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Bryan Thomas

@munkiman.bsky.social

2.3K followers 1.6K following 7.5K posts

Here for posts on: Music. Films. TV Shows. Writing. 20th Century Fiction/Poetry. Art. History. Science. Humor. Progressive Politics. Photography. Nature. Ecology. Hippies. Navel-Gazing Existentialism. Baseball. Not sure if I'm even in the right place, tbh.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 2h

Brazilian experimental musician & songwriter Tom Zé -- a key figure in the Tropicália movement of the '60s -- was born Antônio José Santana Martins on Oct. 11, 1936, in Irará, Bahia, Brazil. He's recognized for his singular inventiveness, and intensely complex & unconventional approach to music.

Brazilian experimental musician and songwriter Tom Zé was a key figure in the Tropicália movement of the 1960s.

Born Antônio José Santana Martins in 1936 in the rural town of Irará, Bahia, Zé was raised in what he called a "pre-Gutenbergian" society, heavily shaped by an oral tradition.

His family's lottery winnings provided him access to formal education, and he went on to study music in Salvador, where he was exposed to avant-garde composers like John Cage and encountered future collaborators Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

He later moved to São Paulo, where he developed a musical style that synthesized the folk sounds of his upbringing with modernist, experimental techniques.

Zé was a significant contributor to the landmark 1968 album 'Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses,' an influential manifesto for the movement. However, as Brazil's military dictatorship cracked down on the Tropicalistas in the 1970s, Zé chose a path of radical experimentation, moving away from the more commercially accessible styles adopted by some of his peers.

His intensely complex and unconventional approach to music, which incorporated unusual instruments and soundscapes, led to a period of relative obscurity during the '70s and '80s.

Zé's career was revived in the early 1990s when Talking Heads frontman David Byrne rediscovered his 1975 album 'Estudando o Samba.' Byrne signed Zé as the first artist to his Luaka Bop label and released a compilation that introduced Zé to an international audience.

The resulting critical acclaim brought Zé back into the spotlight, allowing him to embark on a second prolific phase of his career. Recognized today for his singular inventiveness, he has continued to create and perform music that remains true to the avant-garde spirit of Tropicália.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 2h

Xiquexique

YouTube video by Tom Zé - Topic

www.youtube.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 2h

Tom Zé - Curiosidade

YouTube video by Luaka Bop

www.youtube.com

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 2h

#OneAlbumADay; Happy Birthday to Tom Zé, the "Brazilian Frank Zappa," born Antônio José Santana Martins on October 11, 1936, in Irará, Bahia, Brazil! 'Fabrication Defect' ('Com Defeito de Fabricação') is a concept LP about how humans might become androids due to economic manipulation. More: alt text

'Fabrication Defect' ('Com Defeito de Fabricação') is a concept album about the idea that humans might become androids due to economic manipulation, with "genetic defects" like the desire to dance being the only thing preventing this transformation. The album's overall theme is that creativity, art, love, and music are "defects" that those in charge (in Zé's case, the often-oppressive Brazilian government) would love to suppress.

It was originally released in 1998 on David Byrne's Luaka Bop. The cover illustration by Chris Capuozzo.

The album's "aesthetics of plagiarism," or arrasto, is Zé's form of "wilding" to denounce commercialism while glorifying supposed imperfections. This sophisticated cultural critique is delivered with a "caustic humor" and the whimsical, eccentric perspective of a "prankster, part eccentric visionary, part musical historian."

Many reviewers characterize 'Fabrication Defect' as a triumphant and inspired return to form following decades of obscurity. The album demonstrates that Zé is one of the rare musicians who, even in his 60s, remained "sharply cutting and irreverent."

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 3h

Happy Birthday today to the great character actor David Bowditch Morse, born on October 11, 1953, in Beverly, Massachusetts! Fave films/TV projects include The Crossing Guard, The Indian Runner, The Green Mile and the second season of "True Detective" (he only appeared in a few eps). More: alt text

The Crossing Guard (1995)

A family reunion of sorts. This was the second film directed by Sean Penn that starred David Morse and featured Sean Penn's family members.

