22 September 2010 Dr Sketchy Set List

/ Esquerita at the height of his beauty. I only wish I'd been there to light his cigarette for him /
This time as well as the usual ass-shaking vintage sleaze I incorporated some calypso (Robert Mitchum and Mamie van Doren singing calypso = kitsch heaven), latin exotica, doo wop, rhythm and blues and more rockabilly than usual. Obviously I try to take my musical cues from the costumes the models are wearing and the poses they strike. For example, when Peekaboo Pointe posed wearing black sparkly cat’s ears, I went with a feline vibe (i.e. “Sweet Little Pussycat” by Andre Williams, “The Pussycat Song” by Connie Vannett – a song whose single entendre lyrics are so blue the audience always starts tittering). More of a challenge was Bomb Voyage who wore a blood-splattered corset and a nurse’s hat – tricky to know what to do with that! That’s why midway down my set list it suddenly takes on a bit of a morbid horror theme.
Vírgenes del Sol - Yma Sumac
Eso - Conjunto TNT
Oink Oink Mambo - Chuy Reyes & His Orchestra
Thunderbird - The Casualaires
No Good Lover - Mickey & Sylvia
Jelly Roll Rock - Walter Brown & His Band
Beauty is Only Skin Deep - Robert Mitchum
Go Calypso - Mamie van Doren
Intoxica - The Centurions
Peter Gunn Locomotion - The Delmonas
Night Scene - The Rumblers
Tight Skirt, Tight Sweater - The Versatones
Near You - Marlene Dietrich
Like Young - Dave Pell
Dancing on the Ceiling - Chet Baker
Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer - Nina Simone
Maybe Baby - Esquerita
I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
The Flirt - Shirley & Lee
Vesuvius - The Revels
Daddy Daddy - Ella Mae Morse
The Whip - The Frantics
Crawfish - Johnny Thunders & Patti Paladin
Blue Moon Baby - Dave Diddle Day
Cyclone Bop - Bill Black Combo
Life is But a Dream - The Harptones
Bye Bye Young Men - Ruth Brown
I'll Upset You, Baby - Lula Reed
Hump-A-Baby - Little Ritchie Ray
Blockade - The Rumblers
Jim Dandy - Ann-Margret
Peter Gunn Twist - The Jesters
Anytime - Bill Black Combo
Sweet Little Pussycat - Andre Williams
Pussycat Song - Connie Vannett
Aged and Mellow - Little Esther
Make Love to Me - June Christy
Shangri-La - Spike Jones New Band
Do It Again - Eartha Kitt
Lazy - Marilyn Monroe
Caravan - John Buzon Trio
Frankie and Johnny - Mae West
Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price
I Was Born to Cry - Dion
You'd Better Stop - LaVerne Baker
Kiss Me Honey Honey - The Delmonas
Jungle Drums - Earl Bostic
Wo Ist Der Mann? - Jayne Mansfield
Bloodshot - The String Kings
The Strangeness in Me - The Runabouts
She's My Witch - Kip Tyler
I'd Rather Be Burned as a Witch - Eartha Kitt
Sinners - Freddie & The Hitchhikers
Werewolf - The Frantics
Black Tarantula - Jody Reynolds
Give Me a Woman - Andy Starr
Esquerita and The Voola - Esquerita
Yogi - Bill Black Combo
Boss - The Rumblers
8 Ball - The Hustlers
The Stripper - John Barry (Beat Girl soundtrack)
Mack the Knife - Bill Black Combo
C'est Si Bon - Ann-Margret
Love for Sale - Hildegard Knef
Pop Slop - Bela Sanders und Sein Orchester
One, Two, Let's Rock - Sugar Pie & Pee Wee
Eager Beaver Baby - Johnny Burnette
Rip It Up - Little Richard
Pink Champagne - The Tyrones

I can’t imagine DJ’ing and not playing at least one track by the late, great Esquerita – an endless source of fascination and inspiration for me. Little Richard may be the Queen of Rock'n'Roll, but Esquerita (his chief influence) comes close. I played “Esquerita and the Voola” while Bomb Voyage and Peekaboo Pointe posed together – with Esquerita’s knuckle-pounding off-key piano and blood-curdling whooping, it sounds like the soundtrack to a voodoo ceremony. Read about the demented genius and tragic life of Esquerita on this excellent blog.

