performer in decline. For me, this announcement is therefore a relief. His legacy is certainly secure. Let’s hope Little Richard is able to enjoy a serene and well-deserved retirement. 

/ Masaaki Hirao: The face of Japanese Rockabilly /

Back to Masaaki Hirao: I recently acquired an Ace compilation CD of his material called Nippon Rock’n’Roll: The Birth of Japanese Rokabirii 1958 – 1960, containing what the liner notes accurately describe as “raw late 50s live and studio rockers from Japan’s answer to Elvis.” Backed by his crack band All Stars Wagon, Hirao certainly tears through desperate and genuinely tough cover versions of rock’n’roll standards like “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Little Darling” and “Jenny Jenny” with verve, style and conviction (usually with the verses in Japanese and the choruses in English), while on heartbreak ballads his teen idol voice soars and throbs sweetly. I live for shit like this! The liner notes give a concise and fascinating social history of the rise and rise of the rockabilly (or rokabirii as it's called in Japanese) subculture in late 1950s Japan.  (I've learned some useful phrases: for example, rokabirii buumu means “rockabilly boom”; rokabirii zoku means “rockabilly tribe”). The Japanese variation of rockabilly was inevitably distinctive due to both social and musical factors, shaped by its own unique challenges. How, for example, to rebel in a tradition-steeped, conformist culture with a great emphasis on respecting your elders? In terms of roots, Japan obviously had no black American Rhythm & Blues tradition to draw on – but it did have jazz, and a surprising amount of Country and Western bands clad in cowboy garb that had formed to entertain American GIs during the post-WWII occupation, ready to be pressed into action as rock’n’roll combos once popular tastes changed. Wanda Jackson’s “Fujiyama Mama” had been a surprise Japanese hit in 1957 (surely Japanese audiences would have found that song tasteless?); American juvenile delinquent films like Blackboard Jungle and Rebel without a Cause caused a sensation amongst the teen-aged Japanese rokabirii zoku – all paving the way for Masaaki Hirao’s emergence as the face of Japanese rokabirii (and a very pretty face at that). Anyway, I can’t recommend the CD highly enough. Read more about it and listen to some snatches of it on the Ace website. 

Further reading: An attendee of this Dr Sketchy posted this lovely blog about the night. Check it out - it incorporates some great photos of Frankie Von Flirter and a scantily-clad Violet Strangelove (Minnie Mouse has never looked kinkier!). For regular injections of NSFW kitsch, homoerotica and vintage sleaze, follow me on tumblr. 

Jungle Madness - Martin Denny
Tuma (Earthquake) - Yma Sumac
Misirlou - Martin Denny
Monkey Bird - The Revels
Lust - Les Baxter with Bas Sheva
Kizmiaz - The Cramps
Mamma's Place - Bing Day
Egg Man - Edith Massey
Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun - Mink Stole
Drive-In - The Jaguars
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Big Maybelle
Little Queenie - The Bill Black Combo
Where's My Money? Willie Jones
Night Walk - The Swingers
Eight Ball - The Hustlers
I Can't Sleep - Tini Williams and The Skyliners
Wiped Out - The Escorts
I Love the Life I Live - Esquerita
Treat Me Right - Mae West
Night Scene - The Rumblers
Mambo Baby - Ruth Brown
She Wants to Mambo - Johnny Thunders and Patti Palladin
Bombora - The Original Surfaris
You're Driving Me Crazy - Dorothy Berry
Here Comes the Bug - The Rumblers
Little Miss Understood - Connie Stevens
Je Me Donne a Qui Me Plait - Brigitte Bardot
Accentuate the Positive - The Bill Black Combo
Come-On-A My House - Eartha Kitt (in Japanese)
La Java Partout - Juliette Greco
La fille de Hambourg - Hildegard Knef
Hand Clapping Time - The Fabulous Raiders
I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield - The 5,6,7,8s
That Makes It - Jayne Mansfield
Welfare Cheese - Emanuel Laskey
Tina's Dilemma - Ike and Tina Turner
Boss - The Rumblers
No Good Lover - Mickey and Sylvia
Lola - Anouk Aimee
Lazy - The Nuns
You're My Thrill (instrumental) - Chet Baker
Up in Flames - Julee Cruise
The Beast - Milt Buckner
Bachelor in Paradise - Ann-Margret
Angel Face - Billy Fury
Whistle Bait - Larry Collins
Lucille - Masaaki Hirao
The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
Dragon Walk - The Noble Men
Jim Dandy - Sara Lee and The Spades
Cooler Weather (Is A-Comin') - Eddie Weldon
The Big Bounce - Shirley Caddell