Penn's directorial debut, The Indian Runner, also starred Morse, as well as his brother, Chris Penn. For The Crossing Guard, Penn cast his then-wife Robin Wright and his ex-wife Anjelica Huston.

The culmination of a rivalry. Jack Nicholson, who plays "Freddy Gale," and David Morse, who plays "John Booth," are on-screen rivals throughout the film.

To add to the authenticity of their fraught relationship, the two actors decided not to meet until their characters finally confronted each other on camera.

The Indian Runner (1991)

Probably my favorite project with David Morse. Sean Penn drew inspiration for his directorial debut from Bruce Springsteen's 1982 song "Highway Patrolman," off his album 'Nebraska.'

The film stars David Morse as a Nebraska sheriff and Viggo Mortensen as his troubled, Vietnam veteran brother.

David Morse has stated that The Indian Runner is one of his favorite films he has ever worked on. The film's critical reception was positive, with Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praising the relationship between the two brothers.

The Green Mile (1999)

During filming, a small cannon was used to shoot chocolate syrup at David Morse for a scene. He is allergic to chocolate and was not amused by the incident, which resulted in the syrup going up his nose, in his eyes, and in his mouth.

A "most faithful" adaptation: Author Stephen King, who wrote the novel on which the film was based, called The Green Mile the "single most faithful adaptation of his work."

The film's director, Frank Darabont, has a habit of using the same actors in his Stephen King adaptations. Morse is one of several actors who appeared in both The Green Mile and Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption, though his scene in The Shawshank Redemption was cut.

Michael Clarke Duncan, who plays John Coffey, was originally cast to play a smaller role in the film. However, after meeting with Darabont, Duncan was offered the lead role of "John Coffey," and the rest is history.

"True Detective" (Season Two, 2015)

Unlike the first season of "True Detective," which was directed entirely by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the second season was directed by several people. Justin Lin directed the first two episodes, and Daniel Sackheim and Nic Pizzolatto directed the rest.

Inspired by a real, corrupt city. The city of Vinci, where the season is set, is based on the real California city of Vernon, a city with a history of political corruption.

In fact, the death of a character in the series is inspired by the death of a real Vernon city administrator.

The season was a critical failure, with many critics citing the overly convoluted plot and the lack of a cohesive narrative. However, some critics, upon rewatching the season, found the convoluted plot to be a purposeful reflection of the confusing landscape of Los Angeles.

David Morse had a recurring role in season two as "Eliot Bezzerides," the father of "Detective Ani Bezzerides," played by Rachel McAdams. Morse's character was an important part of the season's storyline, as his past actions have a direct impact on the season's plot.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 3h

Female Trouble, the second film in what John Waters called his "Trash Trilogy," was released on October 11, 1974. It features a lot of the same cast & crew that writer-director Waters (also: cinematographer, co-editor & producer) had used before, shooting this one for around $25,000. More: alt text

The second film in Waters' self-described "Trash Trilogy" (after 1972's Pink Flamingos and before 1977's Desperate Living) was developed to showcase Divine's comedic (and physical) range, taking it to such absurd lengths as Divine playing two roles, who have sex in one scene.

The film is dedicated to a member of Charles Manson's "Family," who Waters visited in prison. Waters has since expressed regret for "using the Manson murders in a jokey, smart-ass way in my earlier films without the slightest feeling for the victims’ families or the lives of the brainwashed Manson killer kids.”

The scene was partly inspired by Charles Manson's Family
Waters' visits to prison to see Manson Family member Charles "Tex" Watson inspired the film's cynical slogan, "Crime is Beauty."

In the opening credits, Waters even included a toy wooden helicopter that Watson had made for him.

Drag superstar Divine, who played the lead character Dawn Davenport, performed his own stunts for the film. These included practicing flips on a trampoline at the YMCA to perfect the move for a nightclub scene and crossing a freezing river in drag.

