THE DEATH OF PRINCE IS ALSO THE CONTINUANCE OF AN ERA OF SEXUAL AND SOCIAL ENLIGHTENMENT

PRINCE… THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

No popular musician had dared to openly discuss homosexuality, to celebrate and mock marital infidelity and to exalt pure, unbridled eroticism with the unashamed, simple eloquence of Prince. His lyrics shattered the Victorian code of silence that muted the world allowing everyone to be proud of their sexuality.

In many ways Prince became the self-crowned king of the sexual revolution and the lusty courtesans he launched into pop stardom became his gleaming knights, evangels of his matter-of-fact brand of sexual realness!

“SEXUALITY IS ALL YOU’LL EVER NEED,  SEXUALITY JUST LET YOUR BODY BE FREE…”

He conveyed his message in the most accessible language, the way we really think,
“AND SHE SAID ARE YOU GAY? IT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE, DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I LOOKED HER IN THE EYE AND SAID, ‘NO ARE YOU ?’”.

Everyone wanted to be like the sexually free, happy and empowered icon embodied in Prince’s “Naughty Boy” persona. He made it hip to be self-consciously erotic and even vulnerable… his Royal Badness molded nasty into a cool, comfortable chic.

His eighteenth century clothing recalled endless nights of orgiastic revelry and circus in the Paris salons infused with the naïve, rebellious and enlightened passion of egalitarianism seething in the thirteen young American colonies. He personified the ironic spirit of the first moment of real social change and transplanted it to the social stalemate of the late twentieth century. Even those who had no inkling of the symbolic meaning implied by his invention, “Prince And The Revolution” understood that this man’s music had literally changed the world…

Prince’s foppish extravagance not only roused the heterocentric world to wonder if he was gay it also forced them to wonder if they were not missing something fundamentally essential to their sexual, spiritual and emotional happiness. At this he was very much the Scarlet Pimpernell of his time heroically rescuing a jaded world from sentient paralysis whilst masquerading as a pop star. Those of us who allowed ourselves to become fully immersed in his satirical ablution understand how spiritually cleansing realness can be!

So goes another artistic genius leaving his heavy footprint upon the very face of humanity… to say he will be missed by the generations he touched and taught is a thing of fact and to say how and if he will be remembered is a volatile prophecy subject to the caprice of time… I will say of this unpredictable man that but for his untimely rudeness my life should certainly have not been the sexually and humanely rich and broad one I like to imagine it has been… for that I thank him and I do pray that his brilliant spirit is yet somewhere continuing to improve all that it touches…

By Bigdaddy Blues

Grand Budapest Hotel Movie Review

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL: A CINEMATIC SOJOURN OF OPULENT DELIGHT!

When I was whisked off into the grandiosity of Pre WWII Bohemia, delighted by the opulent grace of a lost time romanticized by Emily Post in her post WWII book of etiquette my little glass of whiskey was nearly forgotten so absorbed had I become by the screen upon which shone The Grand Budapest Hotel.  Had I known that the impeccable manners of the it’s legendary concierge and gigolo H. Gustave, played by Ralph Fiennes would be reflected in the serene and boyish mannerisms of his faithful protégé, the equally legendary Lobby Boy Zero Mustafa played by Anthony Quinonez I should have ordered a glass of some similarly magnificent cognac instead.  I was titillated to discover the all-star casting which further glorified this beautifully engineered cinematic gem to a level of esteem I reserve for only a few films…

My critical taste is always attracted to films characterized by unique and complex beauty both technically and conceptually regardless of whether the subject is tragic, dramatic or comedic in nature; a film should always be conceived and executed as a work of art.  Those who have faithfully followed my cinematic critiques understand that it is not my intention to disclose a film’s plot; why should I recount what cliffs notes will eventually inadequately do in the eventuality of fate?  The point of my critique is to point out the many wondrous facets of a movies mechanics and aesthetics with the intent that the reader will be moved to go and see them and I never, ever bother to expend valuable time reviewing a poorly crafted film.  How valuable and reliable my opinion  may only be measured after you have seen what I have seen and then let us compare how we have both opined…  for now I urge you to see The Grand Budapest Hotel and presently I shall endeavor to tell you why you should after a  sip of cognac…

H. Gustav personifies the eloquent icon of pre WWII aristocratic gentlemanliness targeting it as a romantic mirage expiring in the tenuous wake of Nazi Germany.  He represents the old world order of the European aristocracy a man who handsomely preserves the charmed lifestyle of the Belle Epoch within the finite perimeter of his magnificent hotel as a last refuge for a privileged class unfortunate enough to have survived the ravages of WWI.  

