eBay Scores: Craftint Soft Pastels (Circa 1970)
I went through a few boxes of these as a kid. In fact, several years ago I used the lid from one of my original childhood boxes from the 1970s in a large format collage for my living room walls. The pastels that were inside ended up in my classroom for students to use (and they certainly did). I’m very glad to have two complete
boxes in good shape for my vintage art supply collection.
Two more eBay scores: Times Square
postcards - 1972 above and 1973 below
Record Mirror Magazine with Boy George cover story
and flexidisc with a back cover RIP for The Smiths (1987)
David Bowie & Prince Pins (1970s & 1980s)
40 Years Ago Today • 30 June 1986
Revenge by Eurythmics was released. This is one of a handful of new albums that 13 year old me was feverishly anticipating in 1986 and it fulfilled its promise on every level. Every song. Every line. Every last note. MAGIC… then and now. A few weeks ago I was driving through some lush countryside while listening to When Tomorrow Comes at high volume with the sunroof open and windows down. It brought me right back to the excitement of hearing my freshly unwrapped original copy of Revenge (seen here) on my parents’ Fisher turntable with large leathery headphones on my ears. This LP is also notable because it is enshrined in one of my favorite album covers of all time. Recently, I was lucky to find a very rare large format promotional poster with an expanded view of the album’s cover art by British painter Eric Scott and I plan to have it framed soon. Fun Fact: Anyone who was as transfixed as I was by Annie Lennox's appearance with the cranial brackets and dials on her head in the Missionary Man video should check out the 1962 sci-fi movie The Brain That Wouldn’t Die to see what was being referenced there. Thank you, Ms. Lennox and Mr. Dave Stewart for this and everything else. Cheers!
40 Years Ago Today • 30 June 1986
True Blue by Madonna was released. This album and its attendant videos marked a very exciting pop culture era for me at age 13. In addition to the other great album released on this day, I drank in every last second of this LP’s sleek, layered sophistication. True Blue ushered in Madonna’s first major transformation from flirtatious and funky urban gadfly into empowered and meticulously tailored adult woman. The songs on this album reflect that evolution with their mature themes and lushness. La Isla Bonita remains a favorite song to this day and I distinctly recall hearing it for the first time and thinking “This is grown up music. This is ABBA level pop.” True Blue also contains one of my favorite album covers of all time, shot by the brilliant Herb Ritts, with whom Madonna would continue to collaborate. It remains one of my favorite images of any pop star because whenever I see it, I see not only Madonna but also Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. In this moment, it seems Ms. Ciccone became singularly iconic while referencing two other pop culture icons, male and female. In four days, Madonna will be releasing her hotly anticipated Confessions II album. At age 53, I await that new release with the exact same excitement that I had holding this one in my hands for the first time. Some artists grab our attention when we are very young and hold onto us for a time. Others never let us go. If you are very lucky, you get to watch them evolve and mature through the decades as your own life journey takes its shape. If you know me, you know what I mean. Thank you, Madonna. I’ll see you again on the dance floor soon.
By the way, I am still hard at work on something
very big and very involved but it is going very well.
Some good vintage reads.
Happy 81st Birthday to Debbie Harry
Now Spinning: Today. Tomorrow. Forever.
This Is A Sign
Hit And Run
Happy Father's Day To The OG
WHAT A DUMP
More Pleasant Valley Park as always...
Southard Park.
Don't tell the Pleasant Valley Park geese that
I was hanging out with their neighbors across town.
Drive-by silo...
See ya sometime. Perhaps in the sunset. - CDM