For a particularly shocking sequence, Waters convinced cast member Susan Lowe to use her newborn son, Ramsey McLean, for Dawn Davenport's "birth scene." A prop umbilical cord was made from prophylactics filled with liver, and the baby was covered in fake blood. The scene confused Lowe's visiting mother-in-law, who was meeting her grandchild for the first time.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 6h

tubitv.com/movies/53387...

Heaven (1987)

In Diane Keaton's directorial debut, she analyzes how Hollywood has portrayed the afterlife through a series of clips, interviews, and more.

tubitv.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 6h

If you've never seen Diane Keaton's documentary HEAVEN, it's on TUBI (free w/ads).

A series of interviews (filmed against weird backdrops) are conducted concerning people's beliefs towards the possibility of an afterlife. It's intercut with clips from classic films and a variety of stock footage.

Roger Ebert's review:

Since not one of us knows exactly what awaits us after this life, that definition, I think, satisfies me as well as any, even though I have never tasted pelican. But other people have other notions of the sweet by and by, and in “Heaven,” Diane Keaton assembles a large number of them and asks them such questions as: What is heaven? Is there sex in heaven? How to you get to heaven? How do you get to hell?

Some of the answers she receives are memorable, or funny, or moving. Most are not; most are simply opinions from random subjects who have no particular credentials – except, of course, that like all of us they will someday either be, or not be, in heaven.

But there’s more to the film than a simple Q & A. Keaton also assembles old film footage showing how heaven was visualized in previous films. And she photographs her subjects in a sort of angelic limbo, as if they were in heaven’s waiting room.

But heaven’s real waiting room, as we all know, is Palm Springs, Calif. And “Heaven” is an idea for a movie that is not quite realized. The weakness, I think, is in Keaton’s excessive attention to visual detail. She has gone to a lot of effort to create her abstract sets, her heavenly decor in which the people seem almost like exhibits. But that has given her subjects time to think about their answers, some of which seem too clever, too thought out.

Perhaps a sloppier film would have been a better idea. I can imagine the “Candid Camera” approach, in which people would have been invited to talk about life and death in a totally unself-conscious way. That might have produced more spontaniety, and even more truth, than the deliberate artiness of “Heaven.”

Even so, there are moments in “Heaven” I am glad I saw. Some of the old film clips, for example, of angels being issued their wings. A debate between a believer and an atheist. And the utter certainty of some of the subjects, who know for sure what cannot, by definition, be known at all.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 6h

This one makes me very sad

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 7h

Diane Keaton & the Women of Hair (1968)

The women of Hair, 1968.

Back row: Suzannah Norstrand, Melba Moore, Marjorie LiPari, Lynn Kellogg, Emmeretta Marks.

Middle row: Natalie Mosco, Lorrie Davis, Diane Keaton.

Front row sitting: Shelley Plimpton and Leata Galloway

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 7h

In 1968, Diane Keaton auditioned for the musical Hair, which had just opened at the Biltmore Theatre on 47th Street. She sang a song but was quickly eliminated. Then she was asked to join the chorus. Months later, as an understudy, she finally took over the lead role of "Sheila."
(More in alt text)

Walking out of the theater after her original audition, the executive producer of the show ..."came over to me," she later recalled, "... looked me up and down and said, 'You stay.'" (Source: "Is She Kookie, This Diane Keaton?," Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 1972)

In July 1968, just three months after Hair opened on Broadway, Keaton joined the chorus. She was later promoted to understudy for Lynn Kellogg who played the lead role, "Sheila."

After Kellogg left the show, Keaton took over the part. (First she was instructed by the producers that she would have to lose weight).

Diane Keaton was notable for her early career, and early press coverage mentioned her refusal to participate in the optional nudity at the end of the first act (it was optional for cast members).

After nine months in Hair, Keaton left the show to star in Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam, which led to her Hollywood career.

The publicity photo features Barry McGuire, Diane Keaton, and Steve Curry and was taken in 1968 by photographer Kenn Duncan.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 7h

My friend Chris Morris wrote this obit for Variety

Diane Keaton, Oscar-Winning ‘Annie Hall’ Star, Dies at 79

Diane Keaton, who starred in "Annie Hall," has died. She was 79.

variety.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 7h

So very sad to hear that one of my favorite actresses, Diane Keaton (born Diane Hall) has died, age 79. She was also a film director, writer, photographer and singer, publishing the photo books Reservations (1980) and Saved (2022). I actually met her once, and I'll tell the story in the alt text.

