Songs for Surviving the Pandemic(s): Warholmania, #1 in a Series of 50.

[Other installments are accessible from the bottom of this page. A table of contents with song lists for this series appears at?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/songs-surviving-pandemics-year-end-sale-annual-report-chmielewski/?published=t.]

The Warhol Book

Santa Claus knew what I wanted last Christmas and delivered “Warhol” by Blake Gopnik. 961 pages, fairly small print, not to mention 7,000 endnotes that are available on a website. Took many winter and spring nights to finish it. It’s seemingly written in real time, from birth to death, which actually made it very interesting, as if the reader is looking over Mr. Warhol’s shoulder throughout his life. f.n. 1.

f.n. 1- In case you are wondering, his ancestry is Carpatho-Rusyn.

The fellow born Andrew Warhola has always fascinated me. When I was in college I read “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)” and “Popism.” When I got into the Velvet Underground, there was Andy, their impresario. I fell in love with folk and outsider art (or whatever you want to call it), and there’s Andy’s book, “Folk and Funk.” He’s been everywhere.

And he’s been everyman. His early books, to me, are on the order of Bob Newhart meets Seinfeld. Low key, mundane observations that take on a brilliance of their own, with super-profundities mixed in. And I say 'everyman' because he seemed to have every quirk known to humanity, so anyone can identify with him on some level.

Biographer Blake Gopnik paints a picture where Warhol was a bit of everything. A sweet human being. A real jerk, at times, just a horrible human being. An awkward fellow who never felt comfortable in his own skin. (Like Bruce Springsteen, he went through a weight lifting/body building stage. But who hasn't?) He had an entourage that he valued in large part because of its members’ willingness to become naked and start having sex with each other at the drop of a hat, all so that Andy could film them. I learned something that I had no idea about – Andy ran a sizable commercial porn business.

It is fascinating to read of Warhol’s genius, his thoughts on the business of art and the art of business, the commoditization of art, Pop Art, how he miraculously survived a shooting, etc. I’d like to read the book again to take in more nuances, but there is a limit to how much time I can devote to studying one person. I'll also submit to you that "Warhol" is probably about as good a modern art history book as any text on the subject, for Andy pretty much lived it, to the point where he himself became the work of art.

Well, this series is about songs, so I'll let you read “Warhol” for yourself. I’ll end this prelude with something I found fascinating, how Andy came to paint Campbell’s Soup cans. He was out of ideas, so he offered friends who were visiting $50 for a good idea. Muriel Latow said, “You’ve got to find something that’s recognizable to almost everybody … Something you see every day that everybody would recognize. Something like a can of Campbell’s Soup.” The Gopnik book continues, “By the very next day, Warhol – or his mother, in another telling – had run out to the Finast supermarket across the street and picked up every Campbell’s Soup that it carried, an inventory that he later checked for completeness against a list he got from the soupmaker.” (p. 227) This photo from marketreportblog.com shows the Finast store at 89th & Lexington, which is now a Gristedes.

Andy’s Music

Because Andy Warhol was a genius, I was interested in the music he listened to, and how he consumed it.

Andy liked to do something I enjoy – playing a record he loved endlessly on repeat. In 1961 his faves included Poetry in Motion, Johnny Tillotson (1960). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy_ArpznZUs. (Repetition, of course, was big in Andy's art, and in the avant-garde music of the time, such as that of Andy's friend, John Cage.)

He also loved “Sally, Go ‘Round the Roses.” When I first read that I mistakenly thought of Sally's Saying Something, by New Jersey barber Billy Harner?(1967), figuring it was a New York, New Jersey and Philly hit that might have made its way into Warhol’s orbit. (I didn' think of the later release date of this blue-eyed soul gem.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrzJVq6UJbk. But no, it was the mysterious Sally, Go ‘Round The Roses,?The Jaynettes (1963) that Andy cherished. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PePXnXxRGE.

Later, of course, he commandeered the Velvet Underground and Nico. Anything Nico sung is hauntingly beautiful, for example,?I'll Be Your Mirror, The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967).?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZudHYTya-dQ.????

Stay tuned for #2 in this Warhol series of 50, coming, oh, I don’t know when. (Warhol was said to have whined, “Oh, I don’t know,” a lot.)

Rock Without A Clock

Someone recently mentioned to me that it is nice that I enjoy putting together my “oldies column.” Yikes! I don’t think of music as old or new, just good and bad. When I had a college radio show, I would change its name from time to time. If I remember correctly, when it was retired it was the “Rock Without A Clock” show, with apologies to Bill Haley. f.n. 2.?But maybe I should drop a newer song just to seem current. How about Platinum, Big Freedia?(2021)? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcpHdWu3PRI. It is in the "bounce" style, a kind of morphing of club sounds and New Orleans music that has been going on for some time.

f.n. 2. The program manager of my college radio station urged me to call my show "He's Frank," after He’s Frank, The Monochrome Set (1979). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=newQP0lfePI. He thought that the lyrical line, “He’s a peculiar boy,” described me. I didn’t bite. But it is a great song.

Bonus Oldie Tune

I heard this one the other day for the first time in a while. I don’t think anyone is quite sure what it is about, but it sure sounds good. Ball of Fire, Tommy James & The Shondells (1969). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mep1crQVMEM.

Second Encore

How about a song for our times? Clamptown, The Clash (1979). Here's a live version from the band that never phoned it in, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ82BX0hGBM. And look at this performance on American TV, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnliAafBYzU. It deserves an Olympic gold medal. The Clash even stuck the landing.

What Do You Think?

I had a lot to say. Your turn.