19 June 2013 Dr Sketchy Set List

This was the first time I’d DJ’d for a Dr Sketchy at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern since the Valentine’s one in February 2013.  As a freaked-out casualty / terminal worry wart I was sure I would have forgotten everything I ever knew about using their decks. Then when I unpacked my DJ bag I quickly realised my headphones were missing the little “adapter” attachment that makes them compatible with the hole in The RVT’s console, so couldn’t use them at all. (I must have left it behind the last time I DJ’d, which would have been at the May 2013 Lobotomy Room at Ryan’s in Stoke Newington). Obviously this meant I couldn't listen to the track first in my headphones before playing it – so I had to ensure I cued the right one every time and hope for the best! (Luckily, all night I only played the wrong song once – not that anyone else would have been the wiser!). Plus I drank three pints of lager on an empty stomach (I went to the venue straight from work) – a recipe for things getting potentially sloppy. But in fact, I felt exceptionally relaxed and in control and (if I do say so myself!) think it was one of my tightest, most flowing and consistent sets ever. Maybe drinking three pints of lager on an empty stomach is the answer!

As usual, I initially eased into things with some Mondo Exotica (Yma Sumac, Martin Denny), hopefully invoking a taboo, primitive and sensual Tiki ambiance, and then alternated between wailing greasy rhythm and blues and rancid tittyshaking sleazy instrumentals. I also worked in some Beat, beat beatnik beatsville rock’n’roll novelty songs: Bing Day’s finger snapping, flute-laced “Mama’s Place”, Mamie Van Doren belting out the theme tune to her (frankly awful!) 1959 exploitation film The Beat Generation. I do love ersatz beatnik novelty tunes! 

Speaking of which... 

Two Beatnik poetesses (or at least, the 1950s Hollywood interpretation) in full flow. First, Philippa Fallon in High School Confidential (1958). To me, her sneering delivery anticipates Lydia Lunch:

Below: Maila Nurmi (aka glamour ghoul / horror movie hostess Vampira, out of her Morticia Addams-style drag) reciting a poem in The Beat Generation (1959) and wearing a pet rat as a fashion accessory. Sadly, the audio quality not so great on this one. I do love Nurmi's restless, swaying body language in the clip -- like someone on amphetamines. You can watch the whole film on Youtube. 

What links these two clips? The presence of character actor Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester in The Addams Family!) in both. In High School Confidential he's accompanying Fallon on piano; in The Beat Generation he's tough guy / cop Steve Cochran's partner

The emcee this time was Ebeneezer Valentine (think surly Scottish escapee from Trainspotting). There were two burlesque artistes and models: Frankie Von Flirter and Millie Dollar. For Frankie’s first pose I dove into eerie 1950s Cool Jazz (the sound of one finger snapping in an echo-y morgue) with a David Lynch-ian twist, starting with doomed heroin-ravaged Cool Jazz icon Chet Baker’s “You’re My Thrill” (he did a great vocal version of this jazz standard, but at Dr Sketchy I always play the instrumental that appears on his 1965 album Baker’s Holiday: Plays and Sings Billie Holiday. It has a sexy bump-and-grind burlesque rhythm), and then followed it with two songs from Lynch soundtracks. “Up in Flames” appeared in Wild at Heart (1990), memorably sung by raspy-voiced blues mama Koko Taylor. I opted for the more ghostly Julee Cruise interpretation, as featured on her underrated (and long out of print) 1993 The Voice of Love album (I snapped it up on CD at Amoeba Records when I was in San Francisco in April. What a coup!).  Milt Buckner’s slinky “The Beast” (a perennial Dr Sketchy favourite) appears in Mulholland Drive (2001).

In the second half, Frankie appeared in drag king mode for her Top Gun-inspired routine. Because of her military uniform, Clare Marie (Dr Sketchy’s ornately tattooed glamazon promoter) requested military-inspired music for these poses, which explains Dietrich’s “Give Me the Man” (she’s pining for a Foreign Legion soldier, ideally as played by young Gary Cooper in Morocco) and the Sadomasochism-tinged “I’d Love to Take Orders from You” by Mildred Bailey.

