1.
Neil Young
–
Neil Percival Young, OC OM, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, director and screenwriter. Young began performing in a group covering Shadows instrumentals in Canada in 1960, in 1966, after a brief stint with the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two albums by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, in addition to two as a member of Buffalo Springfield. From his early albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums. Youngs often-distorted electric guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice transcend his long career, Young also plays piano and harmonica on many albums which frequently combine folk, rock, blues and other musical styles. Known to rip up live set lists, Young often plays acoustic versions of songs in one show and his gritty guitar work, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname Godfather of Grunge and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently Young has been backed by Promise of the Real, Young directed films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past, Rust Never Sleeps, Human Highway, Greendale, and CSNY/Déjà Vu. He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia and Dead Man, Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice, as a solo artist in 1995, in 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock n roll artist. He has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship and he was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14,2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30,2009. Young was born on November 12,1945, in Toronto and his father, Scott Alexander Young, was a journalist and sportswriter who also wrote fiction. His mother, Edna Blow Ragland Rassy Young was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, although Canadian, his mother had American and French ancestry. Youngs parents married in 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and their first son, shortly after Youngs birth in 1945, his family moved to rural Omemee, Ontario, which Young later described fondly as a sleepy little place. Young suffered from polio in 1951 during the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario, after his recovery, the Young family vacationed in Florida. During that period, Young briefly attended Chisolm Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, in 1952, upon returning to Canada, Young moved from Omemee to Winnipeg for a year, before relocating to Toronto and Pickering. Young became interested in music he heard on the radio. When Young was twelve, his father, who had several extramarital affairs and his mother asked for a divorce which was granted in 1960. Young went to live with his mother, who moved back to Winnipeg, during the mid-fifties, Young listened to rock n roll, rockabilly, doo-wop, R&B, country, and western pop
2.
Dennis Hopper
–
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and artist. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, in the next ten years he made a name in television, and by the end of the 1960s had appeared in several films. Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s, Hopper made his directorial film debut with Easy Rider, which he and co-star Peter Fonda wrote with Terry Southern. The film earned Hopper a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best First Work, Film critic Matthew Hays notes that, no other persona better signifies the lost idealism of the 1960s than that of Dennis Hopper. Hopper was unable to capitalize on his Easy Rider success for several years, in 1970 he filmed The Last Movie, cowritten by Stewart Stern and photographed by Laszlo Kovacs in Peru, and completed production in 1971. On viewing the first release print, fresh from the lab, in his room at Universal, MCA founder Jules Stein rose from his chair and said. He worked on small projects until he found new fame for his role as the American photojournalist in Apocalypse Now. He went on to helm his second directorial work Out of the Blue, for which he was honored at Cannes. His third directorial outing came about through Colors, followed by an Emmy-nominated lead performance in Paris Trout, Hopper found even greater fame for portraying the villains of the films Super Mario Bros. Hoppers later work included a role in the short-lived television series Crash. Hopper has an additional credit in the completed, but unreleased Orson Welles drama The Other Side of the Wind. Hopper was born Dennis Lee Hopper on May 17,1936, in Dodge City, Kansas, Hopper had two brothers, Marvin and David. After World War II, the moved to Kansas City, Missouri. At the age of 13, Hopper and his moved to San Diego. Hopper was voted most likely to succeed at Helix High School and it was there that he developed an interest in acting, studying at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, and the Actors Studio in New York City. Hopper struck up a friendship with actor Vincent Price, whose passion for art influenced Hoppers interest in art and he was especially fond of the plays of William Shakespeare. Hopper was reported to have a role in Johnny Guitar in 1954. Hopper made his debut on film in two roles with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and Giant
3.
