(door banging)
- Hi, I'm Alex Winter.
Welcome to "Impact Video Magazine,"
brought to you by Stuart Shapiro,
the creator of "Night Flight."
"Impact" is dedicated to the idea
that the mainstream media
ignores a lot of the most
exciting and important things in our culture.
(Alex groaning)
Music, art, politics,
"Impact" delivers it all,
straight and uncensored.
(door banging) (Alex groaning)
Every issue will feature vicious political satire
from Bill Hicks,
a look at the international music scene
from Snub TV,
and a journey into the depraved world
of New York night life with Michael Musto,
celebrated columnist from the "Village Voice."
In this issue, we also have an in-depth interview
with Public Enemy.
We'll show you the Jane's Addiction
Los Angeles homecoming concert
and we'll visit one of America's
foremost underground painters, Robert Williams!
Then I'll take you to Texas to meet the Butthole Surfers.
(Alex yelling)
To San Francisco to see the legendary
machine performance group, Survival Research Lab,
plus cartoons, comedy, home video from hell,
and much, much more.
(Alex yelling)
"Impact!"
(Alex yelling)
Check it out!
(Alex yelling)
(body thudding)
(rock music plays)
(logo swooshing)
- [Dr. Khalid Muhammad] Have you forgotten
that once we were brought here,
we were robbed of our name, robbed of our language.
We lost our religion, our culture, our God.
And many of us, by the way we act,
we even lost our minds.
♪ I'm talking about bass, bass, bass, bass, bass ♪
♪ Bass, bass
♪ Bass, bass, bass, bass, bass, bass ♪
♪ Bass, bass, bass, bass
♪ Bass, bass, bass, bass, bass
♪ Bass, bass, bass, bass,
♪ Bass, bass, bass, bass, bass
(indistinct)
- Well, I bring you (indistinct) of Hip Hop,
Public Enemy! (crowd cheering)
- Yeah, I'm violent man, that's right, man.
You say it again, man.
I dare you, man.
I'm worked up, man, and then I'll kiss you.
- It gets to the point, you know,
if we don't find out any answers soon
we going to rip up shit up.
- I don't understand why the f*ck y'all keep looking at me,
man, you f*cking sweat me, man.
- So we decide to put together
this group called Public Enemy.
It's an enemy
to the public that is feeding
misinformation to the black people.
- Public Enemy doesn't hate white people,
I don't hate white people.
You can't, hate is a bad word because
it means that there's no reason for it,
you know, there's no reason.
Hatred has no reason, it's just brought about
because of ignorance and stupidity.
- But when they say Chuck D is r*cist,
they got to come up with some proven fact.
And they'll say, "Oh, they follow Farrakhan,"
or they like to say, "Farrakhan," you know?
And I'm saying, "Okay, what's wrong with Farrakhan?"
Oh, he hates Jews.
What's your proof?
Everybody talks about in the news, puppets.
Like Malcolm X said,
"You don't k*ll the puppets though, you understand,
you learn to grow to understand the puppets."
You k*ll the puppeteer.
- Some people may think we may be alienating,
and people take that alienation for being r*cist,
or they may take it as hatred.
No, it's not, it's just,
a strong love for something
does not necessarily mean that you hate something else.
If I really love blue, that doesn't mean I hate red,
it just means I really love blue.
I never talk about red,
but I want people to understand
that I'm for blue.
And the same thing is, we're for black people.
♪ Dicking you down, dicking you down ♪
♪ Dicking you down, dicking you down ♪
♪ Now, two peas in the bucket
- Purpose of the S1W's,
I got some brothers could explain themselves.
They show that black men can be just as intelligent
as they are strong.
- One of the purpose of the S1W
is to elaborate on what Chuck was saying,
is we're trying to develop a new mind frame
for black America.
We want to go against popular beliefs
that the black man can't be intelligent,
strong, business minded.
- [Chuck D] They symbolize
that for the fact that never again
shall the black man and woman's culture be taken away.
That's why you probably see him with the U*i's,
and the U*i's represent how the European
took us from a peaceful setting called Africa
and used us at their expense.
- Yo, Flavor-Flav is always serious,
even when he's being a comedian,
'cause he's being a serious comedian.
You know what I'm saying?
Everything I do, I do from my heart.
You know what I'm saying?
There may be some things that I do that may offend people
or may embarrass people when they're in my company.
You know what I'm saying?
But, you know,
the art of Flavor-Flav
is to be loose and not shut up.
- We needed to bring a lighter side to the group,
something to make the message digestible.
- Yo, to dear Public Enemy,
I am, you know what I'm saying?
A-M, they say, am, but I am a big fan of yours.
And how did you guys start your rap group?
Ah, yeah, boy, that's what it says.
You know, I can read, you know what I'm saying?