I met Diane Keaton, once, when I was working in the music department at Rizzoli International Bookstore in Costa Mesa, at South Coast Plaza. She came in one night, by herself, and I remember wanting to talk to her, and celebrities are sometimes shy or annoyed talking about themselves, so I decided to ask her about Heaven, her 1987 documentary that she wrote and directed.

Her face lit up when I asked her about some of the interviews I'd seen, and we had a short lovely conversation, and it was so great to talk to her. She was so beautiful, and I think she remained beautiful her entire life. I think she was living in Laguna Beach at the time, or somewhere down in Orange County. I hoped to see her again, but she never came into the store when I was working.

She's one of my favorite actresses, particularly from the beginning of her film career -- movies like The Godfather and The Godfather II, Looking For Mr. Goodbar, Reds, and that wonderful string of Woody Allen movies, of course, including Play It Again, Sam, Sleeper, Love And Death, Annie Hall (probably my favorite) and Manhattan (and Interiors too, I guess, although I haven't seen that one in ages) -- and there have been many others since then, but I love her early movies the most.

Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970. As mentioned, her first major film role was as "Kay Adams-Corleone" in The Godfather (1972), but the films that shaped her early career were those with director and co-star Woody Allen, beginning with Play It Again, Sam in 1972.

Her next two films with Allen, Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975), established her as a comic actor. Her fourth, Annie Hall (1977), won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Keaton subsequently expanded her range to avoid becoming typecast as her "Annie Hall" persona. She became an accomplished dramatic performer, starring in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and received Academy Award nominations for Reds (1981) and Marvin's Room (1996).

Looking For Mr. Goodbar deserves a re-watch soon.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 8h

Damn.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 9h

Remembering novelist & screenwriter Elmore Leonard, born October 11, 1925, in New Orleans, LA (d. August 20, 2013).
His earliest novels of the '50s were westerns, but he later specialized in crime fiction & suspense thrillers, many of which were adapted into movies and TV shows. (More: alt text)

Elmore Leonard was a prolific American novelist known for his distinctive style of crime fiction, authentic dialogue, and gritty characters.

His work was frequently adapted for both television and film:

Get Shorty (1995 film and 2017 TV series): Starring John Travolta as loan shark Chili Palmer who ventures into the movie business.

Out of Sight (1998 film): A crime caper starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez.

Jackie Brown (1997 film): Quentin Tarantino's adaptation of the novel Rum Punch, starring Pam Grier and Samuel L. Jackson.

"Justified" (2010–2015 TV series and 2023 miniseries): Based on Leonard's novella Fire in the Hole and the novels Pronto and Riding the Rap, featuring U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens.

3:10 to Yuma (1957 and 2007 films): Based on his early Western short story of the same name.

Hombre (1967 film): An adaptation of his Western novel, starring Paul Newman.

Here's an excerpt from Leonard's novella Fire in the Hole, which was published as part of the 2002 collection When the Women Come Out to Dance:

They had dug coal together as young men and then lost touch over the years. Now it looked like they’d be meeting again, this time as lawman and felon, Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder.

Givens, a few years younger than Boyd, was now a deputy United States marshal. Raylan was known as the one who’d shot it out with a Miami gangster named Tommy Bucks—also known as the Zip—both men seated at the same table in the dining area of the Cardozo Hotel, South Beach, when they drew their pistols. Raylan had told the Zip he had twenty-four hours to get out of Dade County or he would shoot him on sight. When the Zip failed to comply, Raylan kept his word, shot him through china and glassware from no more than six feet away.

The words came at Boyd cold, without any note of sympathy, so he took it to mean Bowman wasn’t shot any place’d kill him. But then Dewey said, “He’s dead,” in that same flat tone of voice. And it hit Boyd like a shock of electricity. Wait a minute—in his mind seeing his brother alive and in his prime, grown even bigger’n Boyd. How could he be dead?

