Now if any of you fancy a darker version of 'Grease' this might be for you.
'Cry-Baby' starring Johnny Depp as the titular bad-boy is a strange film. It took me three viewings to understand it and shake the unsettling feeling I had with my initial perusals. However, during the third play of this I finally clicked with the style, tone and narrative, and obviously, from the first viewing I knew there was something there to like, otherwise I wouldn't have stuck with it a further two times.
Set during the 1950's, we see an archetypal story unfold; a good girl , Allison, finds herself pining for a life
Johnny Depp as Cry-Baby.
other than the one her uptight aunt will allow her. Enter 'drape' and all round bad egg, 'Cry-Baby' Walker. When Allison spies Cry-Baby across the street, she states in a moment of cheesy plot driven dialogue, "I'm so tired of being good." and the rest is just as stereotypical as this brief description depicts.
However, that isn't meant as a negative criticism, rather, a praising of the wondrous job the team behind the film did of emulating and honouring the teen driven fifties film it's so desperate to be. It's easy to picture the cast of 'Rebel Without a Cause' performing some of the roles within 'Cry-Baby' with, of course, James Dean as the titular hero and Natalie Wood filling, once again, the good girl role.
As a vision of the nineteen-fifties, 'Cry-Baby' comes off leaps and bounds ahead of say, 'Grease' or, the frankly appalling, 'Deuces Wild'. The costumes, cars and sets are subtly detailed, leading to an outright excellence, and while the characters verge on the edge of caricature, it's note-worthy that each performer does an admirable job of keeping it grounded and entertaining.
Amy Locane as good girl Allison Vernon-Williams
The unsettling feeling I had, as mentioned before, during my first two screenings of this film is probably due to the fact that at some points it feels as though it's a drama, other times it feels as thought it might be a sugar-coated piece of nostalgia, such as Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do!" (one of my favourite pop-movies, by the way), and at other moments it turns into a full musical. I've always been uneasy when I don't know what to expect in terms of the form of a film. However, it's not unpleasant, just disconcerting if you approach this film expecting one thing or another, the simple fact of the matter is that it's a bit of everything.
And that's what makes it so enjoyable. It's well worth a watch if you fancy watching Johnny Depp out Zuko John Travolta.
Well now, it's been a long time since I've blogged about anything, and for that I apologise.
Jennie Jaques as WPC 56: Gina Dawson
The reasons for this post are twofold, the first being that I'm home from university for Easter and I have nothing to do. The second reason (being directly related to reason number one) is that I've been searching around on iPlayer and found a programme entitled 'WPC 56' and it immediately caught my eye; not least because it's set in the 1950's and there's a foxy policewoman in it.
A 50's Bobby with traditional
Police Box... Bigger on the inside?
However, once I got over the teenage lust and delved into the show itself I was thrilled to discover that the programme itself is richly drawn with engaging characters and a wonderful amount of detail thrown into the period-setting. The year is 1956 and the narrative follows the life and times of WPC 56: Gina Dawson played with enthralling subtlety by Jennie Jaques (which is a wonderful name in itself). WPC Dawson arrives for her first day on the job as the only WPC at Brinford Police Station. Here she finds that the sexism faced by women all throughout the 1950's is even more poignant in the male dominated world of law enforcement.
It is through these daily trials of a policewoman that she must prove her worth to the police force, all this while being asked to fetch tea and stop sharing her silly little thoughts. One can only admire her composure, if I were in a similar position, many of the chaps at the station would've been leaving with split lips!
The stellar girls of Call The Midwife
The programme, as my twitter followers will know, is to my mind, a wonderful amalgam of lots of other fantastic shows; Call The Midwife, Life on Mars, Poirot and Mad Men all spring to mind and yet, it manages to remain its' own thing. The sheer quality with which it has been made and the love and care taken while crafting each beautifully shot, deliriously vintage scene is remarkable. What is even more remarkable, however, is that the Beeb have allowed this to be shown at 2:15 in the afternoon on Fridays meaning that the only people able to enjoy it are students and the elderly and I doubt many students will have the time or patience for this.