- Flav used to make his own songs and put them on the radio
and he got a strong following because of that.
- So, I never really took this hat and shades
as being in a certain look,
or turned it into an image.
This is just something that happened
as my role of Flavor developed.
And you know.
You know,
now this is the way that I look all the time.
So I guess it became an image, accidentally,
but this is all right.
I see this is an image that can't get kids in trouble,
you know what I'm saying?
They can wear their hats to the side and wear glasses,
as long as they still do the right thing in school.
You know what I'm saying, it looks cool.
- You know, Chuck D, what does the hat mean?
Chuck D, what does the jacket mean?
Chuck D, what does the Raiders symbolize?
Anybody that follows sports would know that
the Raiders are anti-establishment team.
And they've always gone against the grain
of that same suppressing amount of thinking
that the rest of the league has always put down on teams.
If all the teams go this way,
the Raiders have been known to go this way, you know?
And saying, now that's wrong and we're not doing it
because this is the way the league says it, you know?
And black people are sort of in the same position also.
It's all right for our to have anti-establishment feelings
'cause the establishment wasn't created for us.
When the Constitution said, we the people,
they didn't mean black people,
they considered us three fifths of a human being.
Today, they still follow that constitution.
And then the people that follow that constitution
is called the public,
so that means we as black people must be the public enemy.
- Most artists wouldn't necessarily stand up
for anything political
because of fear of losing
what they've established in the marketplace.
- Corporations that are majority white
might own the record label, they don't own rap.
You might own the record label,
but you don't own soul, you know what I'm saying?
You might own the TV station, but you don't own soul,
you don't own feeling, you know, you don't own rap,
you don't own drums, you know what I'm saying?
And now, that's the one thing
that we got to hold on, we got to remember.
That our means of communication, you know,
you heard about the Indians with the smoke signals,
I'm saying there's always a way to communicate.
You know, brothers was k*lled for communicating,
we got to remember that.
- They may be scared of them not getting radio,
they might not get their videos played,
they may not be accepted by the masses.
And Public Enemy is really designed,
they don't really care about that.
Their whole thing is basically to spread the message.
♪ Yes
♪ Was the start of my last jam
♪ So here it is again, another def jam ♪
♪ But since I gave you all a little something ♪
♪ That we knew you lacked
♪ They still consider me a new jack ♪
♪ All the critics you can hang 'em ♪
♪ I'll hold the rope
♪ But they hope to the pope
♪ And pray it ain't dope
♪ The follower of Farrakhan
♪ Don't tell me that you understand ♪
♪ Until you hear the man
♪ The book of the new school rap game ♪
♪ Writers treat me like Coltrane, insane ♪
♪ Yes to them, but to me I'm a different kind ♪
♪ We're brothers of the same mind, unblind ♪
♪ Caught in the middle and
♪ Not surrenderin'
♪ I don't rhyme for the sake of of riddlin' ♪
♪ Some claim that I'm a smuggler ♪
♪ Some say I never heard of 'ya ♪
♪ A rap burglar, false media
♪ We don't need it do we?
♪ It's fake that's what it be to 'ya, dig me? ♪
♪ Don't believe the hype
♪ Don't believe the hype, its a sequel ♪
- Rap records, you know what I'm saying?
It's like a message that goes through.
And it goes through some people,
'cause some people are not ready to hear it.
You know, it's like speaking a different language.
If you came up to me and just start speaking Italian,
I be like, I might just smile in your face.
When the kids up there doing rap, you know,
they see them singing and dancing, you know,
the people in the structure might say,
"Well, you know, they're having a good time."
It'd be like Africa,
they could be like dancing and chanting, ready to k*ll you.
♪ Don't, don't, don't, don't believe the hype ♪
♪ Don't believe the hype
♪ Don't, don't, don't, don't believe the hype ♪
♪ Don't believe the hype
♪ Don't believe the hype
♪ Don't believe the hype
♪ Don't believe the hype
♪ Don't believe the hype
♪ Don't, don't, don't
♪ Don't believe the hype
- Well, it's not radio stations
that just don't play us either,
it's just that they don't play no rap.
If the masses want to hear rap, why not play it?
You know, it's the same mentality of, f*ck the masses,
we just doing this for those people
that will care about their investment.
Not realizing that the masses investment of time,
and at the same time, money and social responsibility
is what keeps them afloat.
You know, if 85% or 80% of the masses
are the young people and they want to hear rap records,
you know, play the rap records.
It's your responsibility to play them what they want,
and also to tell them what they have to know,
what they need to know, you know?
But you know, they're caught up in a money making game,
a lot of people in the radio business.
That's why they don't choose to play a lot of rap,
because they're getting into something
that they feel that they might lose money at,
and they're getting into something that they're not into.
