[Jandek] bad_dreams@elvis.com's genius post (WAS: Jandek as gay favourite/show tunes...)

[LiLiPUT1 at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/4/05 11:17:58 AM, bad_dreams at elvis.com writes:


> i thought that he was a rather handsome fellow and had a hard time 
> connecting his physical appearance to the music on the record, which had me believing 
> for a while that the
> man on the covers was not the musician
> 
This was a really brilliant post, Bad Dreams. For me, SIX AND SIX is the 
apotheosis of this idea. The cover shows Jandek at his cutest (fave fantasy: 
fresh-faced Jandek leaves the photo booth and mere seconds later he has his first 
homosex in the bus station bathroom; makes $15 off of it too - not bad for 1
963). But it contains THE scariest music of his career (even scarier than those 
spoken words). How could such a pretty, innocent-looking boy make such 
Halloween-ready sounds?

Well, really, that's not the point. Any-looking person can make any-sounding 
music. But the possbility that this young guy (who eventually grew up in 
pictures) had nothing to do with these sounds was (and still is) fascinating.

A few years ago at a pop music conference in Montréal, I presented a paper on 
this very notion of the possible disconnect between photo and music. I'm now 
retooling it from a queer angle with the help of a terrific essay by Jonathan 
Flatley on Warhol's use of the face (reference below). So I've definitely 
picked up the scent; others must have too. 

Of course, the fact that face matched music all along definitely does NOT 
delegitimize that initial hook for us gay (and other, I imagine) folks. But as an 
incorrigible postmodernist, I do admit that I was a tad disappointed (unless, 
of course, us live show attendees actually witnessed a hologram rather than 
the flesh and bone Sterling - hey, it could happen!). 

Naive question - what's the difference between faggots and actual gay people? 
I honestly don't know.

xo,

Kevin John

Flatley, Jonathan. “Warhol Gives Good Face: Publicity and the Politics of 
Prosopopoeia.” Jennifer Doyle, Jonathan Flatley, and José Esteban Muñoz, eds. Pop 
Out Queer Warhol. Durham: Duke University Press, 1996.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mylist.net/archives/jandek/attachments/20051104/0532db17/attachment.htm