Black Mask No. 7
PM Press just released Black Mask & Up Against the Wall Motherfucker: The Incomplete Works of Ron Hahne, Ben Morea, and the Black Mask Group.
If your local bookstore has buyers with any sense you should be able to pick it up there (definitely order it if they don’t have it) and needless to say it’s available in all the usual places online.
Founded in New York City in the mid-1960s by self-educated ghetto kid and painter Ben Morea, the Black Mask group melded the ideas and inspiration of Dada and the Surrealists, with the anarchism of the Durruti Column from the Spanish Revolution. With a theory and practice that had much in common with their contemporaries the San Francisco Diggers, Dutch Provos, and the French Situationists—who famously excommunicated 3 of the 4 members of the British section of the Situationist International for associating too closely with Black Mask—the group intervened spectacularly in the art, politics and culture of their times. From shutting down the Museum of Modern Art to protesting Wall Street’s bankrolling of war, from battling with Maoists at SDS conferences to defending the Valerie Solanas shooting of Andy Warhol, Black Mask successfully straddled the counterculture and politics of the 60s, and remained the Joker in the pack of both sides of “The Movement.”
By 1968 Black Mask dissolved into “The Family” (popularly known as Up Against The Wall Motherf**ker—the name to which they signed their first leaflet), which combined the confrontational theater and tactics of Black Mask with a much more aggressively “street” approach in dealing with the police, and authorities. Dubbed a “street gang with analysis” they were reputedly the only white grouping taken seriously by the Black Panther Party, and influenced everyone from the Weathermen to the “hippy” communal movements.
This volume collects the complete ten issues of the paper Black Mask (produced from 1966-1967 by Ben Morea and Ron Hahne), together with a generous collection of the leaflets, articles, and flyers generated by Black Mask, and UATW/MF, the UATW/MF Magazine, and both the Free Press and Rolling Stone reports on UATW/MF. A lengthy interview with founder Ben Morea provides context and color to this fascinating documentary legacy of NYC’s now legendary provocateurs.Just as a side note, the book that I’m working on for PM Press about the 60s underground press (which comes out in the Fall) will include an interview I did with Ben Morea and will feature full color scans of manifestos that to my knowledge have never been published anywhere other than in the underground press of the time. Also have some dope b roll type shit lined up for the blog.
Jimmy Cliff - Give A Little Take A Little
1967
Jimmy defines maximum swagger. Seriously, the bar has been set.
Brenton Wood - The Oogum Boogum Song
1967
Summer jamz.
The Equals - Police On My Back
Equals Explosion
1967
Who did it better The Equals or The Clash?
The Equals
“Police On My Back” single
1967
The Equals - Live in Germany
1967
I really wish these guys were a lot bigger than they were. They pioneered the whole mixed-race garage/ska style waaay before The Specials. Combined with the Jagger-esque swagger of the lead singer and Eddy Grant’s songwriting and guitar these guys could/should have been huge. Oh well, thanks YouTube.
Nina Simone Sings The Blues
Nina Simone
RCA, 1967
This is a great album.
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - California Soul
1967
Most crate heads probably prefer The 5th Dimension or Marlene Shaw’s versions over this but come on, you really can’t go wrong with Marvin and Tammi.
Casino Royale - Italian poster
1967
Ray Charles & Billy Preston - Agent Double O’ Soul
1967
Swagger-off: David Ruffin’s high-top fade and spectacles vs. Billy Preston’s neon lime zoot suit and James Brown dance moves. Who did it better?
Disc-O-Teen (TV)
1967
Airing from 1965 to 1967, Disc-O-Teen was a live teen dance show hosted by “Cool Ghoul” Zacherley on New York City’s first commercial UHF station, WNJU-TV Channel 47. Like a low budget American Bandstand, the show would have bands come on every day but instead of a live performance, they just played their songs in the background so they wouldn’t have to pay the band’s performance fees. Brilliant!
Check out homies The Box Tops on the show while their hit “The Letter” plays and costumed mod chicks dance to it. I wish they still did TV shows like this. This is on some Ed Wood borderline genius level type shit. So surreal.
Functional Graphic Design in the 20’s
by Eckhard Neumann
1967
8.25 x 8.25 hardcover book with 96 pages and 113 illustrations in b/w or two colors. This influential book was the first scholarly study to tie together the disparate elements of the European Avant-Garde (Bauhaus, Dada, Cubism, Futurism, de Stijl, etc. ) and how they related to the emerging field of Graphic Design.
$75.00 from Modernism 101. WANT!
Bonnie & Clyde
Directed by Arthur Penn
1967
via oldhollywood
Sup shorty from the Godard films who enjoys her cigarettes as much as her eyeliner. U wanna grab some breakfast around 10-ish then ride a bike around the city? For lunch we can split a couple bottles of wine and talk about sex and politics and get lost in each others eyes amidst all the cigarette smoke. Then we can head over to the park during sunset and read make out. Sound good? All right holler at me girl.
The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper France limited edition blue vinyl
EMI/Parlophone, 1967
