NEW YEAR'S EVE

Where's the Mistletoe!?
a continued thank you to all my pals and everyone who stops by to look  . . . . . . . (so almost nobody then ED) - gee thanks - 

This is dedicated to my pal Phil who we know actually does stop by and he is largely responsible for my adoration of Michele Pfeiffer. Fan now and fans then, dangerously close to starting a Fan Club but hey . . . . . . we are obviously much more mature now . . . . . . . ahem

Don't think there is any Catwoman to match Pfeiffer [and thus starts an argument but hey I am allowed my own personal preference] and would watch her in anything. The suit she donned in Batman Returns (1992) was allegedly not the easiest costume to work in and the rumours abounded that she had to be hand stitched into it. Not quite so but they made over 40 versions and getting her in required a lot of talcum powder!

"It was the most uncomfortable costume I've ever been in. They had to powder me down, help me inside and then vacuum-pack the suit. They'd paint it with a silicon-based finish to give it its trademark shine. I had those claws, and I was always catching them in things. The face mask was smashing my face and choking me... we had a lot of bugs to work out." Michelle Pfeiffer 

Top three Pfeiffer Films (today) Batman Returns,  Frankie and Johnny, Scarface . . . . . it changes un rotation but Catwoman role is usually up there being funny, witty, charged with a self possessed athleticism and defies categorisation 

PATTI SMITH

Born on this day: December 30, 1946 - Singer, songwriter and poet Patti Smith (born Patricia Lee Smith in Chicago, IL).
Happy 71st Birthday, Patti!!

Patti shares her birthday with my son and this always makes me smile for some reason. Patti likes to have concerts or gigs around her birthday and there are some really great ones. This track will have to do until I can sort out posting some. And yes, I did buy 'Easter' when it came out and curiously (for me) I bought this single and discovered it was written by Bruce Springsteen. Of note Patti changed some of the lyrics and later Springsteen acknowledges it as a co-written song. 

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves 

On this day in music history: December 30, 1967 - “Hello Goodbye” by The Beatles hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it is the fifteenth US chart topper for the “Fab Four”. Originally written by McCartney under the title “Hello, Hello”, the basic track for the song is recorded on October 2, 1967 in Studio Two at Abbey Road in London, with overdubs recorded on October 19, 1967, completed on November 2, 1967 with final mixing on October 6, 1967. It is released as a single on November 24, 1967 backed with the John Lennon penned “I Am The Walrus” (#56 Pop) featured in the band’s recent television film “Magical Mystery Tour”. Both tracks appear on the US LP release of “MMT”. The Beatles make three different promotional films for “Hello Goodbye” at the Saville Theatre (owned by their late manager Brian Epstein) in London on November 10, 1967. The clip makes its US television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show two days after the singles release on November 26, 1967. However, it is not shown in the UK due to the Musician’s Union ban on artists miming to their own songs when making public appearances on either television or in any other venue. Entering the Hot 100 at #45 on December 2, 1967, it streaks to the top of the chart four weeks later. In September of 2011, the original US 45 is reissued by Capitol Records to re-promote the “Beatles 1” compilation. Available exclusively through big box retailer Target, the limited edition release replicates yellow and orange Capitol swirl labels and picture sleeve found the original US single. The record comes packaged a box along with a T-shirt. Beginning in 2002, Paul McCartney begins performing “Hello Goodbye” on tour, playing it on virtually every tour since. “Hello Goodbye” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves 

On this day in music history: December 29, 1966 - The Beatles begin recording “Penny Lane” in Studio Two at Abbey Road Studios in London. Written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney), the song is inspired by a street and district near the town center in Liverpool. The first recording session is with McCartney laying down several different piano parts (processed in multiple ways), as part of the basic track. The piano tracks are recorded in various ways, including recording one of the tracks through a Vox amplifier with the tremolo setting on. Along with the piano tracks, McCartney also records two high pitched notes played on a harmonium, and also run through a guitar amplifier. These parts are bounced down and combined into a single track as more overdubs are recorded. The band work on the song for a couple weeks, when McCartney mentions to producer George Martin that he had heard this “high pitched trumpet” while watching a performance of Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto” the night before. They hire David Mason from the LSO to play piccolo trumpet, adding the crowning touch to the song which is completed on January 17, 1967. Originally intended to be part of the next Beatles album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, it is instead paired with “Strawberry Fields Forever” and released as a stand alone single on February 13, 1967 in the US and on February 17, 1967 in the UK, and is added to the US LP release of “Magical Mystery Tour” in November of 1967.

