Musica VaVoom
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I've said it before, but it bears saying again. It's crazy what will remind you of a beloved song or artist that you haven't heard or recalled in ages. You'll hear a tune in the oddest place, and, suddenly, it's a favorite again.
One night last week, I was with my pal Wes, within the ornate, Deco-Azteco confines of the Mayan Theater in downtown Los Angeles. We were there because we simply had to see "Lucha VaVoom," the wild, semi-regular SoCal extravaganza that combines Mexican wrestling matches (with their hyperbolic masked participants and wacky scenarios) and sexy, arty neo-burlesque performances.
As I hoped, the show was a full-on riot including mock and real violence and some serious derring-do from the wrestlers (most of them well-muscled specimens, but two of them midget-sized, and three of them clad as chickens); insanely high-larious commentary from ringside announcers/comedians Blaine Capatch and Tom Kenny (quite the ubiquitous fellow); and, best of all, steamy routines from a few of the more creative exotic dancers on the L.A. scene.
It was one of the burlesque bits - featuring the gyrations of the delectable Audrey DeLuxe and her partner-in-exotica Lucy Fur - that revived my affection for a somewhat forgotten new-wave oldie. The women were dressed in pink catsuits (complete with ears, tails and claws). They slinked around the stage, and pawed one another to a recording of "The Siamese Cat Song" ("We are Siamese, if you please...") from the Disney cartoon "Lady & the Tramp." And they eventually had a friendly cat fight to the delight of all in attendance, as "Pink Pussycat" - from the 1979 Devo album Duty Now for the Future - rang out through the Mayan.
Lucy Fur & Audrey DeLuxe - Photo by Timothy Norris
Devo, the witty, provocative, progressive art-punk band, was born in Akron, Ohio in the mid-'70s and thrived in L.A. after relocating here in the late '70s. These guys have always been among my fave rock acts. But "Pink Pussycat" was one of those more obscure (yet wild and unique) album cuts that slipped through the cracks. Until Audrey & Lucy brought it back home - so to speak.
"Pink Pussycat" will prowl for you on the MOG player, if you happen to be a cat lover or not. It's audio catnip for me, especially as a soundtrack to - how you say? - interpretive dance.
So when's the last time you heard a compelling song in an unlikely circumstance? Weird-but-cool, isn't it?
Comments (16)
I wish I'd been there with you. What a show! That Devo song really holds up, even though I didn't listen just now to the lyrics to see if there are deep philosophical meanings in it. Compelling song in an unlikely circumstance? In the mid-1970s SF's Roxie Theater on 16th had a midnight movies variety show that featured at one point a fast-strumming four-string banjoist playing the Beatles' "Because."
Spike: You know it! I wish a lot of the MOG crew could have witnessed the hysteria. Banjo Beatles? That sounds nutty - in a good way. As for the Devo song's lyrics, I do know that the strange repeated line on the coda - "I'm so stroft!" - quotes a '70s TV commerical for toilet tissue that was touted as both strong and soft...stroft!
Very interesting. Great tune. For all the hype, Devo never got their due.
If I am ever in town I hope you can take me to your den of sin
dmdm: Too true. But they certainly have a legacy of totally original, brutally funny, envelope-pushing albums and videos that exist outside of style and trend. That counts for a lot in my book.
Rawk: Which town - S.F. or L.A.? Never mind. In either case, I've got it coming and going!
Entertaining song, but then Devo tend to not disappoint as entertainment. The show you write about sounds equally entertaining. I love that kinda shit. Reminds me of when I went to see Teatro Zinzanni in SF a number of years ago when Ann Wilson of Heart fame was the featured performer. It was a wild evening of performance for sure.
August: Have yet to do the Teatro Zinzanni thing, but it comes highly recommended by quite a few reliable sources (yourself now included). Devo was, in many ways, prescient. When I look around today, I fear that mankind and civilization have indeed devolved, not evolved, despite (or because of?) all our technological advances. Bummer, if true.
Kevin, if Mike gets plus one guest, you're gonna see the wrong side of my claws.
Me, take me! I actually have a cat of cat ears, and will not embarrass you {I can't swear on that last bit}.
This sounds so cool. I'd love to be there.
*purring*
That poster is the best thing I've seen in just eons. So many promises! Battle of the Heartthrobs?! Crazy chickens - Sexy minis - El Presidente?!??!! (That's a 3 round knockout combo right there.) Some Original Sin?! Only a fool could say no.
You've brought before me images of being at a Devo show at the Santa Monica Civic that was one of the wildest ever. When they got near the end and said "We can always wear the yellow suits!" and appeared in said garments with flower pot hats affixed, hundreds of girls screamed like trufans and ran towards the stage. Ironic? Serious? Who knew and who cared - it was one of the funniest moments ever at a concert and the band kicked it accordingly.
Most unlikely circumstance of hearing music? At my local supermarket in Tokyo, when the muzak system followed Miles Davis "So What" with The Sex Pistols "Anarchy In The UK".
Someone needs to film this and put out a DVD or at least a YouTube video. Sounds great, Mike. And I like the Devo tune, too - a bit unusual as I own one best of but only like two songs (Satisfaction and Just the Girl U Want).
Anna: Me with my crutches? You in your cat-ears? Wrestlers? Exotic dancers? That's only a few demons short of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch!
Jonh: Now that I think of it, "Lucha Vavoom" really was a little reminsicent of the inspired, too-smart-for-its-own-good looniness of a vintage Devo show. Those were the days. Or, at least, some of the days. (Miles followed by the Pistols? You're talking about the radio station that plays in my head - or on my hard-drive.)
dermahrk: I think there are a few YouTube clips of this out there. And there were cameras everywhere at the Mayan, so don't discount the possibility of a DVD in the making...
Stop the presses! The name Lucy Fur needs to be mine. I am guessing she's the kittycat on the left ... I want her cottoncandy-pink ears, too.
I waited with bated breath for your DEVO song. I must say it was worth it. Insanely unexpected, you feline-adoring hipper-to. ;d
Lucha libre + burlesque? What's not to love? Someone, whiskrrr me off to this extravaganza!
poe: I fear you'll provoke another cat fight - this one over ownership of a name that is also being used by a foxy drag queen - Google search strikes again! - and who knows who else. (Whisker? I hardly know her!)
Ahahah! Oopsie. What a difference a few extra R-ratings makes. ;d
...um, and an extra s, too. make. (+
S'alright.