Another heroine (and one I had the chance to meet before she died): sex kitten deluxe Eartha Kitt. "Do It Again" tends to be perceived as one of Marilyn Monroe's musical signatures, but I love Eartha's sensual, purring rendition. Check out her singing it on a 1962 television special -- her constant smouldering eye contact is mesmerising.



Keep up with upcoming Dr Sketchy's here.

Enter the Void: A Reunion with Cyril Roy

Cyril Roy is like my petit frère. I got to know him in the mid-90s when he used to play in the awesome garage punk band The Sires (I interviewed them for the legendary hardcore punk zine MAXIMUMROCKNROLL). He also used to work behind the bar at The Elephants Head in Camden Town (my all-time favourite pub). With his raspy Pepé Le Pew French accent and Gallic joie de vivre, Cyril was a much-loved fixture in London on the retro rock scene. Years ago he married a Japanese woman and re-located to Tokyo, where he managed a bar. Every few years he visits London, and is as reliably debauched and hilarious as ever.

A while back I started getting occasional cryptic emails from Cyril saying he got an acting gig and would be appearing in the new film by Gaspar Noé, the French-Argentinean enfant terrible / provocateur notorious for the brutal rape revenge film Irreversible (I’ve never seen that film and don’t intend to – I’m very squeamish. I know someone who saw it years ago and is still traumatised!). This was a very surprising development, as Cyril had never expressed an interest in acting. Sure enough, when the film Enter the Void screened at Cannes in 2009 there was Cyril photographed with Noé and the rest of the cast on the red carpet. I’ve been dying to ask him about it ever since.

Finally caught up with Cyril this week when he was passing through London (touring with the Japanese garage punk band The Minnesota Voodoomen), which coincided with the film’s premiere in London. Managed to snatch a quick drink with Cyril before seeing a screening of Enter the Void at The Curzon in Soho (at the French House, appropriately enough). Over a large Pernod Cyril explained how someone from Noé’s production company asked to rent one of the function rooms at the bar where he works to hold auditions for the film. Cyril had been a fan of Irreversible and was curious to meet Noé. When they finally did meet, Noé – presumably impressed by Cyril’s charisma and grungy sense of style -- asked him if he’d be interested in doing a screen test. Apparently he liked the results, because Cyril wound up with one of the lead roles! To me, Cyril is the best thing in the film – but then I would say that.

Enter the Void is Noé’s hellish, hallucinatory vision of Tokyo as a neon-lit purgatory. The soundtrack is mostly one long menacing industrial throb while Noe’s astonishingly mobile camera swirls and swoops overhead, capturing a cavalcade of depravity below. In truth I’d find it hard to recommend the film (it’s two and a half punishing and intense hours of having your face rubbed in squalor!) but it is virtuoso and original filmmaking – Enter the Void is a bit of an endurance test, but also a genuinely memorable experience. And I’m so proud of Cyril! He told me that Noe paid him the compliment that he “eats the screen.” It’s true, he does.

/ Characteristic pose for Cyril outside The French House in Soho: drink in one hand (Pernod), cigarette in the other. Note the beautiful skull ring /

/ Cyril and Dominique Gillan outside the Wenlock Arms in Shoreditch /

/ Cyril and I outside the Wenlock Arms in Shoreditch /

/ Cyril and French chanteuse Fabienne Delsol (his former bandmate in The Sires) outside the Wenlock Arms in Shoreditch /

/ Cyril displaying his impressive Japanese tattoo. (Trust me, it extends down to his ass) /

Enter the Void UK trailer:



Read Peter Bradshaw's five star (!) review of Enter the Void in The Guardian here.

Read an interview I did with Cyril circa 1998 and his bandmates in Dollicious for Razorcake.

Dr Sketchy Set List from 4 September 2010

Quickly posting my set list from earlier today -- I depart to Canada for two weeks early tomorrow. It was a fun and memorable Dr Sketchy: the burlesque performer / model this time was Khandie Kisses. Our usual resident emcee Dusty Limits was indisposed; his replacement was glamorous burlesque performer Kiki Kaboom. I’d never worked with her before and she was a blast: a wry, relaxed and engaging mistress of ceremonies, and best of all she finished things off by serenading a guy from the audience with an alluring rendition of the Marilyn Monroe standard “You’d Be Surprised.”