(upbeat rock music plays)
(indistinct rattles)
(Jane's Addiction playing rock music)
- f*ck yeah, dude.
- Jane's Addiction!
- Whoo!
- Carrie's gone.
- Yeah!
- f*ck yeah!
- Now, there's certain things that you can talk about
and there's certain things that you can't talk about.
(upbeat rock music strumming)
There's cowboys and there's Indians.
Cowboys have no sense of humor,
and Indians just wanna party, right?
So in come the cowboys, no sense of humor,
and they don't understand what the Indian's up to.
And they make their living,
they make their life out of
capturing and slaughtering Indians.
No sense in getting around it, you know?
Sometimes you just have to party.
What would you do if you didn't?
Let's face it, if reality was better than unreality,
everybody would want to rush into reality,
but everybody tries to escape from reality, right?
Well, why do you think that is?
Because, unreality is better.
So, what I'm really trying to say is,
I guess I'm trying to say I'm an Indian.
I'll take my f*cking jacket off.
(crowd cheering)
I hope I can take all my fine clothes off
before the next song. (crowd cheering)
Man, I got a nice looking cock,
you ought to see it some time.
(crowd cheering)
(guitar solo strumming)
(upbeat rock music plays)
(guitar solo continues)
(singer starts singing)
(band continues)
(guitar music strumming)
(upbeat rock music)
(rock music continues)
(guitar music strumming)
(crowd cheering)
- [Man] How's business?
- Sparse.
- [Man] Very sparse. - Very sparse.
- [Man] Nobody wants to up their seeds, I guess.
- It must be that.
- The last time I did that
my throat swelled out.
Here you go.
It's funny though, I look out there
and I do not recognize these people.
They have nice complexions
and I just go, wait minute,
non of my friends have their complexions.
- How does it feel like the whole home coming event,
and like, every time to review the shows,
and it's a big deal out there now.
- Is it a big deal? - Mm-mmh.
- That's cool, it ought to be a party.
(rock music performance)
(guitar strumming)
(indistinct lyrics)
(rock music continues)
(bright rock music continues)
(guitar strumming) (rock music continues)
(rock music continues)
(guitar music strumming)
(rock music continues)
(rock music continues)
(guitar music strumming)
(guitar music strumming) (rock music continues)
(crowd cheering and shouting)
(indistinct chatter)
(animated crashes booming)
(light hearted instrumental music begins)
(car whamming)
(rock music starts)
(torpedo booming)
(light hearted music resumes)
(upbeat music)
(summer beach music plays)
(summer beach music continues)
(garage clamoring)
(car revving)
(brakes screeching)
(soft upbeat music)
(footsteps approaching)
- Howdy, my name is Robert Williams,
this is my wife, Suzanne. - Hi.
- This is our American tract home.
These are my hot rods.
My 34-4 Sudan, my 32 Ford Roadster.
All part of the American Dream.
(thrash rock music plays)
- [Narrator] Robert Williams,
grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Forming his artistic identity
while racing hot rods and fighting street thugs.
In the '60s he went to L.A., enrolled in art school,
and started his professional career
drawing for Big Daddy Rod's, Hot Rod tee-shirt empire.
He first gained wide spread notoriety
as a pioneer of the underground comic book movement,
when he joined Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, and others
at the revolutionary ZAP Comix in 1969.
- This is what you would run into in a psychedelic shop.
Say, in like 1969, or '70,
you'd come in and you'd be in front of
the comic book rack full of these underground comic books.
Inside, a year of the first underground comics
there was maybe 20, 30 titles on the stand
making it a market, a real market.
Then, inside two years
there were hundreds of them on the market.
And they just festered the entire United States.
And they were like totally gratuitous and free
to do anything they wanted.
Sex, political sedition, anything they want
would come out in these little comic books.
Then, something else happened.
Then, history took another step in the comic book world.
It was a guy who came along
in the late '70s named Gary Panter.
He is know known as the Father of Punk Rock Art.
He came out with this publication called "The assh*le".
It was the first xerox then.
"The assh*le" caught on real big,
and it got to the first generation.
By this time we were a little older
and we looked at this young man's thing
as scratch and shit.
We didn't know what they'd make of this thing.
And he was getting so much got damn attention,
people were worshiping him.
And we were just getting older
going down the drain.
Our day had come, his would come and go too.
So, to kind of mimic him,
me and S. Clay Wilson, together
put together a thing called "Yama Yama", "The Ugly Head".
Which is a take off on this.
So, we wanted to show that we could even,
with our eyes closed create something with more style.
So, we xeroxed up this f*cking ridiculous looking thing here
and just whipped on the m*therf*cker.
Just whipped on it.
Man, you can't get more f*cking punk rock than this.