Devo
–
Devo is an American rock band that formed in 1973, consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales, along with Alan Myers, the band had a No.14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single Whip It and has maintained a cult following throughout its existence. Devos music and stage shows mingle kitsch science fiction themes, deadpan surrealist humor, Devo was also a pioneer of the music video, creating many memorable clips for the LaserDisc format, with Whip It getting heavy airplay in the early days of MTV. In the late 1960s, this idea was developed as a joke by Kent State University art students Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis, at this time, Casale had also performed with the local band 15-60-75. They met Mark Mothersbaugh around 1970, a talented keyboardist who had been playing with the band Flossy Bobbitt, the joke about de-evolution became serious following the Kent State shootings of May 4,1970. This event would be cited multiple times as the impetus for forming the band Devo, the first form of Devo was the Sextet Devo which performed at the 1973 Kent State performing arts festival. It included Casale, Lewis and Mothersbaugh, as well as Geralds brother Bob Casale on guitar and this performance was filmed and a part was included on the home video The Complete Truth About De-Evolution. Devo returned to perform in the Student Governance Center at the 1974 Creative Arts Festival with a line-up including the Casale brothers, Bob Lewis, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Jim Mothersbaugh on drums. The band continued to perform, generally as a quartet, but with a fluid line-up including Marks brothers Bob Mothersbaugh, Bob played electric guitar, and Jim provided percussion using a set of home-made electronic drums. Their first two videos, Secret Agent Man and Jocko Homo featured on The Truth About De-Evolution, were filmed in Akron, and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. This line-up of Devo lasted until 1976 when Jim left the band, Bob Lewis would sometimes play guitar during this period. In concert, Devo would often perform in the guise of characters, such as Booji Boy. Live concerts from this period were often confrontational, and would remain so until 1977, a recording of an early Devo performance from 1975 with the quartet line-up appears on DEVO Live, The Mongoloid Years, ending with the promoters unplugging Devos equipment. Following Jim Mothersbaughs departure, Bob Mothersbaugh found a new drummer, Alan Myers, Casale re-recruited his brother Bob Casale, and the line-up of Devo remained the same for nearly ten years. Devo gained some fame in 1976 when the short film The Truth About De-Evolution directed by Chuck Statler won a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival and this attracted the attention of David Bowie, who began work to get the band a recording contract with Warner Music Group. In 1977, Devo were asked by Neil Young to participate in the making of his film Human Highway, released in 1982, the film featured the band as Nuclear garbagemen. The band members were asked to write their own parts and Mark Mothersbaugh scored and recorded much of the soundtrack, his first of many. In March 1977, Devo released their first single Mongoloid b/w Jocko Homo and this was followed by a cover of the Rolling Stones Satisfaction
4.
Pow wow
–
A pow wow is a social gathering held by many different American Indian communities. The word is derived from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning spiritual leader, a similar gathering by California Indians, usually in the fall, is called a Big Time. A modern pow wow is a type of event for American Indian people to meet and dance, sing, socialize. Pow wows may be private or public, there is generally a dancing competition, often with significant prize money awarded. Pow wows vary in length from an event, to major pow wows called for a special occasion which can be up to one week long. In popular culture, such as older Western movies, the term has also used to describe any gathering of Indians, or to refer to any type of meeting. However, such use may be viewed as cultural appropriation and disrespectful, planning for a pow wow generally begins months, perhaps even a year, in advance of the event by a group of people usually referred to as a pow wow committee. A pow wow committee consists of a number of individuals who do all the prior to the event. If a pow wow has a sponsor, such as a tribe, college, or organization, the head staff of a pow wow are the people who run the event on the day or days it actually occurs. They are generally hired by the pow wow committee several months in advance, to be chosen as part of the head staff is an honor, showing respect for the persons skills or dedication. The arena director is the person in charge during the pow wow, sometimes the arena director is referred to as the whip man, sometimes the whip man is the arena directors assistant, and many pow wows dont have a whip man. The arena director makes sure dancers are dancing during the pow wow, If there are contests the arena director is ultimately responsible for providing judges, though he often has another assistant who is the head judge. The arena director is responsible for organizing any ceremonies that may be required during the pow wow, such as when an eagle feather is dropped. One of the duties of the arena director is to ensure that the dance arena is treated with the proper respect from visitors to the pow wow. The master of ceremonies, or MC, is the voice of the pow wow and it is his job to keep the singers, dancers, and public informed as to what is happening. The MC sets the schedule of events, and maintains the drum rotation, the MC is also responsible for filling any dead air time that may occur during the pow wow, often with jokes. The MC often runs any raffles or other contests that may happen during the pow wow, the head dancers lead the other dancers in the grand entry or parade of dancers that opens a pow wow. In many cases, the dancers are also responsible for leading the dancers during songs
5.