The real deal. 1950's Teds.
If only they allowed it the slot once allocated to Call The Midwife, now that it's off the air for a while. Surely those who enjoyed the escapades of Jenny-Lee would be equally enraptured by the adventures of WPC Gina Dawson?
Being a fan of both shows I can certainly say, with utter confidence, that the two would make a wonderful double feature. Perhaps the BBC should show one episode of each back to back so that people will get to enjoy nostalgia in the form of gritty drama to their hearts' content?
A Ted gets a touch-up.
Currently all five episodes of series one are still available on iPlayer but are due to be taken down in four days so if you don't hurry, you might miss your chance and I fear that if not many people watch it there won't be any more to enjoy. With the BBC the 1950's seem to be coming back in a big way and about time too, let's help them to understand that they're making quality drama for all the right reasons, if only they could give it a better time slot!
I've been harping on about this programme to anybody that'll listen over the last couple of days, I honestly can't recommend it enough! Please do watch it and enjoy. It can't get any better than a foxy 50's policewoman arresting teddy-boys all to the sounds of some genuine rock and roll... Bliss!
Something for the chaps! Gina gets a 'Brinford Branding'.
Thirty-Five years ago today the man, the myth, the legend, Elvis Presley, died at his home in Graceland. I have no story of where I was when I heard the news, I have no memory of Presley being alive, for at the time, my existence was a long way off, in the far, futuristic land of nineteen-ninety-two.
What I do have, of Presley, though, is what everybody has. The music.
While the man himself struggled with addiction and depression, insomnia and paranoia, the music is timeless, untouched by the passing decades, unfaltering in its' appeal and at the core of every single one of us; anyone who claims to enjoy any sort of music will be aware, and almost certainly a fan, of Elvis Presley.
'Devil in Disguise'
When I was a small child some of my earliest memories are of hearing Presley's music, my mother was always a huge fan and I seem to recall being absolutely enraptured by the music. I seem to recall it being a greatest hits CD that was my Mum's absolute favourite. The song was 'Devil In Disguise' and for the first time in my young life, I felt so touched by music, so ultimately shaken to the core by the intense beat and pure soul in the voice of Presley that I did something I had never done before.
I danced. At the age of three years old I was dancing around the front room begging my mother to keep that one song playing again and again. And she did and I kept moving with that music.
From that moment on, Elvis was always a presence in my life, whether or not he was at the fore as a passion or whether or not he was but a distant whisper in the back of mind reminding me that regardless of how bad my life got, regardless of how I felt about the outside world, Rock and Roll would always be there.
Possibly the most distinctive memory of hearing Elvis is the time I watched the '68 comeback special. I don't remember how old I was, where I was, or even who I saw it with (chances are it was my mother, again). The one thing I do remember is Presley's incredibly passionate rendition of 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy'. The sound of his guttural, heart-felt singing, to this day, is engrained in my mind and it's something I know I'll never forget.
Elvis The Pelvis.
While I was never around while Presley walked the earth, while I have no living memory of him, his impact on the world has been so great, so unrivalled that surely, the image of Elvis's pelvis gyrating at the audience will be a benchmark of cultural excellence in the same way great artists such as Da Vinci and Van Gogh left their marks on their times.
The Fender Elvis Presley Kingman.
The global obsession with Elvis, which continues to this day, is astounding, and not undeserved. There are still books, DVDs, CDs, LPs, posters, films, documentaries, tribute acts, and, most recently, Fender have released a beautiful Elvis tribute guitar, in the guise of the Kingman, the guitar Presley played in his '67 film 'Clambake'.
The very fact that rock and roll continues in a very pure form, under the modern name of Rockabilly means that there are people like myself who are still moved to write, record, cover and produce rock and roll as it may well have been in the 1950's. I know for a fact Presley is a big influence on my music (as well as my hair style!) and I can't begin to express enough how much rock and roll has meant to me in my short twenty years on this earth.