He takes on Zero, the Lobby Boy as a protégé to which he intends to hand down the obsolete rites of courtly etiquette. 

It might be argued that the European aristocracy might not have even bothered to notice the Nazis if it were not for the fact that they eventually began to threaten their economic power base.  The Nazis interference with virtually every aspect of life in Europe eventually touched the heretofore untouchable nobility, in this film it became a mortal struggle over a priceless renaissance painting.  The painting is perhaps a metaphor for the power struggle between Hitler who coveted and began to steal the entirety of Europe’s art treasures and the divine right of the nobility to dominate the ownership of priceless creations of humanity under the edict of divine right.  Fatefully one of H. Gustav’s aristocratic female patrons bequeaths a priceless painting to him upon her untimely death proving herself to be, “un vrai amoureaux”, rather than a mere hedonistic coquette.  The belle dame’s controversial gift is the springboard for this films conflict officially naming the thief of European culture and clothing it in the trappings of handsomely tailored, fascist uniforms…

These days so much attention is paid to the faithful recreation of historic costume and all of it good.  We witnessed such amazing tailoring craftsmanship in 12 Years A Slave, Anna Karenina, Belle and The Duchess, etc. all fabulously and authentically costumed period films.  Gentlemen and especially my fellow Dandies will all swear by the virtuous floor length curly grey lamb’s wool greatcoat worn by Adrian Brody cast as an SS Officer named Dimitri. 

After the witty set design we saw in Anna Karenina this film has chosen to employ a series of handsomely crafted miniature architectural models as contextual vignettes almost as if the movie has magically taken place in a vintage, hand crafted train model.  The effect is brilliant, the architectural interiors, beaux arts, art nouvelle, art moderne and as shown in the opening, an unfortunate but typical 1960’s-70’s-ish decomposed interior of the grand lobby are all amazingly interpreted. 

I did not pay so much attention to the musical score as I did the lighting and color, texture and ambience created by the director.  The general look of the film was confectionary much like meticulously crafted miniature set models and much like the delightful confections  called “Courtesan Au Chocolat” from a utopian patisserie called Mendl’s .  

This “Jewel-Box quality gave the film a warm and romantic sensibility as if seen from the eyes of a child or from an old man recalling life through his child’s-eyes…

The hotel itself remains a great mystery… maintained over the years with only a handful of guests, visually altered due to the immense cost of upkeep yet privately owned by the wealthy Zero who inherited it from his benefactor and mentor eventually becoming the hotels concierge in grand fashion.  All fantasy since The Grand Budapest Hotel does not and has never actually existed save in this delightfully rendered film…   All the more reason to see this rare and evanescing wonder of the old world…

FIN

WRITTEN BY: BIGDADDY BLUES 7-4-14

ADMINISTRATOR: FOR THE BROTHAS, A VIRTUAL INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL SALON  Follow it at: www.forthebrothas.blogspot.com 

LINKS:

1.         HOTEL ARCHITECTURAL MODELS AND SET DESIGN:  http://www.swide.com/art-culture/is-the-grand-budapest-hotel-real-tour-of-the-locations-in-karlovy-vary-and-gorlitz/2014/03/09

2.        CASTING LINEUP:  https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=cast%20for%20the%20grand%20budapest%20hotel 

A GALLERY OF RELATED IMAGES

THE FUTURE OF HOUSE MUSIC AND ITS PAST

THE HISTORY OF HOUSE MUSIC AS SEEN BY THOSE WHO CREATED IT…

Frankie Knuckles

On the rainy afternoon of June 4, 2014 I went to a familiar Washington, D.C. Landmark to attend a conference on house music sponsored by Jamil Fletcher’s SWERVE magazine and attended by many luminaries of that brilliant genre, house.   D.J.’s that essentially shaped the culture of house music over the past 40 years in such legendary clubs as The Club House, The Paradise Garage, The Paradox, Cignal, Better Days, The Sound Factory, Odell’s, and many others.  The careers of these D.J.’s and the foundations of house music they have established stretches from Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philly Baltimore to Washington, D.C. originating from blues, jazz, spirituals, R&B and Disco, the conceptual origins of what is called house music in twenty first century human civilization. 

The Paradise Garage

The patron saints of this hallowed, soulful congregation were none other than those celebrated Disc Jockeys known to house heads as D.J. Sam “The Man” Burns and D.J. Mandrill respectively leading the panel of distinguished Disc Jockeys by virtue of their tenure and fame as accomplished entertainers.   The panel shared their insights and experiences and their philosophies of the art of playing and mixing the sound that was to become the body of classic house anthems.  They shared how their personal aesthetic and philosophy not only of House but of music and entertainment informed the sound, feel and chemistry that is now the stuff of legend.   