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
–
The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. Notable for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score and it was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but lost to Gone with the Wind. It did win in two categories, including Best Original Song for Over the Rainbow and Best Original Score by Herbert Stothart. However, the film was a box office disappointment on its release, earning only $3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget. It was MGMs most expensive production at that time, and did not completely recoup the studios investment and turn a profit until theatrical re-releases starting in 1949. The film was named the most-viewed motion picture on television syndication by the Library of Congress, designation on the registry calls for efforts to preserve it for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. It is also one of the few films on UNESCOs Memory of the World Register, the Wizard of Oz is often ranked on best-movie lists in critics and public polls. It is the source of many quotes referenced in popular culture. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming, noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but uncredited contributions were made by others. The songs were written by Edgar Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen, the musical score and the incidental music were composed by Stothart. The film begins in Kansas, which is depicted in a sepia tone, Dorothy Gale lives with her dog Toto on the farm of her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Dorothys dog gets in trouble with a neighbor, Miss Almira Gulch. However, Dorothys family and the farmhands are all too busy to pay attention to her, Miss Gulch arrives with permission from the sheriff to have Toto euthanized. She takes him away, but he escapes and returns to Dorothy and they meet Professor Marvel, a phony but kindly fortune teller, who realizes Dorothy has run away and tricks her via his crystal ball into believing that Aunt Em is ill so that she must return home. She races home just as a tornado strikes. Unable to get into her familys storm cellar, she seeks safety in her bedroom, a wind-blown window sash hits her in the head, knocking her out. The house is picked up and sent spinning in the air by the twister, the farmhouse crashes in Munchkinland in the Land of Oz, where the film changes to Technicolor. Glinda the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins welcome her as their heroine, as the house has landed on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East, leaving only her stocking feet exposed
6.
David Lynch
–
David Keith Lynch is an American director, screenwriter, producer, painter, musician, and photographer. He has been described by The Guardian as the most important director of this era, allMovie called him the Renaissance man of modern American filmmaking, while the success of his films has led to him being labelled the first popular Surrealist. He moved to Los Angeles, where he produced his first motion picture, meanwhile, Lynch embraced the Internet as a medium, producing several web-based shows, such as the animated DumbLand and the surreal sitcom Rabbits. Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director and a nomination for best screenplay. He has won Frances César Award for Best Foreign Film twice, as well as the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival, the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor, the countrys top civilian honor, as a Chevalier in 2002 and then an Officier in 2007. Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive are widely considered by critics to be among the greatest films of their respective decades, Lynch was born in Missoula, Montana on January 20,1946. His father, Donald Walton Lynch, was a research scientist working for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Lynchs maternal great-grandparents were Finnish, and had immigrated to the United States from Finland in the 19th century. The Lynch family often moved around according to where the USDA assigned Donald and it was here that Lynchs sister Martha was born. The family then moved to Durham, North Carolina, then Boise, Idaho, Lynch found this transitory early life relatively easy to adjust to, noting that he found it fairly easy to meet new friends whenever he started attending a new school. Commenting on much of his life, Lynch has remarked, Alongside his schooling, Lynch joined the Boy Scouts, although he would later note that he only became so I could quit. He rose to the highest rank of Eagle Scout and it was through being an Eagle Scout that he was present with other Boy Scouts outside of the White House at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, which took place on Lynchs birthday in 1961. They had some hopes that in Europe they could train with the expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka at his school. Upon reaching Salzburg, however, they found that he was not available and, Back in the United States, Lynch returned to Virginia, but since his parents had moved to Walnut Creek, California, he stayed with his friend Toby Keeler for a while. He decided to move to the city of Philadelphia and enroll at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, after advice from Jack Fisk and it was here that he began a relationship with a fellow student, Peggy Reavey, and they were married in 1967. The following year, Peggy gave birth to their daughter Jennifer, later describing this situation, Peggy stated that definitely was a reluctant father, but a very loving one. Hey, I was pregnant when we got married, later describing living there, Lynch stated that We lived cheap, but the city was full of fear. A kid was shot to death down the street and we were robbed twice, had windows shot out and a car stolen. The house was first broken into three days after we moved in
7.