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves

I found this over at Voodoo Wagon . . . . . . I saw Coliseum several times over the years and mostly at free open air concerts or festivals . . . . .along with the Keef Hartley band when they were around . . . . . they were my introduction to modern jazz . . . . . .




This is worth a look because it has a stellar line up with Clem Clempson  Dick Heckstall Smith and John Hiseman and the legend that is Chris Farlowe on lead vocals doing 'Rope Ladder To The Moon' by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown, pretty much all of whom played on the original from Bruce's 'Songs For A Tailor'

note - I bought my first Chris Farlowe album as I may have mentioned at about the age 13 and a Marble Arch album that had his 'Little Joe Cook' single of 'Stormy Monday parts I&II' on it that has stayed as one of my favourite songs of all time entirely because of how Chris sings it

Here for example . . . . . . .made it to this with my old friend John Northcote and his then wife Heather who turned me on to so much music

THE BEATLES

'White Album'

On this day in music history: December 28, 1968 - “The Beatles (aka "The White Album”)“, the ninth album by The Beatles hits #1 on the Billboard Top 200 for 9 weeks (non-consecutive). Produced by George Martin, it is recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Trident Studios in London from May - October 1968. Following the psychedelic influenced "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Magical Mystery Tour”, The Beatles begin the musical transition back to their rock & roll roots. The majority of the songs are written during the bands’ trip to India to study Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Sessions are often tense as squabbling between the four begin to drive them apart, with Ringo Starr actually quitting the band temporarily and main recording engineer Geoff Emerick also walking out on the project. Though the album is self-titled, implying it is a full group effort, the opposite is actually true with the band members acting almost like side musicians for the other three, depending on whose song is being recorded. The thirty track double LP set comes to be regarded as one of The Beatles greatest and most musically diverse works. The album is also their last to be issued with separate mono and stereo mixes. The mono version is not issued in the US until 2009 when it is included in “The Beatles In Mono” CD box set. The set also comes packaged with a poster featuring a photo collage on one side and song lyrics printed on the other side, as well as four individual portraits of the band members*. In September of 2014, the mono version of the album is released in the US on vinyl for the first time, making it the first time “The White Album” has been available in that configuration since being briefly reissued in the UK in 1982. “The Beatles” is certified 19x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves

*Much as Sgt Pepper was designed by Peter Blake and his wife Jan Howarth, apparently at the invite of Paul who had (has) a strong interest in the visual arts, The 'White Album' was the design of British pop artist senior figure Richard Hamilton who came up with the white blank cover apart from the raised number after discussing it with the Beatles and opting for something in stark contrast to the psychedelia of Sgt Pepper and a nod to conceptual art and the inside collage poster featuring notorious references to the drug busts of the Beatles and Stones having a collage that includes pictures of the Mars bar (sic) and several other esoteric references (Rizla papers etc) The individual portraits shown on the inside sleeve in black & white were presented inside as full colour prints by John Kelly. The numbering suggests limited edition and Hamilton thought it ironic if it could be done to number something that would be made in the millions. The edition of the first run ran to two million. Lennon owned the one numbered 0001 allegedly because he "shouted the loudest" according to Paul.

FILMS OVER CHRISTMAS!

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT!

Watched when it came out . . . . . ! yes really!
 . . . . and again the other afternoon . . . . . 

Loved it then and loved it now!

On this day in music history . . . . . . . 