D.J. Sam "The Man" Burns

Listening to them recall those gilded times transported me back to the dance floors of those temples of house music; The Clubhouse, The Paradise Garage, The Sound Factory, The Paradox...  I remembered a magical time where music, fashion and culture came together into what is now called an “Interdisciplinary” piece of “Performance Art”.  Back then, like many of the house music aesthetes I was drawn to the clubs to see the fashion, (what everyone was wearing), to hear unique, freshly-minted music,  (hot off the vinyl press), the brilliant dancing, (featuring the “Hustle” and classic, modern house music improvisational dance)  and to fellowship with the stylish community of the Avant Guard.   As personally soulful as house music was it cultivated an opulent culture that worshipped conceptual, physical beauty.  In the temples of house music patrons dressed opulently many of them making their clothing or having them made specifically for clubbing hence the birth of the term, “Club Clothes”.  The irony and true beauty of that time was that one had the option of dressing to the nines when feeling elegant or coming in sweats and tennis shoes on those nights when one just wanted to get down.  As I recall every Saturday night at the Club House, which was really Sunday morning around 5:00 A.M. the lights would go out on the main dance floor and a house mix would ensue for an hour or more… what occurred over 37 years ago during that sacred “temps noir” is now hallowed as the stuff of fondest memory…

D.J.  Mandrill

The panel discussion was hosted by Racine Pendarvis under the sponsorship of Swerve Magazine to promote the “Ask Rayceen Show” accessible to all on YouTube.  This past Wednesday the show was hosted above the historic Bohemian Caverns at 11^th and U. Streets N.W. free of charge.  This was my first exposure to Rayceen’s gracious, witty and genuously entertaining and M.C. style.  Rayceen asked the panel questions that helped elucidate the virtually unknown history and impetus of the D.J.’s.  I found this important essentially because many, not all followers of house music know very little about how and why the people behind the music they love became D.J.s and what their journeys entailed.  Rayceen’s queries humanized the infinitesimal particles of sound oscillating in the spatial vessel of the club, or at home in the channel of the earlobe so that they were no longer just beats, vocals, tracks, etc., they became tangible expressions of the human experience.

Rayceen with D.J. Panel

When Rayceen concluded her queries she opened the floor to the audience for questions and I stepped forward instinctively asking them to comment on the rich culture of House and what they personally envisaged as the future of House Music.  I referenced the rich artistic culture that cultivated house music such as the “Houses” themselves, the balls, the vogueing, the fashion the holistic culture of house music in an attempt to determine if they felt house music could continue to exist without them.  I asked if house music which has always existed in some form as an underground movement needed to be mainstreamed in order to survive as a viable and culturally relevant genre and if mainstreaming would compromise its integrity and uniqueness.  The panel was warmly accommodating to my questions and generally agreed that the “Culture” of house music is essential to its healthy evolution and must be preserved by continuing and expanding upon its traditions.  They felt that going mainstream would not have a harmful effect upon the integrity of the genre as may have been the example with rap and hip-hop for example.  The panel agreed that house music, similar to disco has not been as universally embraced as a truly unique and important art form in America because its origins are from the underground black gay community.  Notwithstanding, house music did experience a brief mainstream explosion as did disco before receding back to largely underground status.  Mainstream media is replete with marketing and advertising themes that are clearly derivatives of house music but as in past examples in this country proper credit has not been given to the source.  it is imperative that we preserve the history of house music and disco, that we document the lifestyles of those men and women who created one of the most dynamic phases of American culture in the late twentieth century.  At the conclusion of the discussion I left confident that this esteemed body of men having cultivated the movement we now call “House Music” for the past 30 or 40 years truly had a vision for this genre for the first quarter of the twenty-first century; I saw in their eyes and heard in their voices a passion and devotion to realize that end.  

FIN

Written by Bigdaddy Blues

FOR THE BROTHAS A VIRTUAL, INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL SALON

Follow it at: WWW.FORTHEBROTHAS.BLOGSPOT.COM

LINKS: RELATED LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE

1.       SWERVE MAGAZINE:                       http://www.swervmagazine.com/advertise/    

2.       THE ASK RAYCEEN SHOW:            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzNVbS6C-cE

GATLETTER:  http://www.gayletter.com/gerard-h-gaskin-is-legendary/

A GALLERY OF RELATED IMAGES