This thing is just Madonna of vulgarity,
sexual harassment, there's nothing but gratuitous
v*olence and m*rder and sex,
and corn holing and everything else.
Wilson, the same way.
Just nothing but vomiting, you know, mayhem.
And immediately we just as much response off of this
as Gary got off of this.
We were in the group.
We had done what we wanted to do.
Now, during all this comic book business
me and a few of my compatriots are always painting.
Painting in a comic book style.
I denied myself
the access to comics and comic art
and looked down my nose at it for years
until I realized, comic book art
is like honest human art work.
It's just as valid as any other kind of artwork.
And if you go back to the last caves 30,000 years ago,
these were a bunch of cartoonists.
- [Interviewer] So, then do you have a problem
with the way today's art world defines true art?
- Well, it's a simple matter,
I'm just not accepted in the art world.
- [Interviewer] As a high brow artist.
- Right.
I will probably die of,
I've been painting since I was 15 years old,
which I've been painting for years and years, 25 years,
and I will probably die of some disease
related to exposure to pigments and paint.
And you can't be more of a f*cking artist than that,
but I'm not accepted into the art world.
I do not do commercial art.
That's supposed to be the definition
for not being a fine artist, is you don't do commercial art,
but that doesn't seem to be good enough
to get me a good academic standing.
But basically, what the art world is today
is a click of individuals that are trying
to sell decorations to bank lobby.
You know, trying to get expensive foundations,
wealthy foundations to invest in this art
that's good for nothing but putting it in bank lobbies.
It's not a (indistinct), it causes no problem,
nice warm colors.
You know, there's a thing about ugly and distastefulness.
It's really an aesthetic in itself
and it's always got to be played,
it's a card that's always got to be played.
I try to play the ugliest colors in the deck.
I try to put pink against dark green, you know,
purple against orange.
Things that hurt when you look at 'em go, whoa, oh,
and I would just play that card because you know,
man, that feeling, that cold feeling you get,
you know, you can just feel it like,
someones slipping an ice cube up your ass.
There's something there, you know,
there's an energy there and it's got to be played.
- [Interviewer] But that's gotten you into trouble, right?
- Yeah, yeah.
Tremendous amount of problems.
Here's couple of posters from my two shows in New York here.
Say, this is at the psychedelic solution.
Here's a naked lady and laying out on a hamburger, see?
And then here's this,
this rat thing looking monster drooling over her.
Here's another one, just about the same material.
Rat fink looking goofy guys,
drooling over a woman laying out on food.
The one woman was posting this up in a group
and she was att*cked by this man
that bloodied her nose and says,
"This is not art."
I'm very supportive of the women's movements
and the feminist.
I think women have been getting like,
a bad shake for 30,000 years
and one should have equal rights.
There's no question in my mind about that.
But I have a compulsion to paint naked ladies.
And I feel that I,
I wonder how could anyone be an artist
and use their hands
and graphically reproduce something
and not have a temptation to draw a naked lady?
Now, I say this as a pure statement.
I'm not saying this demeaningly,
I seriously believe that all aesthetics
and the dynamics of beauty,
all of this starts with examining woman.
And it outshines even the most dynamic forces of nature.
Comparing a woman's ass to the Orion Nebula,
to the mighty mountains,
to the great granders of the world.
You know, a woman's ass will stand up against anything,
any mass, any dynamics.
You know what I'm saying?
Okay, that's my defense.
I rest my case.
(punk music begins)
Hot rodding was a gigantic cultural thing.
Everyone had this feeling of innovation with mechanics,
with it comes a new style of graphics.
It was a fella in 1953 named Von Dutch
who started pen striking on cars
making these abstract lines,
wild psychedelic flames.
Von Dutch would paint surrealist blob
looking anthropomorphic creatures
that were obviously copies of Salvador Dolly
and artsy bay chef surrealism.
Well, this was like '57, '58.
Well, Ed Big Daddy Roth was building cars
and he did pen striking
and he saw these monsters and he was good with his hands.
So he would do these in airbrush on t-shirts.
These t-shirts got all over the country
and they won the hearts
of hundreds of thousands of young people.
This was so widespread
that it's eventually going to affect the art world.
My place in this evolution
was the use of suggested chrome and graphics.
I pioneered that.
Everything that I've described
in this hot rod world of art and graphics
the candy color and all this stuff
was never really accepted by the art world.
because the art world had its snobby,
blobby gobby stuff that it supported.
The other side of the world was comic books
and its low brow art,
the garbage, the good stuff,
the sensational movie posters,
the ridiculous monster banners
at the side shows with freaks.
So, what's happening at 80 miles an hour
is these two worlds are running on parallel tracks.
That's what's happening right now.
As a painter,
I worked very hard and I've studied painting
as long as I can remember,
but as the big scheme of things,
the big scheme of painters, I'm actually nobody.