I’d never worked with Millie Dollar at a Dr Sketchy before, and I loved her hard-boiled, tattooed old-school stripper persona. Her big number ended with her twirling her pasties individually, and then ensemble – talented woman. Her orange spangly costume (the colour of a tequila sunrise!) had a belly dancer / harem girl look, which inspired me to journey into Middle Eastern / Turkish exotica for her poses: “Turkish Coffee” by Omar Kay, Eartha Kitt’s “Uska Dara”, “The Maharajah of Magdor” by The Blue Echos. (I also like to think I was being timely and topical, and showing solidarity with the Turkish protesters in Istanbul!).

As well as the usual vintage sleaze, I raised the tone a bit by playing some foreign language Continental artistes: France’s Serge Gainsbourg and Juliette Greco, Germany’s Hildegard Knef (I love her world-weary, sixty cigarettes-a-day guttural voice). For one of Millie’s poses I also played Anouk Aimée’s musical number from the key nouvelle vague film Lola (1961). A friend of mine went to Paris recently and kindly brought me back a boxed set of CDs entitled Nouvelle Vague: Chansons et musiques de films, which includes this song. I've always treasured Aimée as one of the most haunting and beautiful of French actresses (I've already blogged about Aimée’s performance in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita – and her sensational cat’s eye sunglasses). She gives her career-best performance in Lola as a naive, love-struck cabaret chanteuse and single mother. Normally Aimée was called upon to be enigmatic, or to suffer eloquently (something her sorrowful dark eyes were ideal at conveying) but in Lola she plays against type, channeling effervescent Marilyn Monroe at her most childlike, and is beguiling. 

I've always loved Aimée’s delivery of this song in her sexy showgirl outfit – so it was quite disillusioning to get the CD and see that in fact, it’s not Aimée singing at all! It certainly sounds like Aimée's own hesitant, whisper-soft voice, but she’d been dubbed by  professional singer Jacqueline Danno! The liner notes explain that the director Jacques Demy knew he wanted a musical sequence for the film, and filmed Aimée “speak” the lyrics like reciting a poem – and then later on, his composer Michel Legrand knocked-up the accompanying music and Danno painstakingly sang along to Aimée's lip movements so they could be synced. Sounds chaotic, but that’s probably why the best 1960s French nouvelle vague films still feel so fresh, playful and spontaneous: they were cobbled together in a haphazard fashion and on a tight budget.

Anyway, that’s show biz!

I probably won't be DJ'ing again now until 13 July 2013 -- the next Lobotomy Room night at Paper Dress Vintage! Details here. In the meantime, follow me on tumblr -- although perhaps not from your work PC! (NSFW alert!).

Taita Inty (Virgin of the Sun God) - Yma Sumac
The Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish - Martin Denny
Kismiaz - The Cramps
Se Acabo - The Del Rio Bros
The Monkey Bird (Conga Twist) - The Revels
C'mon-a My House (in Japanese) - Eartha Kitt
One Mint Julep - Sarah Vaughan
Slow Walk - Sil Austin
Night Walk - The Swingers
Welfare Cheese - Emanuel Laskey
You're Driving Me Crazy - Dorothy Berry
One Monkey Don't Stop No Show - Big Maybelle
I Can't Sleep - Tini Williams and The Skyliners
Beaver Shot - The Hollywood Hurricanes
Little Queenie - The Bill Black Combo
Greasy Chicken - Andre Williams
Mama's Place - Bing Day
Beat Generation - Mamie Van Doren
Intoxica - The Centurions
Wiped-Out - The Escorts
Hanky Panky - Nancy Sit
Margaya - The Fender Four
I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield - The 5,6,7,8s
Scorpion - The Carnations
Night Scene - The Rumblers
Last Call for Whiskey - Choker Campbell
I Ain't Drunk, I'm Just Drinkin' - Jimmy Liggins
The Sneak - Jimmy Oliver
La Valse des Si - Juliette Greco
La Fille de Hambourg - Hildegard Knef
You're My Thrill - Chet Baker (instrumental version)
Up in Flames - Julee Cruise
The Beast - Milt Buckner
Are You Nervous? The Instrumentals
Wait A Minute, Baby - Esquerita
He's The One - Ike and Tina Turner
Rockin' Out The Blues - The Musical Linn Twins
I'm a Bad, Bad Girl - Little Esther
Lola - Jacqueline Danno
The Immediate Pleasure - John Barry (Beat Girl soundtrack)
Some Small Chance - Serge Gainsbourg (Strip-tease soundtrack)
Turkish Coffee - Omar Kay
Uska Dara - Eartha Kitt (1960s version)
The Maharajah of Magador - The Blue Echoes
Beat Party - Ritchie and The Squires
Pass The Hatchet - Roger and The Gypsies
Chattanooga Choo Choo - Denise Darcel
Boss - The Rumblers
Club Delight - Jack Jolly
Cocktails for Two - Cliff Duphiney
Give Me the Man - Marlene Dietrich
I'd Love To Take Orders from You - Mildred Bailey
Two Little Girls from Little Rock - Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell
Bikini with No Top on the Top - Mamie Van Doren and June Wilkinson
The Whip - The Frantics
Thirteen Men - Ann-Margret
The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
Begin the Beguine - Billy Fury
Drummin' Up A Storm - Sandy Nelson
Viens danser le twist - Johnny Hallyday
Handclappin' Time - The Fabulous Raiders
Suey - Jayne Mansfield
Tina's Dilemma - Ike and Tina Turner

