Shellac Shack at the Movies December 27, 2008

"Shellac Shack at the Movies”
Music Shorts, Clips and Soundies from the 78 rpm Era Screen at Oddball Films

Event: “Shellac Shack at the Movies” Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present rare music clips, short films and Soundies focusing on the 78 rpm era (pre-1960). “Rocco Blues” with Louis Jordan, “Variety Time” with Lionel Hampton, Ruth Brown, and Joe Turner, “St. Louis Blues” with Bessie Smith and “Blind Gary Davis” will be screened as well as clips of Nat King Cole and Spade Cooley. Vintage 78 rpm records will be played before and after the screenings, with refreshments served.
Date: Saturday, December 27th , 2008 at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or [email protected]
Web: http://oddballfilm.com/resources/events_parent.html

On Saturday, December 27th Guest Curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present rare 16mm music shorts, clips and Soundies for your visual and aural pleasure. In the day (or night, as it were) shorts would have been screened before feature films and Soundies were the original “music videos”, made for audio-visual jukeboxes in the early to late 40s. As host of “Shellac Shack”, Pete Gowdy has been spinning 78 rpm records at Tony Nik’s Café and the Homestead to enthusiastic audiences in San Francisco for more than 5 years. He’ll be spinning representative discs before and after the screening, and attendees are welcome to stay and discuss record collecting and film after the program. Refreshments will be served. Showtime is 8:00PM and admission is $10.00. Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: [email protected] or 415-558-8117.

Films Include:
“Rocco Blues” (1947) Features Maurice Rocco at the piano, The Chanticleers singing “Jumpin’ Jack From Hackensack”, dancers The Four Gingersnaps, and the great Louis Jordan and his band performing “Jordan’s Jive”.

“Showtime at the Apollo: Variety Time” (1955) Clip reel culled from two shorts. Marketed as “filmed at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem”, these were actually filmed elsewhere, with inserts of host Willie Bryant (an actual MC at the Apollo) to give the impression of a complete show at the legendary theatre. Features two performances by Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra, Big Joe Turner performing “Oke-She-Moka-She-Pop”, Ruth Brown with Paul Williams Orchestra performing “Oh What a Dream” , and a tap dance performance by Bill Bailey.

“St. Louis Blues” (1929) Early sound film featuring Bessie Smith in an African-American speakeasy of the prohibition era singing the W. C. Handy standard, "St. Louis Blues". Directed by Dudley Murphy, it is the only known film of Bessie Smith. She had a hit with the song in 1925 and Handy himself asked Bessie Smith to appear in the movie. Handy co-authored the film and was the musical director. It features a band that included James P. Johnson on piano, Thomas Morris and Joe Smith on cornet, as well as the Hall Johnson Choir with some thrilling harmonies at the end. Filmed in June of 1929 in Astoria, Queens.

“Blind Gary Davis” (1964) Dir. Harold Becker. Documentary focused on the great country blues artist Blind Gary Davis. Davis first recorded in 1935 and had a great influence on the folk movement of the 1960s. Here he is featured singing and talking about his career amidst the poverty of his Harlem neighborhood. Director Becker went on to direct “The Onion Field”, “Taps” and “Sea of Love”.

Plus! Nat King Cole with Jack Costanza on the conga performing “Calypso Blues” and a Spade Cooley clip from the feature film “Square Dance Jubilee”.

All About Soundies:
Soundies can be considered the precursors to music videos. Produced during the years 1940 to 1946, Soundies were made to be seen on self-contained, coin-operated, 16mm rear projection machines called Panorams. They were located in nightclubs, bars, restaurants and other public places. Eight Soundies, featuring a variety of musical performances, were generally spliced together on a reel which ran in a continuous loop. The Panoram, a complicated and unique machine, later served as the basis for the RCA 16mm projector.
Soundies were produced by various companies such as Minoco and RCM Productions, headed by FDR's son James Roosevelt, Sam Coslow a song writer and Herbert Mills, a pioneer in the development of arcade music machines.
In order to achieve the widest possible distribution, Soundies covered the gamut of musical styles from country and western to Russian balalaika music, tenors singing Irish folksongs, the big band swing music of Stan Kenton and Tommy Dorsey and jazz Greats, Fats Waller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole.
A Soundie reel sometimes included cheesecake segments--striptease, burlesque routines or shots of women in bathing suits--specifically intended to attract wartime military personnel on leave. Appeals for war bonds and other patriotic messages ("We're All Americans", "When Hitler Kicks the Bucket", "The White Cliffs of Dover") were included. Soundies often starred little known performers who later became famous, such as Alan Ladd, Cyd Charisse, Doris Day and Ricardo Montalban, as well as performers on their way down. Many African-American performers like Dorothy Dandridge, Louis Armstrong and Stepin Fetchit who were largely absent from mainstream films except in minor roles, were featured. -From the UCLA Film Library Web Site

Curator Biography:
Pete Gowdy (aka DJ Chas Gaudi) is host of San Francisco’s Shellac Shack, a weekly 78 rpm listening party and a DJ specializing in vintage soul, punk and new wave. A graduate of the Vassar College Film Program, he is an associate producer of Marc Huestis Presents, the long-running movie legend tributes at the Castro Theatre.

Official Website: http://oddballfilm.com/resources/events_parent.html