 On this day in music history: December 27, 1967 - “John Wesley Harding”, the eighth studio album by Bob Dylan is released. Produced by Bob Johnston, it is recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, TN from October 17 - November 29, 1967. The sparsely arranged songs come out a of prolific writing period while Dylan is recovering from a serious motorcycle accident more than a year before, with other life changing events occurring, such as the birth his second child and losses of his father and musical mentor, legendary folk musician Woody Guthrie. During the same period, Dylan also records a number of tracks with The Band (at Big Pink in upstate NY), though not included on the new album later surface on the album “The Basement Tapes” in 1975. The album includes several classics including his original version of “All Along The Watchtower” (covered by Jimi Hendrix the following year). Dylan asks Columbia to release the album with minimal promotion or fanfare (not even releasing a single from it) following widespread media speculation about his whereabouts during the year he virtually disappears from the public spotlight. It is also the final Dylan album to be issued with separate mono and stereo mixes, with the mono version being discontinued shortly after its release. The album is remastered and reissued in 2003 as as a hybrid SACD, that is eventually discontinued and issued as a standard redbook CD. Audiophile label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab also reissues the title as a hybrid SACD in and double vinyl set mastered at 45 RPM (stereo versions in 2015 and the mono versions in 2017). “John Wesley Harding” spends four weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves

A favourite then and a favourite still. I think this was my brother Steve's purchase as opposed to mine but it counts to me as I was totally mesmerised, transfixed, transported by this album and it still holds an exceptionally particular place in my heart. Extraordinary story telling and the tone of the album is totally unique and unlike any other recorded work IMHO. It still makers me feel quite peculiar,  in the literal sense. Extraordinary work and the text on the back and the photo on the front continue to fascinate and hold me in thrall. 

Who ARE those guys?

Roll up . . . . . . . 

On this day in music history: December 26, 1967 - “Magical Mystery Tour”, starring The Beatles airs on BBC1 in the UK. An hour long film directed by the band shows them on charabanc bus trip with numerous friends and other odd characters around the English countryside. The original idea for the film comes from Paul McCartney after a recent trip to the US. He creates an outline for his ideas on a sheet of paper, drawing a circle, and sketching out what should happen during a particular segment. When filming begins in September of 1967, it is largely unscripted, with the group simply driving around, and letting the cameras roll and hoping to capture any spontaneous moments. The band spent two weeks filming, and then eleven weeks in the editing room paring the ten hours of footage shot into the finished film. Though it is shot in color, the initial broadcast by the BBC is in black & white, greatly diminishing the film’s visual impact. When it is aired to a large UK viewing audience on Boxing Day, it is so poorly received by fans and critics, that plans for it to be aired on US TV by NBC are immediately withdrawn. However, the LP and double EP set containing music from the film is highly successful. Over the years, the film takes on cult status among Beatles fans. “Magical Mystery Tour” is fully restored and released on DVD and Blu-ray disc in 2012, nearly forty five years after its original broadcast.

A seminal moment and broadcast twice around Christmas 1967 it had a profound effect upon me. I was fourteen and absolutely LOVED it! Lifelong fan of people in it like Ivor Cutler who I collected and went to see read his extraordinary poems on more than one occasion. It wasn't that it was about being a great story or some great theatrical statement, it was about ATTITUDE! those of us who GOT it stuck with it, those who didn't were 'square' obviously!

Roll up . . . . . . . 

CHRISTMAS POMES From The Captain 

via the most excellent Beefheart.com

A Christmas Card from Don Van Vliet

The Ocean

Gave me Oysters

The People Watching it

Gave Me Ulcers

When the Ocean

is Wounded

it Takes the

Whole World to Heal.

A Tin Peened Reindeer - Don Van Vliet

A tin peened reindeer
Metalically hoofed on glass
Scorched cotton snowmen edged the corners
Flesh coloured powder mountains
Yellow lights melts cobwebbed articles
Vague wire tunnels resembling
Peeled flesh caterpillers
Housing very tiny red Christmas tree lights
The Nativity scene
Re-enacted in Ivory soap
A bone shade from age complete
With tiny straw manger
The Christ child its face replaced by an elephant’s head
Intricate lace cups each ear and bands the trunk

(1987)

Need to chill before the onslaught!??

                         you're welcome!                         . . . . .  and Hey let's be careful out there

"Twas the Night Before Christmas"

By Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
Happy Christmas to All, and to all a Good Night!

