looking at that blog I was reminded that you're the same frank that used to do the Vampyros Lesbos thing. you look DIFFERENT.
ok sorry to thread hijack, just wanted to say that.
yeah, put on a few pounds since kicking the habit. Also lost some hair, obviously... It's been 10 years after all... did you attend that night back in the day? I hope at the good old XVI and not the later incarantions at the Cooler which was still quite nice with the Sugarman 3 and Mighty Imperials) or at Eau (not a good memory).
haha no I didnt' mean like that, I mean you had the satanic look going for you back then, I can't remember the actors name that you totally reminded me of but he had that look, the big porkchop moustache thing with the long hair, haha. now you look a little more earthly. I never got to one of your nights I just remember seeing a flyer on here, back when I first started working in the adult industry and I think someone had a thread going on the subject and you posted it up. Along with Nzshadows incredible stories of working in a pron store, which by the way needs a documentary of it's own. haha.
wow, this looks incredible, which also appears to be the overwhelming consensus. I'd love to watch the whole thing when it's done. Who are you meeting with in the approx. 3:00 frame?, looks like a pretty cool moment.
looking at that blog I was reminded that you're the same frank that used to do the Vampyros Lesbos thing. you look DIFFERENT.
ok sorry to thread hijack, just wanted to say that.
yeah, put on a few pounds since kicking the habit. Also lost some hair, obviously... It's been 10 years after all... did you attend that night back in the day? I hope at the good old XVI and not the later incarnations at the Cooler which was still quite nice with the Sugarman 3 and Mighty Imperials) or at Eau (not a good memory).
i used to go to the Philly version of Vampyros Lesbos at silk city, you should really do a night down here too, we could use it. trailer looks awesome btw
Along with Nzshadows incredible stories of working in a pron store, which by the way needs a documentary of it's own. haha.
Naaaaw man, i just write stories, Frank lives the fuckin dream!
oh fo sho, not trying to compare the 2 stories in ANY way. I should have said your stories need a book BAD and SERIOUSLY need to be followed by some funny ass dramatic recreations.
Who are you meeting with in the approx. 3:00 frame?, looks like a pretty cool moment.
at 3:00 I'm sitting in a bus. The person I've met before was El Sartana, a former DJ in Parakou, it's the scene with the kid klimbing up the table. Other visits were El Rego who's wearing the green hat and the big smile, Danialou Sagbohan who's dancing on his chair and Gustave Bentho who's playing bass along an old Poly Rythmo record that's on the turntable.
i used to go to the Philly version of Vampyros Lesbos at silk city, you should really do a night down here too, we could use it. trailer looks awesome btw
I'll definitely try and do something in Philly again. I always had a blast down there. Silk City has recently reopened, right? Is it still okay? If you have any idea for a venue, please drop me a PM!
frank, do folks you come across still listen to records? do djs still keep that up, or is it strictly cds (or even tapes?). is there amusement/bewilderment/confusion as to why you might want old wax?
Im just restating the obvious and already stated but, kick ass!
I feel silly, as I used to give the British and Euro dudes a buncha shit on the Fryer's board because they bought their records offa lists and in shops and had never been to a shack in the middle of Mississippi or Arkansas, or a dangerous neighborhood in the middle of a city to find records, thus they were merely armchair collectors/enthusiasts and their sense of superiority/entitlement in soul collecting was bullshit...but I feel like an armchair enthusiast after watching this...you are the dude, this is what every record nerd in the world wants to do, but you are doing it...in a big way. Amazing.
(PS got a hold of the Les Roebesspires(sp?), thanks for the info!)
Im just restating the obvious and already stated but, kick ass!
I feel silly, as I used to give the British and Euro dudes a buncha shit on the Fryer's board because they bought their records offa lists and in shops and had never been to a shack in the middle of Mississippi or Arkansas, or a dangerous neighborhood in the middle of a city to find records, thus they were merely armchair collectors/enthusiasts and their sense of superiority/entitlement in soul collecting was bullshit...but I feel like an armchair enthusiast after watching this...you are the dude, this is what every record nerd in the world wants to do, but you are doing it...in a big way. Amazing.
(PS got a hold of the Les Roebesspires(sp?), thanks for the info!)
Hey Er*c - did you get the Les Roebesspires(sp?) via mail order or from a mud hut in rural Africa?
Im just restating the obvious and already stated but, kick ass!
I feel silly, as I used to give the British and Euro dudes a buncha shit on the Fryer's board because they bought their records offa lists and in shops and had never been to a shack in the middle of Mississippi or Arkansas, or a dangerous neighborhood in the middle of a city to find records, thus they were merely armchair collectors/enthusiasts and their sense of superiority/entitlement in soul collecting was bullshit...but I feel like an armchair enthusiast after watching this...you are the dude, this is what every record nerd in the world wants to do, but you are doing it...in a big way. Amazing.
(PS got a hold of the Les Roebesspires(sp?), thanks for the info!)