“Was his wife shot him,” Dewey said, “with his deer rifle. They say Ava done it while Bowman was having his supper.”

~~

Fire in the Hole (the novella) begins with unhinged religious Nazi (literally) Boyd Crowder on his mission to blow shit up, in the company of the unfortunate Jared (who meets precisely the same fate he does in the TV show).

Cue the explosive dispatch of one questionable church at the hands of Boyd and his grenade launcher – with his accompanying eponymous Nam-inspired holler – and enter Marshal Givens, on secondment at the request of the man in charge of the East Kentucky Special Ops Group, Art Mullen.

From there, events progress much as they do in the pilot episode of "Justified," the FX TV series based on the short story (or jumping off point).

Elmore Leonard's dialogue is celebrated for its authenticity and natural flow, which he achieved by following his well-known "Ten Rules of Writing."

He focused on making the language sound like something a real person would say, even if it meant abandoning formal grammar. His dialogue reveals character through attitude and rhythm, without the author "sticking his nose in."

Here are some examples of his authentic dialogue and what makes it work:

From Killshot:

In this exchange, hitman "Wayne 'The Blackbird' Colson" and his less-competent partner "Richie Nix" discuss their plan:
Richie: "Yeah, that's right. Wayne said something about going down there. You don't happen to have a number where I can reach him, do you?"
Richie: "See, I have this check I want to send him."
Richie: "I imagine him and your daughter would like to have it, down in Florida on a vacation."

Leonard uses minimal attribution, relying on simple words like "said" to let the dialogue speak for itself. The lines reveal Richie's manipulative nature through his seemingly naive and folksy tone.
The dialogue includes hesitations and tentative phrasing, mimicking the flow of natural conversation in an awkward situation.

From Get Shorty:

This excerpt highlights "Chili Palmer"'s casual demeanor contrasted with his influence.

Robin: "Ask Nick for me."
(... a minute goes by...)
Nick: "Tell him if he goes near Chili Palmer I'll see that he suffers excruciating pain and will never fucking walk again in his life."
Robin: "Nick said to tell you that if you go near Chili Palmer he'll have your legs broken."
Recipient: "Why couldn't he say it like that?"
Robin: "He reads, but the wrong books.".

The humor arises from the contrast between Nick's dramatic threat and Robin's straightforward translation. The interaction focuses on the characters' relationship and how they perceive each other, revealing Nick's bluster and Robin's practicality.

Leonard never used a computer for his work. For decades, he wrote all of his novels and screenplays in longhand on special, unlined yellow notepads. His wife or assistant would then transcribe the text onto a computer.

Before becoming a full-time author, Leonard worked as a copywriter for a Detroit advertising agency. He wrote stories in the early morning hours before heading to his job writing ads for Chevrolet trucks.

Leonard began his writing career primarily focused on westerns, publishing five novels in the 1950s.

As the market for Westerns waned, he adapted by transitioning to crime fiction in the 1960s, a genre that would bring him his greatest success.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 9h

Happy Birthday to my friend Lisa Fancher, founder & owner of Frontier Records (1980 - present): Circle Jerks, Adolescents, T.S.O.L., China White, Suicidal Tendencies, Salvation Army (Three O'Clock), Long Ryders, Thin White Rope, Naked Prey, and also my good pals, the Pontiac Brothers. More: alt text

There's a good interview w/ Lisa here (cut/paste this in your address bar):

https://womeninvinyl.com/profiles/lisa-fancher-owner-frontier-records

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 10h

My vote is for Warren Zevon's self-titled 1976 album, w/ songs like "Frank and Jesse James," "Carmelita," and "Desperados Under the Eaves": a dark, gritty neo-noir novel set in the underbelly of Los Angeles, following interconnected stories of outlaws, addicts, and hopeless romantics. More: alt text

Warren Zevon's self-titled 1976 album is a prime example of a classic rock LP whose songs, collectively, form the basis for a compelling work of fiction.

