Inspirational Imagery: Anya Phillips

Showing posts with label Anya Phillips. Show all posts

James Chance

I'm on a James Chance kick lately. He's one of the coolest sax-playing No-Wave heroes of late 70's NYC (Yes, there are actually more than one.) He was in Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, The Contortions, and James White and the Blacks. His music is aggressive, funky disco-punk mixed with free form jazz. YES!

Brian Eno likes it.

With the late Anya Phillips who was his girlfriend, manager, and muse. She's a super cool No-Wave hero too.
She died too early in life, in 1981 of cancer.

With Richard Hell.

Ok, now time to watch videos and hear the songs:

James Chance & The Contortions - Contort Yourself live at the M-80 Festival, Minneapolis, 09/23/1979. Wish I could have been there!!

James White & The Blacks - Sax Maniac

James Chance & the Contortions - I Can't Stand Myself

James White & The Blacks - Contort Yourself This version is different than The Contortions version, more disco and funky.

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James Chance's website

Olde New York

I haven't listened to this early 80's, all-girl, no wave band yet, but they have all the ingredients that make me fall in love. Here's an article about them published earlier this year in the Village Voice

New York subway, shot by Erik Calonius, May 1973

CBGB, NYC, 1977; © Bob Gruen. Looks fun!

No Wave all-stars hanging out on the Bowery. Shot by Godlis, summer 1978.
I'm not cool enough to be able to identify all of these people, but I do see Diego Cortez, Anya Phillips, Lydia Lunch, and James Chance.

Skins on Ave A. Looks mid-80's

70's stuff

Ok, we've got James Chance, Pat Place, and Anya Phillips in the periphery of this photo, but I forgot who the guy in the middle is. Maybe I never knew. They're at a Contortionists' show at Club 57. Photo by Harvey Wang.

Joan Jett

Bette Midler poster by Richard Amsel.

The above poster is not Amsel's typical style. He was an illustrator who worked mainly in a nostalgic realism/Norman Rockwell kind of style, which is sooo not popular these days – and due to my contrary nature, it makes me want to employ the style somehow!

I have a feeling that the reason why the style is not popular anymore has to do with the fact that people are using computers in design more than they did in the 70's and early 80's, and that kind of art is not inherently computer-based. Also the whole computer thing has enabled design projects to become so fast moving, and detailed hand-drawn illustrations are probably too time consuming.