R.I.P Betty Page

Bettie Page dies at 85 today in Los Angeles.

The pin-up queen played a key role in the sexual revolution 

of the 1960s and later became a cult figure.

Page was most famous for the estimated 20,000 4-by-5-inch 

black-and-white glossy photographs taken 

by amateur shutterbugs from 1949 to 1957. 

The photos showed her in high heels and bikinis or negligees, 

bondage apparel -- or nothing at all.

I writed a post about her few days ago: Ultimate Pin-up.

Bettie Mae Page was born April 22, 1923, in Nashville.

She was a combination of wholesome innocence and fetish-oriented 

poses that is at once retro and very modern 

and also one of the most influential women of the 20th century.

Decades later, those images inspired biographies, comic books,

 fan clubs, websites, commercial products -- Bettie Page playing cards,

 dress-up magnet sets, action figures, Zippo lighters, shot glasses -- 

and, in 2005, a film about her life and times, "The Notorious Bettie Page".

"I want to be remembered," she said, "as I was when I was young 

and in my golden times. . . . I want to be remembered as the woman 

who changed people's perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form."

At 35, Page walked away from it all and quitted modelling.

In 1978, Page plunged into a depression marked by violent mood swings. 

She got into an argument with her landlady and attacked her with a knife.

 A judge found her innocent by reason of insanity but 

sentenced her to 10 years in a California mental institution.

She was released in 1992 from Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County

 to find that she had unwittingly become a pop-culture icon.

 A movie titled "The Rocketeer" and the comic book that inspired it

 contained a Bettie-esque character, triggering a revival,

 among women as well as men, that continues unabated.

With the help of admirers, Page finally began receiving

 a respectable income for her work and CMG Worldwide became her agent.

Bye Bye Betty ......

Little Richard - Whole lotta shakin' going on

Tattoo - Melissa Baker 

Tattoo -  Davide Andreoli

New Nylons ?

Photos Via : Vintage Scans

POST #103

I just listen to amazing TV live from 1976 and 1980.

I never saw them before, they are just amazing !

Wish i could see TV shows with this kind of performers today.

I really enjoy the audience involvement and dances.

The show had the audience enjoy themself like in a club or in a private show.

From 1972 to 1981, The Midnight Special defied boundaries of late night television 

by presenting break through live performances from artists of all genres. 

It was a live concert event every week- created and produced by

 Burt Sugarman and airing on NBC.

I choose sexy girls and tunes: Blondie, Olivia Newton - John and Donna Summer.

Don't forget to have a look on the transparent vinyl long skirt of a dancer

in "One way or Another", wish i could find one like this........

Blondie - One Way Or Another - 1979

Olivia Newton John - Magic -1980

Blondie - Heart Of Glass - 1976

Donna Summer - Last dance - 1978

The videos with Debborah Harry of Blondie reminds me of 

Edo Bertoglio - Figurines photographies taken 

in New York (1977 - 1982) of the DIY “downtown scene”. 

As  one of  former Photographer of Andy Warhol’s 

Interview Magazine, Bertoglio began to take pictures of celebrities and friends.

His girlfriend and Art director/stylist Maripol 

( mostly known for her Madonna: "Like a virgin look" )

began to take polaroids with him.

They worked together on the documentary DOWNTOWN 81 ( released in 2001).

There was a real effort to look special in this community 

and you can see this on his photos.

"It's not what you wear, it's how you wear it."

In a Dazed and Confused interview about his documentary "Face Addict"

 in 2007, Edo Bertoglio talked about the fall and changes of this NY scene:

" The DIY scene got bigger and bigger and got fashionable, but that’s where it started to go wrong, because the core of the downtown scene dropped off, because of AIDs or drugs, ... heavy drug use in '82 was what destroyed the whole thing. Suddenly a lot of people got big problems. For really a little while, for the space of a morning, drugs helped the creativity, made us even more prodigious, more dynamic, and because were sharing and we were discussing; we really thought that we could go on like this and we could maintain this habit; but when it became a habit, it was not so important to paint that painting: what was important was to go out and get drugs. For such an experience there is a very high price to pay, you know and we did pay a high price. I was the lucky ones, but many, many of us are not here now. That’s why I call Face Addict a survivor’s film."

Here is a selection of Edo Bertoglio's work:

I just realized that this is my post #103

This blog is only a few months old and my readers are becoming regular.

I want to thank you, dear readers 

for all your kind messages and words.

This help me to write and improve myself.

This blog is my personnal book of inspirations.

If you are a blogger yourself, 

you know that it's not so easy to find 

always the energy and inspiration - there are lazy days.

 

I never thought that writing a blog could bring so much:

like discovering interesting personnality, 

sharing my tastes with others

and learning in return.

I will add words that are writen on a wall

in Shakespeare and company Book store in Paris:

"Be not inhospitable to strangers

 lest they be angels in disguise."