As for variety performances that are more refreshing to the palate, check out Das Racist’s performance of “Michael Jackson” on Conan, broadcast on TBS on November 28, 2011. Obviously, I’m a fan of the song and video, but after watching so many variety performances across decades of television, I have to hand it to them for doing some inventive staging, sound mixing, and costume changes. It definitely made for a fun to watch televised performance. Also, pretty confident that this is the first time that performers with the names Himanshu Suri, Victor Vazquez, Ashok Kondabolu, and Hanako Moondance were on US television, much less all together. After watching so much televised brownface for work and unfortunately coming upon it during my downtime, this was a very welcome change. Well done friends.
Crazy late ’60s counterculture-style exoticism, complete with white guru figure, sitar sounds, jeweled turbans, and vague Bharata Natyam dance moves.
This specific bit is Peter Tork singing “Do Not Ask for Love” from the TV special, 33 & 1/3 Revolutions Per a Monkee broadcast on April 14, 1969 on NBC. The special features a grab bag of genres and setting from this to the wild west to the nursery, and finally ends with a hedonistic hippie free-for-all. Throughout is a cacophonous rant against television and commercialism and a look that is reminiscent of contemporaneous variety shows like Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In as well as the later produced video art piece, Global Groove.
Tune In. Tune Out.
Trying a new look. The header image came from this awesome album cover, My Favourite Film Songs by Lata Mangeshkar. Granted, my hair has not been this long since I was in high school, but I wholly identify with the messy enthusiasm about media.
Grace Chang in the opening scene from Mambo Girl (1957).
Though in her US TV appearances, she often represented a pristine and essentialized East Asian femininity (in contrast to Wong’s “Dragon Lady” roles), her Sinophone films emphasized her as a modern fun-loving party girl. Just look at all the diamond, plaid, and checkerboard print in this clip, definitely a departure from the Mandarin print she donned in US media.
From The Hole (AKA “Dong”) , directed by Tsai Ming-Liang (one of my favs).
Featuring “I Want Your Love” as performed by Grace Chang.
Looking for Love by Raj
Featured - “Looking for Love” by Connie Francis, from 1964 film of the same title
Happy Birthday. It’s nice to be in Seattle for it.
“This work comes from one of the deepest impulses I know, that of survival. In times of trouble that come from facing life as a racial minority woman, clothes, books, movies, magazines, gossip, and get-togethers have all jostled me out of paralysis and prompted me to lumber out of bed in the morning and face the world. For anyone who has endured the same, this book is for you.”
Also, this book features a great chapter on Wong.
Get ANNA MAY WONG on public TV
Frankly, I would be happy if I could find more of Anna May Wong on television (period) Still, this film sounds awesome and it would be great to have it more widely available, even with the public TV political baggage.