Kiki in action (her showreel, to the tune of the awesome "Boss" by The Rumblers):



Playboy's Theme - Cy Coleman
Eso - Conjunto TNT
Mi Palomito - Yma Sumac
Chihuahua - Luis Oliviera
Vesuvius - The Revels
Java Partout - Juliette Greco
Gizmo - Jimmy Heap
Go Calypso - Mamie van Doren
Sunny - Robert Mitchum
Frankie and Johnny - Bill Black Combo
I Found Her - Esquerita
Bye Bye Young Men - Ruth Brown
Stranger in My Own Home Town (x-rated version) - Elvis Presley
I Need Your Lovin' - Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford
Strange Love - Slim Harpo
Bewildered- Shirley & Lee
Begin the Beguine - Billy Fury
Rock'n'Roll Waltz - Ann-Margret
Destination Moon - Dinah Washington
Fever - Nancy Sit
Here Comes the Bug - The Rumblers
Groovy - The Groovers
L'Appareil a Sous - Bardot
It's Legal - Shirley Ann Field / John Barry (Beat Girl soundtrack)
Jungle Drums - Earl Bostick
Where's the Money, Honey? Chubby Newsome
Crybaby - The Honey Sisters
Boss - The Rumblers
Love is Strange - Johnny Thunders & Patti Paladin
Salamander - Mamie van Doren
Yogi - Bill Black Combo
The Whip - The Originals
8 Ball - The Hustlers
Summertime - Little Esther
Little Things Mean a Lot - Jayne Mansfield
Sweet Little Pussycat - Andre Williams
Pussycat Song - Connie Vannett
I Feel So Mmmm - Diana Dors
Like Young - Dave Pell
C'est Si Bon - April Stevens
Pop Slop - Bela Sanders und Sein Tanzorchester
Hot Toddy - Julie London
Last Night - Lula Reed
Dragon Walk - The Noblemen
Heartbreak Hotel - Ann-Margret
Chattanooga Choo Choo - Denise Darcel
Blue Kat - Chuck Rio & The Originals
Aged & Mellow - Little Esther
The Girl Can't Help It - Little Richard
St Louis Blues - Eartha Kitt
I Was Born to Cry - Johnny Thunders
I Love the Life I Live - Esquerita
Monkey Bird - The Revels
Someone to Love - Dinah Washington
Astrosonic - Jimmie Haskell
Hearts Made of Stone - Rudy Gray
Comin' Home - The Delmonas
Train to Nowhere - The Champs
Tiger - Sparkle Moore
Thirteen Men - Ann-Margret
A Guy What Takes His Time - Marlene Dietrich
Jim Dandy - LaVerne Baker
I'd Love to Take Orders from You - Mildred Bailey
Tuxedo Junction - Bill Black Combo
Wo ist Der Man? Jayne Mansfield
My Daddy Rocks Me - Mae West
Nite Hawks - The Chicken Grabber
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Sam Butera
Whatever Lola Wants - Eartha Kitt
You're My Thrill - Chet Baker (instrumental version, not vocal version)
I'll Upset You, Baby - Lula Reed
The Beast - Milt Buckner
Je t'aime, Moi Non Plus - Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot
Black Coffee - Julie London
Ou es-tu Ma Joie? Caterina Valente
Mambo Miam Miam - Serge Gainsbourg
Lover - Peggy Lee
Ole Devil Moon - Chet Baker
Wondrous Place - Billy Fury
Fever - Timi Yuro
Beat Girl - Adam Faith
Honeysuckle Rose - Marlene Dietrich
Look-a-There, Ain't She Pretty? Bill Haley & His Comets
Uptown to Harlem - Johnny Thunders & Patti Paladin

Nice'n'sleazy does it every time ... "The Whip", one of the ultimate bump and grind titty twisters by The Originals:



The sublime Brigitte Bardot in 1963. Music by Serge Gainsbourg:



Keep up to date with Dr Sketchy here

Gainsbourg: La vie heroique

Saw the new Serge Gainsbourg biopic earlier this week. Not sure what to make of it: the tone and pacing of the film strange and uneven, some of the more whimsical bits really grated on me (am unconvinced by the puppet representing Gainsbourg’s subconscious – if you see the film, you’ll know what I mean!). On the plus side, it looked stunning, the performances were great (was really enjoyable seeing how the likes of Brigitte Bardot and Juliette Greco portrayed) and Gainsbourg’s music on the soundtrack gave me goose bumps. Many years ago I wrote a piece about Gainsbourg for the punk zine Razorcake. Seeing the film inspired me to dredge it up again: I’d write it very differently now, but in any case here it is!