Elvis combs his trademark hair.
Luckily for us, the era of Rock and Roll that really kicked off in the fifties thanks to the likes of Presley, Bill Hailey, Buddy Holly and many others wasn't confined to that ten year period when youth culture seemed to explode. To this day there is a great passion for rock and roll and a wonderful resurgence in the buying and collecting (and most importantly, playing) of vinyl records.
The anecdotes from my childhood about Elvis aren't the only ones I have, but they're two of the many happy memories the music have given me. Hopefully some of you out there will have similar memories of how Presley has touched your life, and maybe you'll even feel comfortable enough to share them with us.
I've been playing since my thirteenth birthday and I've been obsessed with them ever since.
When I was fifteen I got a Saturday job at the local music shop (I still work there now whenever I'm not at university) and so I was initiated into a world of guitars, amps, accessories and other such treats (there were many downsides to the job, but the people I worked with and the stock I got to sell made it all worth while). Since starting there I've amassed a collection of nine high quality guitars that I absolutely love and today I'd like to talk to you about my favourite.
Dano Pro in Aqua.
While it's by no stretch the most expensive guitar I have, nor is the best guitar I own, the Danelectro Dano Pro is by far my absolute favourite. It just oozes vintage charm and suits my style of playing down to the ground.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying everyone will love Danelectros but I think they're absolutely incredible instruments, especially given that nowadays, a Dano Pro will set you back just £225 (approx.) - I paid slightly less because I bought mine years ago and I got a staff discount (one of the perks of the job!) and it's served me well over the recent years.
Danelectro was founded in 1947 by Nathan Daniel and began producing solid bodied electric guitars 1954, however these instruments were sold under the brand-name of Silvertone Guitars (some guitars bore the name Airline, a brand name now owned and used by Eastwood guitars). Some of these original models can be found today but many only crop up through auction of eBay and will set the seller back a pretty penny.
Dano '63 in Red-Burst
The modern Danelectro guitars are excellent in terms of embodying that vintage charm they had way back through the 40's, 50's and 60's yet they feature modern equivalents of hardware and pick-ups to eliminate any undesired "vintage" problems.
In regards to staying true to the originals, Danelectro still produces cheap, smaller guitars that sound fantastic and play pretty darn well. The bodies are made out of compressed Masonite and then routed and finished in a range of kitsch vintage colours. My Dano Pro is in aqua, however, I also own a Dano '63 in red-burst.
Both guitars sound fantastic, thanks to their vintage-design "lipstick" pick-ups (so called for the shape of the casing), however, the range of sounds from Danelecto guitars is fairly limited, most feature two pick-ups and a three-way pick up selector, allowing you three types of sound, and feature one volume and one tone knob.
A young Jimi Hendrix playing a
Danelectro '59 Double Cutaway.
For guitarists more used to modern instruments these may come as a surprise, but for those more geared towards a 50's sound this isn't a problem, and besides. Danelectro make a wide range of effects pedals if you really feel the need to alter your sound.
Many professional players have picked up a Danelectro or two in their time; one of Jimi Hendrix's first electric guitars was a Dano and modern players such as E (of Eels fame) and Elvis Costello have both favoured Danelectro over the years.
E playing a Danelectro '56 Pro.
.The very reason Danelectro remains ever popular with players from all genres of music, I believe, is down to the fact they they illicit a certain sense of musical nostalgia, a time when teenagers in their bedrooms int he 50's would listen to the radio and hear the likes of Elvis and Buddy Holly and dream one day of becoming rock and roll stars. Not only do they look cool, sound brilliant and play extremely well, they make the player feel a part of that while simultaneously, looking forward to the future.
They might not be for everybody, but they're certainly for a certain type of player, yours truly being a proud member of that type. So, if you're looking for a new guitar that won't break the bank but will deliver all day long, I reckon Danelectro is a good way to go.
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