But when you compare me to what's going on now,
the use of imagination and dexterity and to,
really put to use the tricks that have been evolved
over 30,000 years since Lasko caves.
You take all this and you figure out
how these people that are artists
to call those artists now,
what they've put to use compared to what I'm doing,
I look like f*cking Tisha.
(pop rock music begins)
- Hello, I'm Bill Hicks
and I'm standing at the foot
of one of the halls of justice in our great country.
You know, when the producers of this video
asked me to discuss my opinions
on the George Bush administration,
I was struck by the very cynical thought,
what is the f*cking point?
People still love Ronald Reagan.
After eight years of lies and hypocrisy,
people love this guy.
Leads me to a very disturbing question.
How far up your does this guy's d*ck have to be
before you realize he's f*cking you?
People are just, I like Ronald Reagan.
He looks good on TV.
He made the country stronger.
Patriotism is at an all time high.
Hold on a minute, something's slapping my ass.
Hey, he's f*cking us.
What's the point of George Bush, Reagan Light?
No one cared that he was the ex-head of the CIA,
now elected President.
The CIA political assassinations,
overthrowing governments, death squads drug running.
Let's give them more power.
Let's put him in the White House.
No one cares that George Bush's
first two executive decisions
were to name a vice president
who's whiter than Arsenio Hall.
I guess you could commission Ted Turner
to colorize Dan Coyle later.
Bush's second decision
was to name a Secretary of Defense
who would've began every unilateral arms agreement talk
with, "Hi, I'm John, and I'm an alcoholic."
Now, people love him.
What is the point?
People are already saying,
I like George Bush.
He looks good on TV.
He brought back family values.
He's fighting the w*r on dr*gs.
Wait a minute, something's slapping my ass.
Hey, he's f*cking us.
- Remember when you go on a family trip
and your dad would film all your fat relatives
with a super eight movie camera,
You haul the film out every year
and watch you and your fat relatives
squint at the shaky camera.
Well, that's what the next segment's like
provided that your fat relatives
happen to be the butt-hole surfers.
- [Jerry Sr] Day one of our vacation,
and here we are entering Texas.
- [Jerry Jr] Ew, dad farted.
- [Jerry Sr] That's a lie, Jerry Jr.
- [Jerry Jr] It really stinks.
- [Jerry Sr] That's a lie son.
- [Woman] Keep your eyes-
(breaks screeching)
- Pendejo!
- [Jerry] Show your putters.
Okay, I got to get in this.
Great sir.
Excuse me.
Excuse me sir.
Excuse me, sir.
Hello, would you mind filming me and my family?
There you go, sure.
Okay, Texas (indistinct)
Right over here.
Come on this way.
This way.
Hello, okay, great.
Right over here, okay.
Remember this is vacation.
Turn right around, it's a video.
Sir, sir I'll thank you
to get your derelict hands off my white rich-
- [Camera Man] f*ck rich.
(indistinct thudding)
(Jerry groaning)
(thudding continues) (Jerry shouting)
- This is great.
My word, what is that?
Where'd he go?
I don't know about this.
- [Woman] Well, it does say, "Family style".
(thrash rock music plays)
- I don't care for that music.
(car tires screeching)
(man whistles)
I don't know,
maybe we should have waited for Arby's.
What on Earth?
(costume man roaring)
I'll handle this.
Hello there. I'm Jerry Finster.
This is my wife, Mary Ellen and my son Jerry Junior.
- Y'all, bye.
(cartoon head exploding)
- [Jerry Jr] Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
You're really dead, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're dead, you're dead, you're dead.
- Y'all want some scorpion tea?
- Scorpion tea?
- When in Rome.
- Well, I've never been to Rome.
Don't sh**t the host Jerry Junior.
(Jerry Junior chanting indistinctly)
(guitar music strumming)
He's just greasing the pan, dear.
It's special grease. (pan sizzling)
(swooshing)
So, what else is on the menu?
- Meat, king's up in the barn and preparing your meat.
- Ah, hey, where'd Jerry Junior run off to?
- Atta boy come and get your ice cream.
(liquid pouring) (bright upbeat)
- Oh, well,
here's to us honey.
- Down the hatch.
(Jerry buzzing)
Anyway, they transferred me out of sales
and into the marketing division.
I can tell you that really got my goat
because boy oh boy,
I was just getting started in sales
after 10 years of struggling playing their game.
And boy, oh boy, that's the thanks I get smacked up
right back into marketing.
Boy, oh boy, it seems like
you can never get started in this world.
Seems like you can never get on your feet
without somebody beating you down
and crushing all your hopes and dreams.
Boy, oh boy my thirsting.
Do you have any more of this stuff?
(woman screaming)
- Hey, where is Jerry Junior anyhow?