The album is populated by desperate, weary, and eccentric characters whose stories weave together to form a rich, pulp-fiction landscape.

The songs on this album are not directly connected in a linear plot but are tied together by a shared sense of fatalism and a cast of intriguing anti-heroes.

A dark, gritty neo-noir novel set in the underbelly of Los Angeles, following interconnected stories of outlaws, addicts, and hopeless romantics.

Some of the songs:

"Frank and Jesse James": A story about outlaws clinging to a lost cause.

"Carmelita": A down-and-out drug addict whose story is both vulnerable and desperate.

"Desperados Under the Eaves": The album's climactic track that follows an alcoholic in a low-rent hotel, grappling with his shaking hands and a premonition of his own doom.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 10h

Monologue: George Carlin on Football and Baseball - SNL

YouTube video by Saturday Night Live

www.youtube.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 10h

George Carlin, hosting the first episode of "Saturday Night Live" on October 11, 1975, delivered several stand-up sets instead of just an opening monologue. Funny bits included his comparison of football & baseball, jokes about common household phrases, and a bit on airport security. more: alt text

Here's a few excerpts from Jeff Greenfield’s piece for New York magazine (October 27, 1975), two weeks after the premiere of "Saturday Night Live" on October 11, 1975:

But in intention, outlook, and personnel, NBC’s "Saturday Night" [the name it had before being officially called "Saturday Night Live"] is surely the sharpest departure from the TV-comedy norm since the debut of "Laugh-In."

~~

The show’s creators and executors are so young they suggest one of those Judy Garland–Mickey Rooney MGM musicals where a happy-go-lucky bunch of kids puts on the class show at Carnegie Hall (“Hey! Let’s do the show right here!”).

Producer Lorne Michaels, a “veteran” of "Laugh-In" and his own show on Canadian television, is 31. Ebersol, executive producer for NBC, is 28.

The writers and actors who form a “Not Quite Ready for Prime Time” repertory company, are in large part National Lampoon refugees (Michael O’Donoghue, Anne Beatts, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner), none of whom appear to have even a nodding acquaintance with 40.

Herb Sargent, the white-haired playwright and TV writer who is the show’s script consultant, looks like the director of a summer camp in the midst of the "Saturday Night" crew.

More important than age is the outlook of the show. The producers and writers say they are in New York because of the pace, the hum, and the adrenaline that the city pumps into their veins.

"Your mind atrophies in L.A.," says Chevy Chase, who wrote for the defunct Smothers Brothers comeback show last year. "Nobody reads the papers out there. It’s all one thing – 'the business.' In New York, you’re right out on the streets."

George Carlin, the comedian who hosted the premiere show, observes that "there’d be no point in doing a live show in L.A. It’d be dull."

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 11h

Yeah, I know I don't use it the way it's supposed to be used, but I can't help myself, I'm verbose

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 11h

Remembering hard bop jazz drummer and bandleader Art Blakey, born October 11, 1919, in Pittsburgh, PA (d. October 16, 1990). He led the influential Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for over 35 years, a group famous for nurturing and launching the careers of many young jazz talents. More: alt text

Art Blakey was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he briefly converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s, after a trip to West Africa in the late 1940s. Though he eventually stopped practicing the religion, he continued to use the nickname "Bu" and sometimes performed with a turbaned, Quran-reading jazz band.

Blakey made a name for himself in the '40s in the big bands of Fletcher Henderson and Billy Eckstine. He then worked with bebop musicians Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie.

In the mid-1950s, Horace Silver and Blakey formed The Jazz Messengers, a group which he led for the next 35 years. The group was formed as a collective of contemporaries, but over the years the band became known as an incubator for young talent, including Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Johnny Griffin, Curtis Fuller, Chuck Mangione, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Cedar Walton, Woody Shaw, Terence Blanchard, and Wynton Marsalis.

Blakey started as a pianist. As a teenager playing in Pittsburgh nightclubs, Blakey played piano until a club owner forced him to switch to drums at gunpoint so that a more talented young pianist, Erroll Garner, could play.