22 November 2012 Dr Sketchy Set List

/ On the Beach: Ultra-sultry cheesecake shot of Bettie Page /

For this Dr Sketchy we were back at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern (for me, Dr Sketchy’s ideal venue and spiritual home, maybe because of its cabaret / musical hall history). It felt like a lifetime since the last Dr Sketchy (there wasn't one in October), and I was itching to get back behind the DJ booth. Sharp-tongued homme du monde Dusty Limits was on emcee duties, while the effervescent Frankie Von Flirter modelled and performed (she did two acts; for the last one, she reprised her drag king Top Gun act she’s done at a Dr Sketchy once before. It ends with Frankie stripped to her underwear delivering a blistering feminist diatribe, singing "I'm haemorrhaging from my vagina ..."). As an added bonus, we also had male model Grant, making his Dr Sketchy debut. And Dr Sketchy’s glamazonian promoter Clare Marie unveiled her new long black mane of hair extensions (very Morticia Addams).

For his poses, Grant wore a pristine vintage sailor uniform. It was undoubtedly the furthest thing from Grant’s mind, but of course the image of the uniformed sailor is one of the most potent and enduring homoerotic archetypes. With his sailor uniform, wavy quiff and rugged and chiselled Lil’ Abner profile Grant nicely evoked a whole range of Jean Genet-Querelle / Kenneth Anger-Fireworks / Pierre et Gilles fantasies in one package! Sadly, there were no photographers snapping pictures that night, but just for the hell of it here is some sailor-inspired vintage beefcake to give you a taste of what Grant looked like.

About 40% of the night’s set came via faithful Bitterness Personified reader Kevin Allman, a music journalist and DJ based in the steamy voodoo realm of New Orleans. In October 2012 he very kindly posted me a CD packed full of the kind of musical vintage sleaze that makes my toes curl in ecstasy:  volume six of Las Vegas Grind (the Las Vegas Grind series of obscure titty shakin’ rhythm and blues instrumentals is one of the bedrocks of my Dr Sketchy sets, and I didn’t have that volume) and a compilation of tunes from John Waters films.  The track “Egg Man” is essentially the dialogue of Edith Massey as Mama Edie (ranting about eggs! Eggs! Oh, god – EGGS!) from Water’s notorious 1972 celluloid atrocity Pink Flamingos sampled over a soundtrack of finger snapping 1950s jazz. The crowd looked pretty nonplussed by it, but it just may be my favourite songs of the moment! If any other Bitterness Personified readers would like to follow Kevin's generous example and send me some music, please be my guest!

"I'm starvin' to death for some eggs!" Edith Massey as Mama Edie in Pink Flamingos
 

Read Kevin’s excellent interview with one of my all-time punk heroines – Exene Cervenka, front woman of the mighty Los Angeles punk band X – here.