(suspicious music begins)
- Damn that's good meat.
I must find my son.
Jerry!
Jerry Junior!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Son!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
Jerry!
(Jerry Senior sighs in disbelief)
Jerry!
(indistinct ominous voices)
(ominous voices intensifies)
(ominous voices intensifies)
(ominous voices continues)
(rock music begins)
(guitar strumming)
(rock music continues)
(guitar strumming)
(rock music continues)
(band laughing)
(giggly upbeat)
- Not that nightmare again.
- [Mary] That's what you get
for going to sleep on an empty stomach.
Have some breakfast, you'll feel better.
- Not Jerry Junior again, we have him every day,
Oh honey.
(somber flute music plays)
(somber flute music continues)
- We're here.
- [Narrator] The once underground dance craze
known as house music
has rapidly become a vital part
of New York's thriving club scene
already big in Europe.
House music owes its popularity
to the growing number of small record companies
that put out a steady stream
of house music hits.
Snub TV,
takes a look at the state of house music,
interviewing the people behind two of New York's
most successful dance music record companies.
Big Beat and Basement Records,
Big Beats, Craig Coleman,
a 1987 Brown University graduate
started Big Beat Records
with little experience and $12,000 here as a DJ.
In the tunnel area in (indistinct) nightclubs
in New York City.
- House music of the 1980s
very similarly resembles the disco of the '70s.
It's just updated with a new technology,
with a sparser approach,
but containing a similar sense of energy,
excitement, vitality,
and just emotion that is lost in a lot of,
you know, other overproduced
sort of major label type of records.
♪ Come on
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ Everybody now!
(indistinct)
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ You all want this party started, right? ♪
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
♪ Can't hear you'll
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
♪ Oh oh oh oh oh
(indistinct)
(crowd cheering)
- You know, it's very easy
to produce a record for not a lot of money.
I think, you know, people look at the record industry,
you see records that sell millions of records.
A lot of those are produced for, you know,
insignificance amounts of money.
And it just came to very serious budgeting
of my time and my studio costs.
And the second record I did,
we recorded for a little over $2,000
and we sold probably worldwide close to 200,000 records.
♪ Put your hands in the air
♪ Somebody sing, on the air
♪ On the air
♪ On the air
♪ On the air
♪ You told me that you wanted me ♪
♪ You loved me with all of your heart ♪
♪ But you went around, you did me wrong ♪
♪ Tell me, who do you think you are? ♪
♪ You've been seen with other guys ♪
♪ You've been seen even with my best friend ♪
♪ You used and abused the love I gave ♪
♪ Where this began, this will end ♪
♪ Oh you, you broke the promises that you gave me ♪
- Basement Records has run out of a living room
on the 18th floor
of a Jersey City High-rise apartment building.
Craig Bevin and Barry Ger are the songwriters,
producers, promoters, distributors,
and Maverick record company executives.
They explain how they turn $3,000
into a successful record company.
- The the thing that's kept us in business
is a keen sense of what's happening in the street,
a keen sense of what different segments
of the dance music public want to buy.
And when we know of something going on
or feel something's going on,
we come in here,
we do a record and throw it out there.
And the reason why it's profitable
is because we do it all ourselves
and we don't have to rely on anybody from the outside
to come in and do something for us.
- Yeah, plus we don't have to wait
for anybody to say yes or no.
- Right, if we think it's cool, we do it.
- We can make a profit on anything
over 1,000 records, we make a profit.
So, just because we own our own studio,
I want to take people from nothing
and help them and guide them
to hopefully becoming successful.
- You're not going to see a lot of basement set
and baseball jackets around town, baby.
We don't care. - Sure.
♪ I wanna sing I ♪ I
♪ Say I ♪ I
♪ Say I I ♪ I I
♪ Trust me
♪ Everybody sing, yo baby, yo baby yo ♪
♪ Yo baby, yo baby yo
♪ Everybody sing, yo baby, yo baby yo ♪
♪ Yo baby, yo baby yo
♪ Oh you, you broke the promises that you gave me ♪
♪ Broken promises, things will never be the same ♪
♪ Oh you, you broke the promises that you made me ♪
♪ I took it serious, but you played me like a game ♪
♪ Oh you, you broke the promises that you gave me ♪
♪ Broken promises, things will never be the same ♪
♪ Oh you, you broke the promises that you made me ♪
♪ I took it serious, but you played me like a game ♪
♪ Broken promises, like a game
♪ Broken promises, like a game
♪ Broken promises, like a game
(crowd cheering)
(indistinct chatter)
(machines exploding)
- [Narrator] Survival Research labs are known and feared
for their nightmarish performances
where robots of destruction clash
in front of live audiences.
The man behind SRL is Mark Pauline,
a native of Sarasota, Florida.
