Geometric Hair by Vidal Sassoon

This spring  a documentary and book have been made about Vidal Sassoon, the hairdresser of almost every hip, hot and happening celeb in the sixties. Well, that’s all the information I have. The documentary seems to be made and was shown at a couple of film festivals, but it seems it’s not getting a screening for a wider audience. And absolutely no info on the book…. So, to fill the gap, a tiny compilation of his work.

Viddal Sassoon introduced dark, straight and shiny hair cuts. His haircuts were geometric yet organic, as shown in this video:

 

One of his most well know clients was fashion innovator Mary Quant.

Another client: actress Nancy Kwan with sleek Vidal Sassoon bob, 1963.

Model Grace Coddington with the Five Point Cut in 1964.

Vidal Sassoon cut actress Mia Farrow’s pixie hair for the 1968 movie Rosemary’s Baby. Cost of the cut $5.000 (!)

 

Model Ulla Bomser for Bazaar, 1965.

Rolling Stones in Exile

A good music documentary on Dutch tv is rare, so this one is definitely worth a watch. Tonight the Rolling Stones documentary “Stones in Exile” will be broadcasted on Nederland 2. It tells the story of the making of their 10th album “Exile on Main Street” in the band’s own words and through archive footage. Stephen Kijack directed the film, which consists of previously unseen footage of the recording sessions in France and when they mixed the album in Los Angeles.

The Stones recorded their album in the basement of Villa Nellcote, Richards’ rented 16-room mansion on the coast in Villefranche-sur-Mer. All marble and wrought iron, Richards said it looked like it was decorated for “bloody Marie Antoinette.” He also liked to recount its history as a Gestapo headquarters. By making the record in Richards’ own house, band members figured he would show up for the sessions. They were wrong. And Richards wasn’t the only one living on the edge. For a six-month stretch, the Stones swapped partners, ingested every available drug, set fires and nearly drove each other mad while making “the first grunge record”.

Het Uur van de Wolf, Rolling Stones in Exile, Friday the 14th of May, 22.50 – 23.50 h CET, Nederland 2.

Dig!

Spent this weekend with a good dose of pychedelic rock music: I watched Dig! on video (and I saw the Black Angels play in Paradiso). Dig! is a documentary from 2004 made by Ondi Timoner, and it follows two bands over a a period of seven years: the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Both bands are befriended and are trying to make it in the music industry:  the DandyWarhols love becoming rockstars and make a stupid $40.000 music video with director David LaChapelle for “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth”, the Brian Jonestown Massacre are fucking things up because of a mixture of stubbornness and not conforming themselves to the commerce. The initial friendship becomes rivalry, resulting in the hilarious BJM recording “Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth”.

Although the documentary isn’t very nuanced, it has a lot of brilliant scenes, like a vain Courtney Taylor complaining about his looks in the video for “Junkie”, BJM playing for ten hours for ten people and a very young Peter Hayes as a member of the BJM (now of BRMC). Anyway, definitely worth a watch.

But most of all, Dig! shows, to quote former Elastica frontwoman Justine Frischmann: ” as soon as a bloke gets a guitar in his hands, he’s unbearable”.

Movie trailer:

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Going to Hell:

The Dandy Warhols – Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth (1997):

More stuff:

www.myspace.com/antonfjordson

www.myspace.com/thedandywarhols

www.thecommitteetokeepmusicevil.com

Tempo of a Restless Soul

Tonight, at 22.50 h tv-station Canvas will show the documentary “Tempo of a Restless Soul” about the ultimate Belgium sexgod, also know as Tom Barman, frontman of dEUS. Well, actually I don’t know if he’s truly a sexgod, famous people are used to being adored so they don’t need to excel in bed, right? Anyway, the documentary follows Tom during two years, around the period of the release of dEUS-albums “Pocket Revolution” and “Vantage Point”. So no sex, but his mother will appear in the documentary…..(?) Must see for dEUS fans like myself!

“Tempo of a Restless Soul” is made by Manu Riche and Renaat Lambeets and will air on the 16th december 2009 at 22.50 h on Belgium tv-channel Canvas.

An evening with Viktor & Rolf

This sunday I will spent the evening with Dutch fashion designers Viktor and Rolf. I will wear my pyjamas, make myself a cup of hot chocolate ( the weather is horrible here, so I think I’m allowed to drink hot chocolate in the middle of the summer), and turn on the tv.

There’s a Dutch tv-show called “Zomergasten” (Summer Guests). Every sunday evening there will be a different guest, and that guest can decide what (fragments of) tv-programs and movies he or she wants to see. This sunday Viktor and Rolf are the guests.

What to expect:

• “Neues vom Kleidermarkt”: a German tv-programm about fashion;
• “De Vierde Man”: a Dutch movie from director Paul Verhoeven (1983);
• “Ludwig”: an Italian movie from Luchino Visconti (1972) with legendary actress Romy Schneider;
• “The Hours”: a British/American movie from director Stephen Daldry (2002) with Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore;
• The documentary “In and Out of Fashion” by William Klein, with fragments of a young Yves Saint Laurent;
• Fragments from dancing scenes from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (“Top Hat”, 1935);
• Fragments from MTV “Made”.

The evening will end with the movie “Maurice” from director James Ivory (1987), with Hugh Grant in his first major film roll. The movie is set in England in the early 20th century, so expect a lot of impressive costumes.

And ofcourse the host of the show will be interviewing Viktor and Rolf.

Sunday the 26th of July, VPRO Nederland 2, 20.12 h CET.