When Dusty made one of his forays into Beat poetry, I employed the city-of-night film noir big band Lydia Lunch instrumental “A Cruise to the Moon” (from her essential 1979 Queen of Siam album) as the background. The songs midway down the track list (from Mildred Bailey’s military-inspired ode to Sado-masochism “I’d Love to Take Orders from You” downward until “Boy from Ipanema” by Eartha Kitt), with yearning female vocalists channelling their inner hot pool of woman need, were the aural backdrop for Grant’s pose. The male and female duets (Shirley and Lee, Elvis and Ann-Margret, Serge and Brigitte) towards the end were when Grant and Frankie posed ensemble.

Black and Tan Fantasy - Duke Ellington
Ain't That Good? George Kelly and Orchestra
Egg Man - Edith Massey
Beaver Shot - The Hollywood Hurricanes
Endless Sleep - Jody Reynolds
Church Key - The Revels
Jim Dandy - Sara Lee & The Spades
Little Queenie - Bill Black Combo
Madness - The Rhythm Rockers
Tear Drops From My Eyes - Ruth Brown
Gettin' Plenty of Lovin' - Esquerita
Frenzy - The Hindus
Kansas City - Ann-Margret
It - The Regal-aires
Town without Pity - James Chance
I Was Born to Cry - Dion
Night Walk - The Swingers
Beat Generation - Mamie Van Doren
Viens danser le twist - Johnny Hallyday
Storm Warning - Mac Rebennack
Wimoweh - Yma Sumac
Coconut Water - Robert Mitchum
Safari - The El Capris
Night Scene - The Rumblers
Slow Walk - Sil Austin
Fever - The Delmonas
Trashcan - Ken Williams
Woo hoo - The Rock-A-Teens
Love Potion # 9 - Nancy Sit
La Valse des Si - Juliette Greco
Jaguar - The Jaguars
Little Miss Understood - Connie Stevens
The Sneak - The Towers
My Pussy Belongs to Daddy - Faye Richmonde
The Slouch - Ray Gee and His Orchestra
A Cruise to the Moon - Lydia Lunch
Welfare Cheese - Emanuel Laskey
Sick and Tired - Lula Reed
I Stubbed My Toe - Bryan "Legs" Walker
Wiped Out - The Escorts
I'd Love to Take Orders from You - Mildred Bailey
Hard Workin' Man - Captain Beefheart
Give Me the Man - Marlene Dietrich
I Want a Boy - Connie Russell with Orchestra
Boy from Ipanema - Eartha Kitt
Margaya - The Fender Four
How About It? Big Bo Thomas and The Arrows
Pass the Hatchet - Roger and The Gypsies
Roll with Me, Henry - Etta James
Crazy Vibrations - The Bikinis
The Flirt - Shirley and Lee
You're the Boss - Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret
Je t'aime, moi non plus ... Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot
Intoxica - The Revels
Hand-Clapping Time - The Fabulous Raiders
Club Delight - Jack Jolly
Suey - Jayne Mansfield
Ring of Fire - The Earls of Suave

22 May 2012 Dr Sketchy Set List

This Dr Sketchy (at The Paradise in Kensal Green for the first time in ages) boasted vampirically elegant Dusty Limits as master of ceremonies and two models and burlesque performers, Kiki Kaboom and Frankie Von Flirter.

I hadn’t DJ’d at the Paradise in so long it was like I’d developed amnesia: I’d forgotten everything I ever knew about using the decks there! At one stage I couldn’t work out why I couldn’t get any audio out of my headphones and called a Paradise employee over. Of course it was a simple thing I’d forgotten which I really should know by now – boy, was my face red! Luckily I got back on track after that.

It was a blast to work with Kiki Kaboom (international sex kitten, showgirl deluxe, winner of London Cabaret Awards 2012: Best Burlesque Performer) again, albeit briefly (she split immediately afterwards, as she’s recuperating from laser eye surgery). Kiki’s a gal who appreciates a single entendre (who doesn’t?), so I made sure to drop in “My Pussy Belongs to Daddy” by queen of risqué songs, Faye Richmonde, during her pose (her other adult novelty “hits” include “Tony’s Got Hot Nuts” and “Where Can I Find a Cherry for My Banana Split?”).

Music for newcomer Frankie Von Flirter posed a bit more of a challenge: she did a drag king performance to a medley from the Top Gun soundtrack (1980s power ballads ahoy!). So for her poses, I went for a gender-fucked approach (songs about men by Denise Darcel, Mamie Van Doren and Lizabeth Scott; a military / sadomasochistic twist via Mildred Bailey’s “I’d Love to Take Orders from You”). Later on when Dusty was standing next to me in the DJ booth, he realised something was stuck to the bottom of his shoe -- it was Frankie's Tom Selleck-style fake moustache! How we laughed.