As a child,
he melted a gumball machine within a satellite torch.
As a teen, he stole cars
as a member of the f*ckers Island g*ng.
And then he went to art school.
In 1978,
Pauline formed Survival Research labs in San Francisco.
Since then,
he's taken his mechanical message across the country
into Europe and as far as the eastern block.
- SRL has been all about trying to do the same thing.
I mean, it's been about doing a lot of things,
but ultimately it's been about trying to create
a dramatic language of machines
and, you know, it's been a developmental process, of course.
And just like film developed over the years.
I mean, I think we're at the point now
where we're probably like in about the talkie art.
We're almost in the talkie stage.
We're still sort of in the silent film stage.
We have a lot of overacting
and a lot of, you know, cheap devices
that we have to make use of
because we're only just beginning
to uncover the subtle possibilities
of how you can project an idea
through a machine to an audience
and still be able to record it on video effectively.
We're very primi groping
for some sort of ability to do that.
And, you know, I mean, why use machines?
I mean, the whole point in doing that is because that,
those are the idioms that life is all about.
I mean, life is not all about
what people say to each other anymore.
It's just not about that anymore.
Life is about, what the world revolves around,
the world revolves around the mechanisms
that people devise
in order to make their lives so complicated
that it's, you know,
the ultimate inconvenience and incomprehensibility.
(indistinct chatter)
(machines whirring)
In pain there's a promise of something.
I mean, and there always is.
You burn yourself on a stove, you learn something, right?
I mean, there's a sort of promise in pain,
this promise of like increasing
your understanding of the world through pain.
That to my mind is a significant aspect of why that kind of
thing is in the show is.
(metal rattling)
(machine screeching)
- [Man] I've never done nothing her, (indistinct)
(fires blazes wallowing)
(metals rattling)
- I have never seen anything like this before my whole life.
- Sick, sick fellow should take the door prize
and seek good psychiatric help is what this guy needs.
- Are you entertained?
- Well, yeah, until my friend get hit in the mouth by a BB.
- I like impressionist painting of myself.
It's my favorite post-impressionist too.
(machine rattling)
- A lot of what SRL is about
and what it's starting to become about,
it's exploring the soul of the devices that we created,
you know, as our slaves.
It's like a way of finding out,
well, what do these things really have souls?
Is a machine really more than
just a collection of its parts?
It's like the old science fiction cliche
that everyone's been afraid to death of
ever since a machine has been made.
I mean, that's what the Luddites were all about, right?
It was all about this fear, you know,
this fear that machines were satanic somehow and evil,
you know, and like somehow anti-human.
You can either recoil from that or you can deal with it.
I think that we're trying to address it
and deal with it in the shows.
Now, basically, each show deals
with a very specific point
that seems at the time we're preparing for the show
to be the significant social factor to elaborate on.
(audience shouting) (machine roaring)
Essentially economies have always been keyed to warfare.
I mean, that's what the whole basis of economy is
and there's no w*r now .
The world needs warfare to drive itself on.
The only reason that things happen now in this vacuum
of like a w*r big enough to spur the world on
and act as that kind of catalyst
is like, you know, I mean that's why,
that's what Star Wars is all about, right?
It's about this artificial catalyst
to like revitalize the American economy.
The '60s were all about moral imperatives, right?
How huge, enormous plots of humanity
could get behind and organize themselves
around these moral imperatives.
I mean, those days are gone.
You know, it was a great attempt
to try to marshal the country
around something other than a w*r machine.
And it worked for a little while,
but now we're back to the w*r economy, you know,
the way that the society sets it up for most people,
there's really no time to reflect on what you're doing.
I mean, you have to go to such extreme ends
to have time to think about what you're doing.
That it's, you know, it's essentially an impossibility.
I mean, that's why you have a country like America
that is so misunderstanding of itself
and is really so lost, you know,
and is so outta control.
It's because that really
is the only possibility at this point.
You know, it's just no breaks.
I mean, the brakes are going to come
and they're going to be some hard knocks.
They're not gonna to be brakes like in a car,
they're going to be brakes like cracks,
you know, and ruptures,
you know, real destruction.
We've come to a point
where we know how to speed up things efficiently,
but it's a question of how to slow them down
so that it makes some kind of sense, right?
Or so that you know,
it's being able to slow it down and speed it up.
You can't just speed it up.
I mean, that's the point that the America
or the whole world is at.
(logo swoosh)
(upbeat rock music)
- What is a club kid?
Club kids are youngsters who love to laugh.
Girls who want to have fun,
boys who want to dress up like Jaja Gboard.
In the next segment,
Michael Musto will explore the thrill seeking world
of Manhattan Club hopping
with these irrepressible club kids.
- The only thing that stays the same in New York nightlife
is that nothing stays the same.