Tim Burton
–
Timothy Walter Tim Burton is an American film director, producer, artist, writer and animator. Burton has worked repeatedly with Johnny Depp, who has become a friend of Burton since their first film together. He has also worked with musician Danny Elfman, who has composed scores for all, actress Helena Bonham Carter, Burtons former domestic partner, has appeared in many of his films. Both compilations were published by Steeles Publishing, as a preteen, Burton would make short films in his backyard on Evergreen Street using crude stop motion animation techniques or shoot them on 8 mm film without sound. Burton studied at Burbank High School, but he was not a good student. He was a very introspective person, and found his pleasure in painting, drawing and watching films and his future work would be heavily influenced by the works of such childhood heroes as Dr. Seuss and Roald Dahl. After graduating from Burbank High School with Jeff Riekenberg, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, as a student at CalArts, Burton made the shorts Stalk of the Celery Monster and King and Octopus. Stalk of the Celery Monster attracted the attention of Walt Disney Productions animation division and he worked as an animator, storyboard artist and concept artist on films such as The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron and Tron. His concept art never made it into the finished films, the film was produced by Rick Heinrichs, whom Burton had befriended while working in the concept art department at Disney. The film was shown at the Chicago Film Festival and released, alongside the teen drama Tex, for two weeks in one Los Angeles cinema. Having aired once in 1983 at 10,30 pm on Halloween and promptly shelved, prints of the film are difficult to locate. The short would finally go on display in 2009 at the Museum of Modern Art. It was again shown at the Seoul Museum of Art in 2012, Burtons next live-action short, Frankenweenie, was released in 1984. It tells the story of a boy who tries to revive his dog after it is run over by a car. Filmed in black-and-white, it stars Barret Oliver, Shelley Duvall, after Frankenweenie was completed, Disney fired Burton, under the pretext of him spending the companys resources on doing a film that would be too dark and scary for children to see. Pursuing then an opportunity to make a film, he was approached by Griffin Dunne to direct the black comedy film After Hours. However, after Martin Scorseses project The Last Temptation of Christ was cancelled, not long after, actor Paul Reubens saw Vincent and chose Burton to direct the cinematic spin-off of his popular character Pee-wee Herman. Pee-wee Herman gained mainstream popularity with a stage show at The Groundlings
8.
John Waters
–
Waterss 1970s and early 1980s films feature his regular troupe of actors known as the Dreamlanders—among them Divine, Mink Stole, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, and Edith Massey. Starting with Desperate Living, Waters began casting real-life convicted criminals, Waters dabbled in mainstream filmmaking with Hairspray, which introduced Ricki Lake and earned a modest gross of US$8 million in the United States market. In 2002, Hairspray was adapted to a long-running Broadway musical, Waters was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Patricia Ann and John Samuel Waters, who was a manufacturer of fire-protection equipment. His family were upper-middle class Roman Catholics, Waters grew up in Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His boyhood friend and muse Glenn Milstead, later known as Divine, the film Lili inspired an interest in puppets in the seven-year-old Waters, who proceeded to stage violent versions of Punch and Judy for childrens birthday parties. Biographer Robrt L. Pela says that Waters mother believes the puppets in Lili had the greatest influence on Waters subsequent career, Waters was privately educated at the Calvert School in Baltimore. High School in Towson, Maryland, and Calvert Hall College High School in nearby Towson, in 1962, for his 16th birthday, Waters received an 8mm movie camera from his maternal grandmother, Stella Whitaker. Waters first short film was Hag in a Black Leather Jacket, according to Waters, the film was shown only once in a beatnik coffee house in Baltimore, although in later years he has included it in his traveling photography exhibit. Waters enrolled at New York University, the school, however, was not what Waters had in mind, NYU. I was there for about five minutes. I dont know what I was thinking about, I went to one class and they kept talking about Potemkin and that isnt what I wanted to talk about. I had just gone to see Olgas House of Shame and that was what I was more into. Extremely influential to his mind, Waters tells Robert K. Elder in an interview for The Film That Changed My Life, was The Wizard of Oz. I was always drawn to forbidden subject matter in the very, very beginning, the Wizard of Oz opened me up because it was one of the first movies I ever saw. It opened me up to villainy, to screenwriting, to costumes, I think the witch has great, great dialogue. Waters has further credited his influences as, among others, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Federico Fellini, William Castle and he has stated that he takes an equal amount of joy and influence from high-brow art films and sleazy exploitation films. In January 1966, Waters and some friends were caught smoking marijuana on the grounds of NYU, Waters returned to Baltimore, where he completed his next two short films Roman Candles and Eat Your Makeup. These were followed by the feature-length films Mondo Trasho and Multiple Maniacs, Waters films would become Divines primary star vehicles. All of Waters early films were shot in the Baltimore area with his company of local actors, in addition to Divine, the group included Mink Stole, Cookie Mueller, Edith Massey, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Susan Walsh, and others
9.