A police beating led to a steel plate in his head. While touring with the Fletcher Henderson band in the early 1940s, Blakey suffered a brutal beating by police in the South that required a metal plate to be surgically implanted in his head. The attack may have been one of the reasons for his later conversion to Islam, which he felt made him "really free."

Blakey helped develop the "hard bop" sound. Along with pianist Horace Silver, he founded the Jazz Messengers in the mid-1950s. The group's aggressive, blues-inflected, and soulful sound was a key development in the sub-genre known as hard bop, and it helped keep mainstream jazz alive during the rise of rock and roll.

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Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 12h

Really enjoyed the bittersweet new doc film John Candy: I Like Me (Amazon Prime), directed by Colin Hanks. I'd previously had no knowledge about his (sometimes sad) life off-screen, but was happy to learn how many people this beloved comedic actor had helped. Just a great human being. More: alt text

The film, which opened the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival back in September and played on two consecutive nights, details his time on "SCTV" ("Second City Television") and his many film appearances, and features terrific insightful interviews with members of his family (his son and daughter look just like him), and celeb pals like Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Conan O’Brien, Mel Brooks, Tom Hanks and more.

There were many things I did not know, like how he'd helped save a classic movie ending. Candy did a cameo in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation as a security guard, and his performance helped salvage the movie's ending. Test audiences disliked the original conclusion, so screenwriter John Hughes wrote a new one, which included Candy's improvisational skills, resulting in a more memorable finale.

Read more under the alt text for additional info.

Candy (seen here on the right in an early SCTV photo) was, later in life, the part-owner of a Canadian football team.

In 1991, Candy and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky became co-owners of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

After the team won the Grey Cup that year, Candy even helped mop the locker room floors.

Candy performed his Home Alone role for very little pay. As a favor to his friend, writer and producer John Hughes, Candy filmed his memorable cameo as polka king "Gus Polinski" in one day and was reportedly paid scale—about $414. Most of his lines were improvised.

Candy didn't like watching his own movies. According to his son Chris, Candy was uncomfortable seeing himself on screen and would often send his wife to screenings instead. He would ask her which parts the audience laughed at to gauge his performance.

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 23h

Frank Zappa - Willie The Pimp (Visualizer)

YouTube video by FrankZappaVEVO

www.youtube.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 23h

Frank Zappa - Peaches En Regalia (Visualizer)

YouTube video by FrankZappaVEVO

www.youtube.com

Bryan Thomas @munkiman.bsky.social · 23h

#OneAlbumADay; 'Hot Rats,' Zappa's first LP after the break-up of the Mothers, arrived in record stores on October 10, 1969. Five of its six tracks are instrumental. "Willie the Pimp" features guest vocals from Zappa's childhood friend & collaborator, the inestimable Capt. Beefheart. More: alt text

Released in the U.S. on October 10, 1969, by Bizarre and Reprise Records, Frank Zappa's album 'Hot Rats' has a number of interesting factoids related to it. Here are a few:

This was one of the first albums to use 16-track recording technology. This allowed Zappa much more flexibility with multi-tracking and overdubs, enabling him to create a rich and complex instrumental sound, despite using a small number of musicians.

Most of the album is instrumental, which marked a significant departure from Zappa's previous work with the Mothers (of Invention, which is the full name the record company made him use instead of just "the Mothers"). The exception is the track "Willie the Pimp," which features a guest vocal from Zappa's childhood friend and collaborator, Captain Beefheart.

The album was dedicated to his newborn son, Dweezil Zappa. Many years later, Dweezil would win a Grammy Award in 2009 for his tribute band Zappa Plays Zappa's rendition of the album's opening track, "Peaches en Regalia."

A 15-year-old Shuggie Otis played bass on that opening track, "Peaches en Regalia." While he was a young talent at the time, Otis would later become a multi-instrumentalist in his own right, widely known for his 1974 album 'Inspiration Information.'

The album sold poorly in the U.A. on its initial release, peaking at #173 (it did better in the UK, peaking at #9).

The woman on the cover is Christine Frka, alias "Miss Christine" of The GTOs. Photos front and back were by Andee Nathanson.

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