Three years ago it was all about downtowners
networking and mingling in VIP rooms.
Well, not today.
Today it's all about club kids.
Wacky-nutty club kids in search of a good time.
I'm Michael Musto
and I'm going to show you depths and heights
of New York nightlife.
Here we are at the world in Larry Tee's Celebrity Club
where everyone is a celebrity, at least in his own mind.
Van Zen, you were recently crowned queen of downtown.
How does it feel?
- Oh, I'm so excited.
I feel like Cher,
I feel like I've been accepted finally.
- Can I add that you deserved it royally, you really did.
- Oh, Michael, you're so sweet,
you've always been so sweet.
And you know, I feel like,
finally someone likes me, you like me.
(indistinct chatter from the crowd)
- That's enough, get out of here.
- The first part of going to a club
is actually getting into the club
and the people in charge
of whether or not you do get in are the doormen.
Here at the LT club
where celebrity club is held every Thursday,
the doormen are, - Robert
- And, - Tim.
The Rainbow twins.
How do you decide who to let in?
There's so many people that are desperate
to get into the celebrity club tonight.
How are you picking and choosing?
- Mainly by the way people are dressed.
- Well, what is a club kid exactly?
- A young, trendy, usually a student,
someone with nothing to do is someone with no money
that always expects to be comped and expects free drinks,
but always looks good.
- Sounds fabulous, oh God.
What's so great about Celebrity Club?
- It's usually a lot of fun.
They have people take their clothes off,
a lot of free drinks.
Larry T DJing and he's a really good DJ.
- It sounds vulgar and distasteful.
Let's go in.
(upbeat rock music)
(man speaking indistinctly)
Get ready for a Latin Spitfire
like you've never seen it before.
The drag sensation, Miss Pia.
(crowd cheering)
He dresses, he DJs, he vogues,
Larry T, what a fun night.
How do you do it week after week?
- I don't know, Michael.
I'm beginning to wonder myself how I get away with this.
Now, I've seen you down here a lot, how do you do it?
- I just take after you.
Is that your real hair, by the way?
- Yes, it is.
In fact my real hair.
Yes, yes, it's my hair,
but it was made by Ava Gabor fifth and Eva Gabor Wig
okay, is what I'm trying.
- They're calling for you,
do you hear that? They love you, Larry.
- Oh, thank you Michael.
You're so sweet to mention
that they're yelling my name at this very minute.
(rock music continues)
- The best butt contest is about to begin.
What is the best butt contest?
What does it mean?
- The chance in a lifetime says I'm one of the judges.
(man hisses)
It means you can take all your clothes off
for $1,000 dollars.
- Butt has to be pretty round, firm.
- It means it's must be mine, yeah.
- My butt's the best that I only get private showing us.
- My butt's the best butt.
My butt's the best.
- It only has to be a Puerto Rican cool,
that's the best one.
- All right, let's go up and see some butts.
(rock music playing) (crowd cheering)
- Come on baby, come on, take it off.
(crowd cheering)
Take it off.
(crowd cheering and chanting)
Here's another two, Mike.
Woo.
All right, all right, Mike.
(crowd cheering)
- In their endless quest for kicks
the club kids will stop at nothing
providing a sex related circus
in which to revel in constantly.
Are they zaney and fun or outrageous?
And gross and distasteful?
- You decide.
(singing in foreign language)
(crowd cheering and applauding)
- Well, we hope you liked our first issue.
Feel free to drop us a line and give us your input
and start camping outside your local store
for the next jam packed issue
of "Impact Video Magazine Magazine".
A magazine that is completely unencumbered by good taste.
And in keeping with that proud credo,
here's our last segment,
The 19-inch Nightmare Home video from hell
where you sent us your most outrageous,
repulsive, hilarious home video
when we expose your diseased mind
to the rest of the world.
So, send us your best footage, and if we show it,
you win a free issue of Impact and an Impact T-shirt.
This hellish home video was shot by Pete Lavinsky
of Janesville, Wisconsin.
It's not for the squeamish,
but it'll certainly satisfy your curiosity
about how the elderly pass the time on cruise ships.
- What are we doing?
Hey, I'm going sh**t you.
- You're, I'm gonna stand still, I love that.
(both laughing and giggling)
(indistinct chatter) (both laughing and giggling)
- No, no, no, that's (indistinct)
(woman laughing)
- Ladies, you like this?
We have too much (indistinct) (man laughing)
Hey, ladies.
Hey, ladies.
(both laughing and giggling)
- I'm Michael Berryman
and if you like "Impact"
and you like "Blood and Guts" horror,
you've got to check out Gorgon "Video Magazine".
(upbeat rock music)
(guitar strumming) (rock music continues)
(logo swooshing)
Impact Video Magazine (1989)
Moderator: Maskath3