I’m delighted to announce that my map The Look Of London – which teases out the intertwining of popular music and street style in our capital over five decades – has been reissued by groovy guide makers Herb Lester Associates.
1970s
‘Dreamers only need time and friends’: Judy Nylon on David ‘Piggy’ Worth and life in early 70s World’s End
It is a great honour to feature this guest post by the artist and thinker Judy Nylon about her friend David “Piggy” Worth and their life and milieu in London at the turn of the 70s (brought up in Boston, Nylon had arrived in the UK capital at the start of the decade). The photographs, like those posted here at the weekend, were taken by Tony Hall as he set out on his career in photography, and have not been previously published…
THERE was a time when I smoked and owned skirts.
I lived at 14 Edith Grove, just south of Fulham Road, in a house owned by Donald and David Cammell just after they’d done Performance.
Piggy lived further down Edith Grove below the King’s Road, in a basement flat that was like stepping into his imagination. He had collections of clothes, props and small objects.
In praise of David ‘Piggy’ Worth: Tony Hall’s unpublished photographs of the great British collector, male model and stylist
“Piggy was a special dreamer” Judy Nylon
“Piggy got me my first job with Helmut Newton” Yvonne Gold
“He was an amazing character, funny, exuberant, outgoing, such fun to be with. Everybody wanted to be his friend” Tony Hall
Before David Gandy, before Nick Kamen, there was David “Piggy” Worth.
Nick Ebeling’s supercool ride into Dennis Hopper’s heart of darkness with ‘El Hombre Invisible’ Satya de la Manitou
Along For The Ride is the wild and suitably idisoyncratic documentary from LA-based artist Nick Ebeling about male friendship – in particular the relationship between Ebeling’s cinematic hero Dennis Hopper and his right-hand man, “El Hombre Invisible” Satya de la Manitou – and the often fraught nature of film-making.
With a score by Gemma Thompson of Savages and produced by Sheri Timmons, the core of Along For The Ride lies in stories of de la Manitou’s 40-year friendship with Hopper, as related to Ebeling over coffee in various LA diners.
Sex signage: Was McLaren inspired by Lubalin’s cladding for the Georg Jensen flagship NY store?
Was the late Malcolm McLaren inspired by one of the greats of 20th century graphics in his creation of the astonishing signage for Sex, the fetishistic fashion boutique and incubator of punk rock he operated with Vivienne Westwood at 430 King’s Road in west London between October 1974 and November 1976?
Reckless Daughter: A barnstorming Joni Mitchell anthology
Hats off to barnstorming Barney Hoskyns for compiling new Joni Mitchell anthology Reckless Daughter, which is published in November.
I fell under Mitchell’s spell in my early teens at the behest of an older brother and was lucky enough to see her live in the gig-crowded year of 1974 at London’s New Victoria Theatre.
Even while punk raged I kept the faith; 1975’s The Hissing Of Summer Lawns and the following year’s Hejira are stone classics to which I constantly return, and not just for the peerless music. The designs by her own hand (Mitchell is an accomplished visual artist) and the fashion-sheen photography of Norman Seeff add to the allure.
Continue reading Reckless Daughter: A barnstorming Joni Mitchell anthology
English Heritage plaque dedicated to the great Laurie Cunningham
Great news about the English heritage blue plaque dedicated yesterday at 73 Lancaster Road in north London’s Finsbury Park, one-time home of the late great footballer Laurie Cunningham.
As I’ve written here before, Cunningham’s significance extends outside of his considerable achievements as a sportsman; the first black player to represent England and be signed to an overseas club (Spain’s Real Madrid), he lived his tragically short life off the field at the cutting edge of street style and club culture.
Continue reading English Heritage plaque dedicated to the great Laurie Cunningham
Sheila Rock: Early fashion styling captured the development of British menswear in the 70s
To celebrate the opening next week of a new exhibition of work by photographer Sheila Rock, here is a selection of her early fashion styling.
The Filth & The Fury: Punk Fashion at the NFT tomorrow with Amber Butchart + SEX & Seditionaries superstar Jordan Mooney
Tomorrow I’m a guest of historian Amber Butchart at London’s National Film Theatre for a conversation and q&a about Punk fashion with her special invitee Jordan Mooney, SEX and Seditionaries superstar and inner member of the Sex Pistols circle.
I’ve put together a presentation from my archive to run during our chat, including images of Jordan’s striking series of visual personae and slides showing how the designs by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood at 430 King’s Road were regularly featured in the fashion and national press from the early 70s to the time of Punk later in the decade.
Sharks: The return of the Sharkmobile and a great shot of the band with Nora Foster in Let It Rock designs
Singer-songwriter Steve “Snips” Parsons has been in contact; the reunion of early 70s British rock band Sharks (which he fronted) moves apace – with an album out in September, next week they are launching a crowdfunding appeal to bring back the so-called Sharkmobile.
This was guitarist Chris Spedding’s Pontiac Le Mans which – at the behest of their record company boss Chris Blackwell – was decorated with fibreglass shark’s teeth and a fin and appeared on the back cover of the group’s debut LP First Water.