Laurie Anderson

[JSngry]

She's "middlebrow" in a world that no longer recognizes such, much less knows what to do it.

[7/4]

She doesn't have the June Taylor dancers.

.

[JSngry]

Who was June Taylor anyway?

[7/4]

Who was June Taylor anyway?

June Taylor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

June Taylor (14 December 1917-16 May 2004) was an American choreographer.

Born in Chicago, Taylor was a nightclub dancer until she developed tuberculosis at age 20. She took up choreography, founding, in 1942, her own troupe of dancers, the June Taylor Dancers, and took them on the road. She met Jackie Gleason at a Baltimore nightclub in 1946, and made her television debut in 1948, on The Toast of the Town starring Ed Sullivan, where six of the original dancers appeared as The Toastettes, bringing the chorus line to television. Two years later, she joined Jackie Gleason's Cavalcade of Stars, and followed him, with sixteen dancers, to The Jackie Gleason Show, where her signature camera shot was the overhead kaleidoscopic Busby Berkeley-type shot of the dancers making geometric patterns. The high-kicking, smiling routines that formed the first three minutes of each broadcast

were Broadway-based and reminiscent of The Rockettes. In addition to Gleason's show, the June Taylor Dancers also made appearances at the General Motors "Motorama" auto shows in New York and Boston.

mo.

[JSngry]

The Toastettes.

De-LISH-us!

[seeline]

I don't think of her as an avant-garde performance artist but simply as a performance artist. The two times I saw her live (both in the mid 1980s) the shows were thoroughly enjoyable. They were indeed full-bore productions with some pretty sophisticated effects and staging.

The computer animations and staging were pretty cool!

[seeline]

She doesn't have the June Taylor dancers.

Weird - because I watched some June Taylor Dancers vids on YouTube last week.

[seeline]

Here's a clip from Home of the Brave (the tour she was doing when I saw her) - this was the one piece that I really liked:

Edited April 1, 2008 by seeline

[JSngry]

She's "middlebrow" in a world that no longer recognizes such, much less knows what to do it.

This is not a dis, btw. I mean, I really dig Ken Nordine, but by and large, he's firmly "middlebrow" as well, and all the more better for it!

[Robert J]

I also saw the HOTB tour. I was in the second row at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbour and I recall getting splashed by her sweat during some passionate violin bowing.

At the time I was in first year university, hanging out with artists, thinking myself to be an experimental type. Laurie seemed to fit the bill as an 'inspiration'. I was into "multimedia" productions, composing music on my dx7, etc. It was 1984-1986.

Looking back now, I see it as just - as Jim says - a middlebrow response to other people using their dx7's. Not that much different from early music videos seeking an audience.

Not sure I'd now call her avant garde. I just listened to Sharkey's Day on youtube and it is very dated and cheesy as a multimedia production. Oh the 80s.

(but I did see Belew a few months later at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor with the Bears and he rocked way better than on HOTB )

[porcy62]

I always considered Anderson a pop/rock musician, and part of the New Wave like Talking Heads. A fresh new thing at times in the mainstream rock/pop landscapes, not really Avant Garde. Never heard her later works, after "Home of The Brave".

Big Science is a good record IMHO, and I can listen to it even today, without being bored.

[seeline]

... and it is very dated and cheesy as a multimedia production. Oh the 80s.

Of course it's "dated" - just like the special effects used back in the day (whatever decade "the day" might be). But those projections (etc.) were unlike anything I'd seen at the time, and I still like them.

Edited April 2, 2008 by seeline

[7/4]

Obviously, this is in the wrong folder. I don't know what I was thinking. This should be in the Artist folder.

.

[Robert J]

Come to think of it - maybe it was all Adrien Belew's fault . Just look at all the avant-pop recordings he was on in the 80s.

Laurie Anderson: Mister Heartbreak

Laurie Anderson: Home of the Brave

David Byrne: The Catherine Wheel

Jerry Harrison: The Red and The Black

Jerry Harrison/Casual Gods: Walk on Water

Jean-Michel Jarre: Zoolook

Paul Simon: Graceland

Talking Heads: Remain In Light

The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads

Tom Tom Club

[AllenLowe]

"This should be in the Artist folder."

I was thinking Fast Foods -

[7/4]

• William S. Burroughs and Adrian Belew were on one of her albums. That's was pretty cool. It made the albums musically interesting.
  

Maybe she gets a bit of legitness from those years of being associated with Burroughs.

As if she's some sort of hip Beat poet. I don't think growing a goatee and wearing a beret would even help...it's nice to to see the article stimulated some discussion.

[Guest Bill Barton]

I think that she'd look great with a goatee and a beret

[AllenLowe]

ahhh, Burroughs posed with everybody - Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Rod McKuen -

[seeline]

Here's a clip from Home of the Brave (the tour she was doing when I saw her) - this was the one piece that I really liked:

I guess I should add that I still don't care for her recitation. But the visuals and music were/are nicely done.

Re. Burroughts, yeah - he did pose with a lot of people. I've never understood why his name has such cachet.

Edited April 1, 2008 by seeline

[Adam]

I've seen her a few times -definitely a performance artist with songs. But the first couple of shows I saw I liked, and the last one wasn't that interesting, and this one sounds less so. i was debating whether to go see at UCLA's Royce Hall on April 10, but I think I can safely pass. The audience would also largely consist of safely liberal West-siders who will give Laurie a standing ovation at the need to show how knowing they are. (I hope that I will not simply end up being the same.)

[rostasi]

[seeline]

I was a studio art major in undergrad school, and think that if Laurie Anderson had been touring at the time, I would have been crazy about her work - the same, I'm sure, would have been true of most of my fellow students. I missed out by just a few years.

By 1984 (the year she did her Home of the Brave tour), I'd become jaded.

[7/4]

Re. Burroughts, yeah - he did pose with a lot of people. I've never understood why his name has such cachet.

Because he's William S. Burroughs. He writes some twisted shit.

.

Edited April 1, 2008 by 7/4

[seeline]

I think I knew that already, 7/4. (not meant in a snarky way; he's never had *any* appeal for me at all.)

Edited April 1, 2008 by seeline