The UK trailer for the film:



Gainsbourg at his finest:

2 August 2010 Dr Sketchy at The Paradise in Kensal Green

Felt like one of the sweatier, more chaotic Dr Sketchy nights, but still fun – some challenges can really keep you on your toes and keep you focused. The main technical glitch was that no one could locate a microphone for the master of ceremonies Dusty Limits to use. It stressed me out, but Dusty is such a consummate pro he was completely nonchalant about it and just projected his voice a bit louder. (Anyway, a mic was finally sourced midway through the night for him). The two exquisite models were Miss Johnson (aka Ruka, the brains and beauty behind Sugarlesque) and Vee Worldmistress. Towards the end of the night they posed together. I had an elegant French chanson number cued up and ready to play, but then I saw their pose: Miss Johnson sprawled across Vee’s lap, ready to be spanked, straight out of an Irving Klaw / Bettie Page bondage photo session. So I scrambled to find and cue something more raunchy and lewd: “Here Comes the Bug” by The Rumblers (the percussion almost sounds like spanking noises anyway).

Catwalk - Jack Constanzo
All of Me - Little Jimmy Scott
Pick Up - The Corvettes
Beat Generation - Mamie van Doren
Little Ole Wine Drinker Me - Robert Mitchum
Oh Baby - Esquerita
I Would If I Only Could - Ruth Brown
After Hours - Bob Taylor
Jim Dandy - Ann-Margret
Nosey Joe - Bull Moose Jackson
Destination Moon - Dinah Washington
Astrosonic - Jimmie Haskell
Fool I Am - Pat Ferguson
Frenzy - The Hindus
That Makes It - Jayne Mansfield
The Strip - The Upsetters
Vesuvius - The Revels
It's Legal - Shirley Ann Field / John Barry (Beat Girl soundtrack)
Cafe Bohemian - The Enchanters
Mi Palomita - Yma Sumac
Cha Cha Cha du Loup - Serge Gainsbourg
The Lady is a Tramp - Hildegard Knef
Street Scene - Lou Busch
The Strip - The Upsetters (played again in error. It was that kind of night!)
Oh Honey - Gloria Wood
Fever - Timi Yuro
I'm a Bad, Bad Girl - Little Esther
A Woman Wouldn't Be a Woman - Eartha Kitt
Harlem Nocturne - Martin Denny
Honky Tonk - Bill Black Combo
I Got a Right to Sing the Blues - Billie Holiday
Travellin' Light - Chet Baker
Work Song - Nina Simone
Born to Cry - Johnny Thunders
Pink Champagne - The Tyrones
Blue Kat - Chuck Rio & The Originals
Bachelor in Paradise - Ann-Margret
Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby - Ann Richards
Do It Again - Eartha Kitt
Chery Pink - Bill Black Combo
Love Me - Marlene Dietrich
Shangri-La - Spike Jones
Take It Off - The Upsetters
Night Train - Alvino Rey
Blondie's Strip - John Barry (Beat Girl soundtrack)
Kiss - Marilyn Monroe
Here Comes the Bug - The Rumblers
La Javanaise - Juliette Greco
Mack the Knife - Hildegard Knef
C'est Si Bon - April Stevens
Let's Get Lost - Chet Baker
Makin' Whoopee - Marlene Dietrich

Jane Morgan singing "C'est Si Bon": not the version I played (in fact I'd never heard of this singer before), but this clip is so irresistably kitsch (the ultra low-budget set! The pouting, crotch-thrusting go-go dancers! That cotton candy bouffant wig!) I had to include it on here.




The late Johnny Thunders singing Dion’s “I Was Born to Cry”. His second last record was Copy Cats, a brilliant album of covers on which he duets with smoky-voiced Noo Yawk bloozie chantoozie Patti Palladin. I bought it on vinyl when it first came out in 1988, then many years later bought it again when it was reissued on CD. Yes, a heroin-ravaged Thunders looks distressingly cadaverous here, like a corpse being dangled on wires (he only had a few more years to live – he was dead by 1991) but he’s still in great, powerful voice and what a magnificent pompadour!