I have bad news about my own club night Lobotomy Room: it never happened, and it looks unlikely to happen at all now (at least for the foreseeable future). In a nutshell: the venue where it was supposed to happen had chronic licensing problems (no music licence and the local council seemed reluctant to issue them one), and my contact who wanted to put me on in the first place doesn’t work there anymore anyway! At some point I might think about approaching other venues, but for now, I’m putting the Lobotomy Room concept on mothballs and licking my wounds.

In the meantime, who doesn’t feel cheered up looking at photos of Jayne Mansfield? Like I’ve said before, Mansfield was the punk Marilyn Monroe who died for our sins. Check out At Home with Jayne Mansfield, in which we see a typical day (in 1956 when she was still on the ascent) in the life of a starlet. Her hectic schedule encompasses making breakfast (while pouting), kissing her pet Chihuahua on the lips, checking on her young daughter (whom she doesn't kiss), combing her platinum blonde hair, being interviewed, and then finally back in bed in her babydoll negligee answering fan mail and autographing photos. Phew! Exhausting.

More recommended reading: one of my all-time favourite blogs is Jim Linderman’s Vintage Sleaze. Read his haunting and melancholy account of the hard times of long-forgotten one-time Russ Meyer model and burlesque “lost girl” Lilly La Mont. “A slightly gap-toothed Half-Native American stripper, prostitute, model and B-girl from the 1950s ...”, La Mont declined into alcoholism and then seemingly vanished off the radar, a casualty of the glamour jungle. Hopefully someone will get in touch with Linderman and fill in the gaps with an update of whatever happened to Lilly La Mont. Maybe she’s someone’s grandma living happily in the suburbs. It seems more likely her days ended like an especially grim chapter of Hollywood Babylon or a James Ellroy novel.

Post modern tribute: pin-ups of Lilly La Mont as re-interpreted by Mexican tattooist and outsider artist Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez (aka Dr Lakra)

Voodoo Dreams / Voodoo - Les Baxter
Monkey Bird - The Revels
Babalu - Yma Sumac
Tequila - Stan Kenton and His Orchestra
I Learn a Merengue, Mama - Robert Mitchum
St Louis Blues - Eartha Kitt
Jungle Drums - Earl Bostic
Good and Bad - The Gauchos
It Ain't to Play with - Sheryl Crowley
House Party - The Instrumentals
You Can't Put Me Down - Esquerita
Whirlwind - Ray Morton and The Temp-Tones
Wine Spo-Li-Ol-Li - The 5 Strings
Can Your Hossie Do the Dog? Del Raney's Umbrellas
Work with It - Que Martin
When I Get Low, I Get High - Florence Joelle
One More Beer - The Earls of Suave
Yogi - The Bill Black Combo
Pink Champagne - The Tyrones
Intoxica - The Revels
The Flirt - Shirley and Lee
Margaya - The Fender Four
Makin' Out - Jody Reynolds
My Pussy Belongs to Daddy - Faye Richmonde
Crawlin' - The Untouchables
The Coo - Wayne Cochrane
Drive-In - The Jaguars
Give Me Love - Lena Horne
The Stripper - John Barry (Beat Girl soundtrack)
The Good Life - Ann-Margret
Baby, Baby All The Time - Julie London
Black Tarantula - Jody Reynolds
Jim Dandy - Sara Lee and The Spades
Chop Suey Rock - The Instrumentals
Drive Daddy Drive - Little Sylvia
Shomblar - Sheriff and The Ravels
Fever - Nancy Sit
Tall Cool One - The Wailers
Mondo Moodo - The Earls of Suave
I'd Love to Take Orders from You - Mildred Bailey
Drummin' Up a Storm - Sandy Nelson
Hand Clapping Time - The Fabulous Raiders
Every Man is a Stupid Man - Denise Darcel
Separate the Men from the Boys - Mamie Van Doren
Men - Lizabeth Scott
Love for Sale - Hildegard Knef
Boots - Nero and The Gladiators
Elle est terrible - Johnny Hallyday
The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
Sweetie Pie - Eddie Cochran
Beat Girl - Adam Faith
Devil in Disguise - Elvis Presley
Moi je joue - Brigitte Bardot