Sunday, June 30, 2013

Nouvelle Vague - Our lips are sealed

Nouvelle Vague is a French cover band led by musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their name means "new wave" in French. Their name refers/alludes to their "Frenchness" and "artiness" (the '60s new wave of cult French cinema), the source of their songs (all covers of punk rock, post-punk, and New Wave songs), and their use of '60s bossa nova-style arrangements.

Members, former members and contributors include French artists who are now well known as solo performers, each considered as part of what is called the "Renouveau de la chanson Française" (the "Renewal of French chanson"). Those artists are Camille, Phoebe Killdeer, Mélanie Pain, Marina Céleste and Gerald Toto. Mareva Galanter joined the roster of vocalists in 2010.

Here is their cover of "Our lips are sealed," featuring Terry Hall & Marina Celeste. The video is composed of clips from the 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

"Louise" sung by Maurice Chevalier

"Louise" was a show-stopping number from the 1929 film, The Innocents of Paris, Paramount's first musical. Here, it is sung by Maurice Chevalier, with the Leonard Joy Orchestra. Though now associated with the actress, the song in fact has nothing to do with Louise Brooks. Nevertheless, we like it.


"Louise"
(Words by Leo Robin, music by Richard A. Whiting)

Wonderful! Oh, it's wonderful
To be in love with you.
Beautiful! You're so beautiful,
You haunt me all day through.

Every little breeze seems to whisper "Louise."
Birds in the trees seem to twitter "Louise."
Each little rose
Tells me it knows I love you, love you.

Every little beat that I feel in my heart,
Seems to repeat, What I felt from the start,
Each little sigh
Tells me that I adore you, Louise.

Just to see and hear you
Brings joy I never knew.
But to be so near you,
Thrills me through and through.

Anyone can see why I wanted your kiss,
It had to be But the wonder is this:
Can it be true,
Someone like you Could love me, Louise?

Every little breeze seems to whisper "Louise."
Birds in the trees seem to twitter "Louise."
Each little rose
Tells me it knows I love you, love you.

Every little beat that I feel in my heart,
Seems to repeat, What I felt from the start,
Each little sigh
Tells me that I adore you, Louise.

Just to see and hear you
Brings joy I never knew.
But to be so near you,
Thrills me through and through.

Anyone can see why I wanted your kiss,
It had to be But the wonder is this:
Can it be true,
Someone like you Could love me, Louise?

Friday, June 28, 2013

Louise Brooks Society :: shop for books and movies and more

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Dante and Louise Brooks

Poet and Muse: Dante and Louise Brooks

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

William S. Burroughs and Louise Brooks

William S. Burroughs and Louise Brooks. The experimental novelist and the silent film star. He authored Naked Lunch and Junky and other works of "Beat" fiction. She played Lulu in the classic German expressionist film Pandora's Box. Brooks and Burroughs. Burroughs and Brooks. They are two cultural figures one doesn't think of together.

That's why I was surprised when I came across an item about Brooks in Burroughs' archive. Ohio State University has a large collection of Burroughs' books, manuscripts, and miscellaneous items. This collection of papers, books, serials, and other materials was given to OSU in 1998 by the estate of the writer. It includes magazine and newspaper articles Burroughs himself, in all likelihood, cut out and saved. Their holdings are documented online here.

And there in Box 15, Folder Number #153-171, between F. Scott Fitzgerald stories in Redbook magazine from the 1930s, and newspaper clippings from 1979 documenting a building fire in Lawrence, Kansas is item number 159:
"Kenneth Tynan, The Girl in the Black Helmet, 1979 PC of an article in The New Yorker, June 11, 1979, about the movie actress Louise Brooks, whose career was in the 1920's and 1930's."
I assume PC means photocopy.

Why did Burrough's keep a photocopy of Tynan's essay? Was he intending to write about the actress? Was it his interest in things from Kansas? (He lived in Lawrence. Brooks grew up Wichita.) Was he interested in Brooks as a cultural figure? Might they have crossed paths in New York City in the 1950s? Or did he perhaps know Tynan, the English theater critic and essayist. Tynan was a social creature, and seemed to know just about everyone. It's hard to say.

James Grauerholz, if you read this and might know why this particular article is in Burrough's archive, please drop a line or post a comment. (We met years ago when you and Ira Silverman were touring to promote the Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader. I put on an event with you both in San Francisco.)

Monday, June 24, 2013

Images of Louise Brooks - Sonchai Körner


Sven Mundt is a Berlin-based stage director and video artist. His latest play, Images of Louise Brooks, brings together three generations of actresses: Hollywood actress Candy Clark (66), Swedish performance artist Marta Oldenburg (51) and Berlin-based actress Sonchai Körner (33). Within the context of three solo performances, they explore the paths their lives has taken, talking about the choices they made and the repercussions of those choices. [If the above video doesn't work, try viewing it at Vimeo.]

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Another Valentina exhibit now in Italy

There is another big Valentina exhibit in Italy. "Guido Crepax: Portrait of an Artist" opened June 20 at the Palazzo Reale, Piazza del Duomo, 12 - Milan. It runs through September 15. After only a few days, the exhibit has generated a fair amount of media coverage, including this piece on La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno and another on the AffairItalian website. Be sure and check them out. The latter piece contains not only a slide show, but also a brief Italian TV clip which contains a couple of lovely images of Louise Brooks. 


The exhibit is not the only big Louise Brooks related news out of Italy. Amazon.it announced that Archive Crepax has chosen Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to publish the digital version of the saga of Valentina, the ever-popular comic book series created by Guido Crepax. The first episode, The Curve Lesmahagow: Part One, is now available. Upcoming is The Curve Lesmahagow: Part Two, Hello Valentina and many others. The entire collection will be available exclusively on the Kindle Store for downloading and reading on the Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and, thanks to the free apps for reading Kindle, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android smartphones and tablets.

Friday, June 21, 2013

On the road with Laura Moriarty & The Chaperone



Bestselling author Laura Moriarty is on the road touring in support of her celebrated novel, The Chaperone (Riverhead). It is now out in softcover. As is evident from the cover, the book features Louise Brooks as a character. If you want to keep up with the author, check out her Facebook page. Here are a few snapshots from her tour.

The Chaperone on display at a local bookstore.
In a round-up of new paperbacks, the June 23 New York Times describes the book this way: THE CHAPERONE, by Laura Moriarty. (Riverhead, $16.) As a willful 15-year-old from Kansas, the silent-film star Louise Brooks traveled with a chaperone to New York in 1922 to attend dance school. In Moriarty’s charming historical novel, Brooks’s staid Midwestern matron has her own reasons for going to New York, and finds herself questioning the confines of her life.

A large display piece.

A group of fans from Dayton, OH hold a copy of
The Chaperone and a portrait of Louise Brooks.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Louise Brooks Denver tattoo

A friend of the Louise Brooks Society snapped this pic on their cellphone. It is of a Denver waitress sporting a Louise Brooks tattoo. Pretty neat.

This is not the only tattoo of the silent film star. Just Google the phrase "Louise Brooks tattoo" and you will see a half-dozen more images. I know of as many others.

Do you sport a Louise Brooks tattoo? If so, send a picture to the LBS. Sometime in the future, the LBS will post some of the best.
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