Keep track of future Dr Sketchy nights here

Dr Sketchy Set List for 14 July 2010

Another great Dr Sketchy night at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, probably my favourite venue to DJ at. Because it fell on 14 July, the night had a Bastille Day theme -- which explains why you see more French music than usual by the likes of Serge Gainsbourg, Juliette Greco, Edith Piaf and Brigitte Bardot twined amongst the customary vintage sleaze. A particular highlight: our glamorous Parisian model Mam'zelle Maz demonstrated she was talented as well as beautiful by warbling a husky-voiced French chanson.

Frankie and Johnny - Bill Black Combo
Wino - Jack McVea
Wait a Minute Baby - Esquerita
Evil Gal Blues - Ann Richards
Bop Pills - Macy "Skip" Skipper
Cafe Bohemian - The Enchanters
Baby Let Me Bang Your Box - The Bangers
Monkey Bird - The Revels
Taki Rari - Yma Sumac
Chihuahua - Luis Oliveira and His Bandodalua Boys
Jim Dandy - LaVerne Baker
Frenzy - The Hindus
Salamander - Mamie van Doren
Drive Daddy Drive - Little Sylvia
Tight Skirt, Tight Sweater - The Versatones
Nosey Joe - Bull Moose Jackson
The Whip - The Originals
Rock Me All Night Long - Ella Mae Morse
Roll with Me Henry - Etta James
Fool I Am - Pat Ferguson
Blue Kat - Chuck Rio & The Originals
I Was Born to Cry - Dion
Fever - Ann-Margret
Beat Girl - John Barry (Beat Girl Soundtrack)
Crazy Horse Swing - Serge Gainsbourg (Strip-Tease soundtrack)
Lover - Peggy Lee
Paris Canaille - Juliette Greco
Sexe - Line Renaud
Dormir - Denise Darcel
The Touch - Eartha Kitt
The Beast - Milt Buckner
Night Train - Alvino Rey
Je Sais Que Vous êtes Jolie- Marlene Dietrich
My Man - Denise Darcel
T'es Beau Tu Sais - Edith Piaf
He Is A Man - Lizabeth Scott
My Man - Eartha Kitt
I Want a Boy - Connie Russell
Bewildered - Shirley and Lee
Yogi - Bill Black Combo
Call Me Irresponsible - Dinah Washington
Hearts of Stone - Rudy Grey
Sous Les Ciels de Paris - Juliette Greco
The Girls of Paris - Lee Hazlewood
The Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Sam Butera
Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus - Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot
La Vie en Rose - Edith Piaf
Uptown to Harlem - Johnny Thunders & Patti Paladin
No Good Lover - Mickey & Sylvia
Lucille - Little Richard
Little Things Mean a Lot - Jayne Mansfield
Chicken Grabber - The Nite Hawks
I'm In Love for the Very First Time - Diana Dors
Shangri-La - Spike Jones New Band
All of Me - Mae West
Oh, Baby - Esquerita
I'm a Bad, Bad Girl - Little Esther
Je Me Donne a Qui Me Plait - Brigitte Bardot
Les Cigarillos - Serge Gainsbourg

The delectable Brigitte Bardot in her sex kitten prime singing "Je Me Donne a Qui Me Plait" in a strange bouffant black wig:



One of my perennial favourite tunes to play at Dr Sketchy is the sleazy and atmospheric bump and grind instrumental "Blue Kat" by Chuck Rio & The Originals -- that saxophone! I first heard it on the soundtrack of John Water's 1974 trash epic Female Trouble and it's haunted me ever since. (John Waters soundtracks are an endless source of inspiration for me). I can't imagine not playing this song at a Dr Sketchy.



Keep track of upcoming Dr Sketchy events here.

Rock Chicks Unite!

Rock chicks unite! Ian from The Baby Janes and Jane, formerly of Naked Ruby now in The Deptford Beach Babes, photographed on 13 July 2010 outside The Royal Vauxhall Tavern where The Baby Janes later played a memorable gig. Moments earlier Ian had serenaded Jane with a medley of songs from Marianne Faithfull’s Broken English album. It was like a twisted variation of those scenes from old Elvis Presley films where he sings to his leading lady (say, Ann-Margret or Nancy Sinatra) and they stare dreamily into his eyes. This being Vauxhall, the bystanders included the local outdoor Special Brew drinkers.

Watch this charming clip of The Baby Janes in action from that night. Punk performance art at its finest!