Hey Er*c - did you get the Les Roebesspires(sp?) via mail order or from a mud hut in rural Africa?
Well, it is a German record...I got it in the basement of weisswurst factory outside of Hannover...
frank, do folks you come across still listen to records? do djs still keep that up, or is it strictly cds (or even tapes?). is there amusement/bewilderment/confusion as to why you might want old wax?
There are very few turntables left around here that still work. I've been to a few places where people still record vinyl onto CDs or mix tapes. People always ask what I'm doing with those records. I explain tho them that I'm playing them in clubs and often it's hard for folks to imagine young people in the Western world dancing to the music of their grandparents. Musicians always love it when you tell them that their old tunes still get people to dance.
I always hand out CDRs with the mixes I made and people really dig that. I gave some to various radio stations and they had loads of people calling saying how happy they were to hear that shit again.
I always hated the arrogance of the music industry when they stopped manufacturing vinyl and practically forced people to switch to CDs. I guess on the long run, they got what they deserved... but the cultural damage caused by the introduction of the CD here in Africa is something else. Records have been out of use for such a long time now that most people don't attach any kind of value to them. Often you see half-burned records lying on the side of the road. Pleople tell you that they gave their entire collection to their kids to play frisbee with... when I had managed to track down the widow of Papa Disco in Cotonou, she told me that she had burned her dead husbands records a few weeks back just to make room. It always haunts me that whatever is still around must be just a tiny fraction of what was there in the first place. Take a small country like Benin, they had at least two dozend of small private labels, two big labels with their own pressing plant. Now it's some 30+ years later with the most record unfriendly environment thinkable: lots of dust, sand, cardboard-eating insects, frequent flooding and intense heat...
Frank, Have you had any luck tracking down masters? Or have they met the same fate as the records?
Most masters were redubbed. Some tapes remained like the stuff used by Samy's excelent comp on Analog Africa that just came out. I've seen a ton of tapes at two different houses recently but I was told that all of it was folklore. I was tempted to spend a few days checking them out but I would have had to rent a studio or somehow get a real to real machine.
Frank, Have you had any luck tracking down masters? Or have they met the same fate as the records?
Most masters were redubbed. Some tapes remained like the stuff used by Samy's excelent comp on Analog Africa that just came out. I've seen a ton of tapes at two different houses recently but I was told that all of it was folklore. I was tempted to spend a few days checking them out but I would have had to rent a studio or somehow get a real to real machine.
I hope the folklore people are working as hard as you to preserve that stuff. John Storm Roberts who ran the Original Music label is hero for finding the traditional and the really old pop stuff.
I was curious, since you said there weren't very many working record players there, how many of those people were actually hearing their records for the first time?
The scene where older guy hands you a 45 (with extreme care, I might add) and you throw it on the Phillips and a huge smile just grows on his face (like he was hearing it for the first time).
Again, you should be very proud of yourself for putting in that much work towards the preservation of a culture and time period.
The scene where older guy hands you a 45 (with extreme care, I might add) and you throw it on the Phillips and a huge smile just grows on his face (like he was hearing it for the first time).
That's El Rego, he didn't remember his old song "hessa" when I asked him about it but when hearing the first chords, it all came back to him. He is getting ready to celebrate his 50 year on stage aniversary soon. Besides still playing music, he is some sort of neighborhood chief and owns two "nightclubs"...
your NYC afro-funk nights. that's still happening right?
that's still happening!
Which venue?
haven't decided on a venue yet, kinda difficult from here... I guess I'll need to do some investigating once I'm there as to what woul be a nice place. I employed a local store sign painter here in Guina to copy album covers and other stuff onto 4 foot square wooden boards so I need to find a place that would allow me to do a lot of decoration work. Too bad the club I used to do my nights at in the 90s has since been converted into some shitty silk ropes club. The former owners were super cool and even gave me my own storage room back because I had so much shit to set up every time. I was using multiple slide projections, video projectors and even has a collapsable, chrome plated go go cage... I always try and put some effort into changing a place and give the night some special flair... the go go cage has since been retired but I definitely want to do a lot of slide and video projection stuff.
Comments
haha no I didnt' mean like that, I mean you had the satanic look going for you back then, I can't remember the actors name that you totally reminded me of but he had that look, the big porkchop moustache thing with the long hair, haha. now you look a little more earthly. I never got to one of your nights I just remember seeing a flyer on here, back when I first started working in the adult industry and I think someone had a thread going on the subject and you posted it up. Along with Nzshadows incredible stories of working in a pron store, which by the way needs a documentary of it's own. haha.
so yeah, that's all.
You better have that NYC gig running by August
i used to go to the Philly version of Vampyros Lesbos at silk city, you should really do a night down here too, we could use it. trailer looks awesome btw
Naaaaw man, i just write stories, Frank lives the fuckin dream!
oh fo sho, not trying to compare the 2 stories in ANY way. I should have said your stories need a book BAD and SERIOUSLY need to be followed by some funny ass dramatic recreations.
at 3:00 I'm sitting in a bus. The person I've met before was El Sartana, a former DJ in Parakou, it's the scene with the kid klimbing up the table. Other visits were El Rego who's wearing the green hat and the big smile, Danialou Sagbohan who's dancing on his chair and Gustave Bentho who's playing bass along an old Poly Rythmo record that's on the turntable.