CHRISTMAS MIXTAPE 

From International Times

Tracklist:
Elvis Presley – Santa Clause is Back in Town
Johnny Otis Orchestra With Little Esther And Mel Walker ‎– Far Away Blues (Xmas Blues)
Cotton Top Mountain Singers – Christ Was Born On Christmas Morn
Lowell Fulson – Lonesome Christmas
The Sonics – Santa Clause
The Quotations – (Have a) Merry Christmas
The Penguins – Jingle Jangle
Santo & Johnny – Twistin’ Bells
Mabel Scott – Boogie Woogie Santa Clause
Sugar ‘Chile’ Robinson – Christmas Boogie
Alma Cogan – Never Do a Tango with an Eskimo
Alton Ellis & the Lipsticks – Merry Merry Christmas
Lord Kitchener – Drink-a-Rum
Captain Elmo McKenzie & the Roosters – Home on Christmas Day
Nathaniel Mayer – Mr Santa Claus (bring Me My Baby)
Johnny Guarnieri with Slam Stewart – Santa’s Secret
Martin Mull – Santa Doesn’t Cop Out On Dope
Billy May – Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo
Leadbelly – On A Christmas Day
Nina Simone – Children Go Where I Send You
Ella Fitzgerald – What are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

Oh and this goes to the argument about sounds bought when they came out whether it's embarrassing or cool! 

The FIRST single I ever bought (I was nine!) I adored this and it made me aware perhaps for the first time that after Rossini, Beethoven, Mahler, Mozart, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Chopin and Debussyand the gang that my generation were going to be making music that could transport you as well! If somewhat overblown as an argument you get my drift. I had grown up on 'The William Tell Overture' and Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at An Exhibition' until this moment and suddenly I heard this! 

Interesting (sic!) this first version on Youtube sounds different and maybe the mix has been tampered with so my single (and yes I still have it ) sounds like this . . .



On this day in music history: December 22, 1962 - “Telstar” by The Tornados hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. Written and produced by Joe Meek, it is the debut single and biggest hit for the London based instrumental quintet. The song (named after the AT&T communications satellite) is recorded by Meek in his home studio located in a small flat above a shop in North London. Released in the US by London Records, the single quickly breaks into the charts following its overseas success. Entering the Hot 100 at #85 on November 3, 1962, it will climb to the top of the chart seven weeks later. It is the first single by a British band to hit number one in the US, proceeding The Beatles US breakthrough with “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by nearly fourteen months. “Telstar” is also the subject of a lawsuit from French composer Jean Ledrut who claims that Meek plagiarized the tune from his composition “La Marche d’Austerlitz”. The suit is not settled until three weeks after Meek’s death in 1967. In spite of having produced numerous hits for other artists including Lonnie Donegan and The Honeycombs, by the late 60’s Meek is deeply in debt and suffering from depression. The producer kills his landlady and himself on February 3, 1967. Meek is only thirty years old at the time of his death. “Telstar” is covered by numerous artists over the years, including versions by The Ventures, The Shadows, OMD and The Ashley Hutchings Big Beat Combo. The Tornados’ original version is later featured on an episode the hit 60’s period drama “Mad Men” in 2008.

Mention should also be made of Heinz the blonde fellow in the pictures as he went on to see solo fame but when we first saw him with the Tornados we thought he was the epitome of cool! He was from Eastleigh, His mention in the Joe Meek story is full of controversy but who cared about his sexuality? We didn't!

This just in my inbox from my dear friend Alan Blackman, father to my dear old friend who I miss sorely every day, Stephen Blackman

Metropolitan Diary Pillow Talk With Saks Fifth Avenue By JAN JAFFE

Dear Diary:

When I lived in New York City and we ordered things by telephone, Saks offered three needlepoint pillows. Two fit perfectly with celestial theme I had chosen for bedroom; the third had more of a holiday theme.

Well trained, I ordered the two by item number.

Equally well trained, the Saks representative on the other end of the line checked: “So, you want the ‘Sun’, the ‘Moon and Stars,’ but not ‘Peace on Earth,’ right?”

There was a pause as we both considered what she had said. Then we both chuckled.