Gerald Casale
–
Gerald Vincent Jerry Casale is an American singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and music video director. Casales music career more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder and bass player of the new wave band Devo and he is one of only two members who have been with Devo throughout its entire history. Casale began his career in 2005 while still a member of Devo with the project Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers. The project received little promotion beyond a music video for the single Army Girls Gone Wild, Jihad Jerry performed at several shows near the end of Devos 2006 tour, performing the song Beautiful World. He has also performed occasionally with other bands, Casale has also directed music videos for other recording artists, including The Cars, Rush, A Perfect Circle, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, and Silverchair, among others. Gerald Vincent Pizzute was born on July 28,1948, in Ravenna and he was born with the last name Pizzute because his father, Bob, had legally changed his name to that of his foster parents. Four years after Geralds birth, his changed his name back to his birth name. Gerald Casale grew up in Kent, Ohio and graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1966, prior to Devo, Casale had played bass guitar with The Numbers Band in his native Kent, Ohio. He caused friction in the band by suggesting that they should incorporate advertising jingles and he was forced out of the band after slipping on a monkey mask during a performance. After leaving the Numbers Band and graduation, Casale attended Kent State University, in the late 1960s, he was a self-described hippie until the May 4,1970 shootings. Being involved with Freshman orientation at the KSU Honors College, he knew two of the victims, Jeffrey Miller and Allison Krause, and was near Krause when she was shot. Casale described that day in multiple interviews as being the day I stopped being a hippie, together with Bob Lewis, Casale used the shooting as a catalyst to develop the concept of Devolution, forming the band Devo in 1973. According to Casale, the album Oh, No and its Devos sound was inspired by reviewers alternately describing them as both fascists and clowns. Following the commercial failure of their studio album Shout, on which Casale sang the majority of the tracks. Shortly after, claiming to feel creatively unfulfilled, Alan Myers left the band, causing the band members to abandon the plans for a Shout video LP. In 1987, Devo reformed with new drummer David Kendrick, formerly of Sparks to replace Myers and their first project was a soundtrack for the flop horror film Slaughterhouse Rock, starring Toni Basil and they released the albums Total Devo and Smooth Noodle Maps, on Enigma. Devo had an out and played two shows in 1991 before breaking up
10.
Different Fur
–
Different Fur Studios is a recording studio located in the Mission District area of San Francisco, California, at 3470 19th Street. Since 1968, Different Fur has recorded music from a range of artists, including major Grammy. Different Fur was founded in 1968 by the music composer and keyboardist Patrick Gleeson. Its name was suggested by poet Michael McClure, while he was being recorded by Gleeson, by the early 1970s Gleeson was doing sessions with Jefferson Starship on his recently acquired 8-track recorder and Moog synthesizer. It was his expertise in early synthesizers, like the Moog, which eventually led Gleeson to collaborations with Herbie Hancock, by 1971 Gleeson was working with Hancock on his albums Crossings and Sextant. He went on to many of the synthesizers on Hancocks master work Head Hunters. Gleeson eventually sold Different Fur in 1985, however, it remains an active recording studio to this day. The studio is owned by Engineer Patrick Brown. In February 2009, the unknown and very recently signed to Fat Possum band Wavves filmed a video with bloggers yourstru. ly. The project was a three-part live filming of the band playing some of the songs off their new EP including So Bored. R. I. T. Toro Y Moi, P. O. S, Girls, Freddie Gibbs, Different Fur was featured in the SF Weekly Music section on June 15,2011. The article focuses on work done with a number of local bands and artists