I'll definitely try and do something in Philly again. I always had a blast down there. Silk City has recently reopened, right? Is it still okay? If you have any idea for a venue, please drop me a PM!
Trailer looks great. I can't wait to see the finished product.
Best of luck with your move stateside.
Please keep us posted on any Philly appearances.
I feel silly, as I used to give the British and Euro dudes a buncha shit on the Fryer's board because they bought their records offa lists and in shops and had never been to a shack in the middle of Mississippi or Arkansas, or a dangerous neighborhood in the middle of a city to find records, thus they were merely armchair collectors/enthusiasts and their sense of superiority/entitlement in soul collecting was bullshit...but I feel like an armchair enthusiast after watching this...you are the dude, this is what every record nerd in the world wants to do, but you are doing it...in a big way. Amazing.
(PS got a hold of the Les Roebesspires(sp?), thanks for the info!)
Glad I came back and didn't miss this. Night Owl Record Show wants to sponsor the Portland movie premier.
Thanks for the new avatar.
Hey Er*c - did you get the Les Roebesspires(sp?) via mail order or from a mud hut in rural Africa?
Well, it is a German record...I got it in the basement of weisswurst factory outside of Hannover...
There are very few turntables left around here that still work. I've been to a few places where people still record vinyl onto CDs or mix tapes. People always ask what I'm doing with those records. I explain tho them that I'm playing them in clubs and often it's hard for folks to imagine young people in the Western world dancing to the music of their grandparents. Musicians always love it when you tell them that their old tunes still get people to dance.
I always hand out CDRs with the mixes I made and people really dig that. I gave some to various radio stations and they had loads of people calling saying how happy they were to hear that shit again.
I always hated the arrogance of the music industry when they stopped manufacturing vinyl and practically forced people to switch to CDs. I guess on the long run, they got what they deserved... but the cultural damage caused by the introduction of the CD here in Africa is something else. Records have been out of use for such a long time now that most people don't attach any kind of value to them. Often you see half-burned records lying on the side of the road. Pleople tell you that they gave their entire collection to their kids to play frisbee with... when I had managed to track down the widow of Papa Disco in Cotonou, she told me that she had burned her dead husbands records a few weeks back just to make room. It always haunts me that whatever is still around must be just a tiny fraction of what was there in the first place. Take a small country like Benin, they had at least two dozend of small private labels, two big labels with their own pressing plant. Now it's some 30+ years later with the most record unfriendly environment thinkable: lots of dust, sand, cardboard-eating insects, frequent flooding and intense heat...
Have you had any luck tracking down masters? Or have they met the same fate as the records?
Most masters were redubbed.
Some tapes remained like the stuff used by Samy's excelent comp on Analog Africa that just came out. I've seen a ton of tapes at two different houses recently but I was told that all of it was folklore. I was tempted to spend a few days checking them out but I would have had to rent a studio or somehow get a real to real machine.
One of my passions is international street food, nothing like having your tastebuds blown away by a new flavor at a roadside stand in a new country.
What are your culinary high (and low) lights?
I hope the folklore people are working as hard as you to preserve that stuff. John Storm Roberts who ran the Original Music label is hero for finding the traditional and the really old pop stuff.
Which venue?
The trailer looks great. Can't wait to see this.
I was curious, since you said there weren't very many working record players there, how many of those people were actually hearing their records for the first time?
The scene where older guy hands you a 45 (with extreme care, I might add) and you throw it on the Phillips and a huge smile just grows on his face (like he was hearing it for the first time).
Again, you should be very proud of yourself for putting in that much work towards the preservation of a culture and time period.
My hats off.
That's El Rego,
he didn't remember his old song "hessa" when I asked him about it but when hearing the first chords, it all came back to him. He is getting ready to celebrate his 50 year on stage aniversary soon. Besides still playing music, he is some sort of neighborhood chief and owns two "nightclubs"...
haven't decided on a venue yet, kinda difficult from here... I guess I'll need to do some investigating once I'm there as to what woul be a nice place. I employed a local store sign painter here in Guina to copy album covers and other stuff onto 4 foot square wooden boards so I need to find a place that would allow me to do a lot of decoration work. Too bad the club I used to do my nights at in the 90s has since been converted into some shitty silk ropes club. The former owners were super cool and even gave me my own storage room back because I had so much shit to set up every time. I was using multiple slide projections, video projectors and even has a collapsable, chrome plated go go cage... I always try and put some effort into changing a place and give the night some special flair... the go go cage has since been retired but I definitely want to do a lot of slide and video projection stuff.
Just received notice that I'll be guesting at Bumpshop at APT on July 12th!
Sorry for all this shameless self-promotion...