“Well, yeah,” I replied, “of course I want peace on earth … ”

“But bigger than pillow-size,” the woman said. 🎅

No-one likes a Narc . . . 

not the best time of year to share this perhaps but it came up and it has always disappointed me. To realise that the so called 'King' of Rock 'n' Roll's politics were those of a 'grass' and reactionary Republican who sided with the dark paranoiac of the time rather than go with the cultural flow of times where music was concerned. The comeback of 2968 suggested we might be wrong for a time but this was to seal the deal. Elvis was a narc . . . . . . 

Transcription:

Dear Mr President, 
First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office. I talked to vice-president Agnew in Palm Springs three weeks ago and expressed my concerns for our country. The drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, Black Panthers, etc do not consider me as their enemy or as they call it, the establishment. I call it America and I love it. Sir, I can and will be of any service that I can to help the country out. I have no concerns or motives other than helping the country out. 
So, I wish not to be given a title or an appointed position. I can and will do more good if I were made a federal agent at large and I will help out by doing it my way through communications with people of all ages. First and foremost, I am an entertainer, but all I need is the federal credentials. I am on the plane with Senator George Murphy and we have been discussing the problems that our country is faced with. 
Sir, I am staying at the Washington hotel, Room 505-506-507. I have two men who work with me by the name of Jerry Schilling and Sonny West. I am registered under the name of Jon Burrows. I will be here for as long as it takes to get the credentials of a federal agent. I have done an in-depth study of drug abuse and communist brainwashing techniques and I am right in the middle of the whole thing, where I can and will do the most good. 
I am glad to help just so long as it is kept very private. You can have your staff or whomever call me anytime today, tonight or tomorrow. I was nominated this coming year one of America’s 10 most outstanding young men. That will be in January 18 in my home town of Memphis, Tennessee. I am sending you a short autobiography about myself so you can better understand this approach. I would love to meet you just to say hello if you’re not too busy. 

Respectfully, Elvis Presley 

PS I believe that you, sir, were one of the top 10 outstanding men of America also. I have a personal gift for you which I would like to present to you and you can accept it or I will keep it for you until you can take it.

One of the legendary figures from the British Sixties counter culture, Iggy Rose, known to all as 'Iggy The Eskimo' has reportedly passed away

Iggy Rose

Read about her here, this from International Times (and yes it is still going . . . . . . . )

Iggy the Eskimo – The Girl Who Captured the Spirit of the ’60s

 Iggy the Eskimo; a friend, a model and a possible love interest of Syd Barrett graced the Swinging London’s Scene in the 1960s. Yet, she vanished from the scene as abruptly as she arrived on it, and her figure remained engulfed in mystery…

Iggy the Eskimo was a mysterious figure in the 1960s London Scene for she looked like nobody else at the time. With her long dark hair, lovely Asian features, button nose and baby face, this South-Londoner, whose real name is Evelyn, sprung from the mod scene at the Orchid Ballroom in Purley. Her unusual looks are due to her mother descent; she hailed from the Himalayas. Whiles her looks attracted attention, it was her personality that charmed the London Scene. Iggy was free-spirited, lively, adventurous, not a care in the world; incredible creature, no other word for her.

Iggy gained notoriety by appearing in a newsreel shot at Granny Takes a Trip and in Melody Maker, demonstrating a new dance. Iggy embodied the free spirit of the decade, a true flower power, she lived in the moment, for the moment. Dancing at the Cromwellian Club, shopping at groovy boutiques or walking around wearing an elegant gold lamè 1940s dress, but with no underwear and completely exposed, remembers Duggie Fields.

Soon after meeting Antony Stern, Syd Barrett’s Cambridge friend and a film maker, at Henrix gig at The Speakeasy. Iggy enchanted Anthony and soon became his muse. Stern made a short film of Iggy pirouetting in a London Park. ‘Iggy was terrific fun to be with and to photograph‘, recalled Stern, ‘I remember walking through Battersea Park in the early mornings together. I made a short film of her dancing in Russell Square, the ultimate flower child.‘

Stern also said, ‘Iggy was my muse. I met her at Hendrix gig at the Speakeasy. She was a lovely inspiration andfree spirit. I never knew her real name. We used to hang out together, occasionally dropping acid, staying up all night, going for walks at dawn in Battersea Park. She entirely captures the spirit of the Sixties, living for the moment, completely careless.’

Iggy met Jenny Spires, one of Syd Barrett’s girlfriends, in spring 1967. in fashion store Biba. Iggy admired the dress Jenny was wearing and invited her to a party that night. They went clubbing together. ‘A lovely, sweet, funny girl, always on the scene at gigs and events.‘, recalls Jenny.

Jenny was the one who introduced Iggy to Syd in January 1969, right before she traveled to America. Iggy was homeless at the time and Jenny also wanted Syd to have a companion, so Iggy moved in. Though Syd is now considered to be some kind of dark, mysterious, brooding and secretive poète maudit, this perception of Syd is exaggerated and does not do him justice. Syd was a cheerful character, always ready for a good laugh, not just at a shared joke but sometimes just for the hell of it. Mick Rock, the photographer who shoot the back cover photo for Syd’s debut album The Madcap Laughs, captured this lively and charming Syd while skylarking in Holland Park with Iggy and an unknown brunette. Syd can be seen scampering around in his psychedelic finery, laughing, climbing trees, living the hippie ideal while Iggy is seen playfully running around, wide-smiled as well.

Iggy is perhaps the best memorable for posing on the back cover of The Madcap Laughs. Iggy is seen gracefully and artistically posing completely nude in the background, while Syd crouches in the foreground; an artist in isolation, living in a dark and illusive world of his own, in a world made of dreams and memories, turning his back on reality that is becoming more and more disappointing as days go by. While the cover photo was taken by Storm Thorgerson, the back cover photo was taken by Mick Rock, a friend of Syd who, having started taking pictures only months earlier, still wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be a lyricist or a musician. When Rock arrived that day, Iggy answered the door completely naked; not unusual thing for hippies and students at the time.

Now famous floor, painted in orange and mauve stripes, was painted by Syd and Iggy that morning; Iggy only helping him to finish it more quickly. Iggy was also the one who put kohl around his eyes for that elegantly wasted look. Iggy in the background, painted floorboards and the car outside were just elements that happened to be around; strange coincidences give this album cover a special allure, filled with sadness, nostalgia and a certain magic. But the most striking, most intriguing element of the photos is Iggy. Who was she, many have probably asked themselves, but the mysterious face was anonymous, well, it was until Iggy, or Evelyn, told her story once and for all, pleasing her fans and admirers.

Iggy wasn’t even aware that Syd was a famous psychedelic rock star at the time. Nor did she know that her beautiful bottom graced the back cover art of Syd’s album. She was impressed by his guitar playing but never made a connection between Syd from Earls Court and the face she must have seen at UFO years before. Syd played a tape of the song ‘Terrapin‘ for her once and she considered it to be quite catchy. Iggy didn’t know who he was, Syd, nor anybody else, knew her real name, the wonderful ’60s; good time to be had, tripping on acid, exploring the depths of your mind, that’s what matters, not names, dates or reputation.

Nevertheless, Iggy had vanished from Syd’s life as quickly as she drifted in. There were stories of her marrying a rich banker from Chelsea or joining a religious cult. Nothing of the sort happened. Iggy has been married since 1978. The life she led in Swinging London when the culture, music and fashion were at their peak, is now behind her, but she was reached by The Croydon Guardian reporter after an ex-Cambridge mod Pete Brown sent the magazine a letter saying that he had spent some wild nights with Iggy in the 1970s.

Turns out that Iggy is a daughter of a British army officer and a woman from the Himalayas. Her father had travelled to a remote village in the Himalayas where he met the woman that would become Iggy’s mother. Iggy was born in Pakistan and attended army schools in India and Aden, before the family moved to England. There, Iggy lived at the seaside and attended art school. She was a mod in Brighton and met many ’60s rockers; Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian Jones, Keith Moon, she saw Hendrix make his UK debut at the Bag O’ Nails in November ’66, joined the counter-culture throng in April ’67 in Alexandra Palace for the 14-Hour Tehnicolor Dream, before living with Syd Barrett in Wetherby Mansions and becoming a part of the myth about The Laughing Madcap.

From  Byron's Muse

P.S. This page focuses purely on Iggy the Eskimo and her life, so you might want to check it out!

Iggy . . . more here