RK 50: John Lurie

8-27-08 RK 50: John Lurie

I first saw The Lounge Lizards at the Whisky A-go-go about 1981 or so. I (vaguely) remember drinking a lot at that show (I would’ve been 21 or 22 then). I saw them roughly 20 years after that, at the El Rey theatre on Wilshire Blvd.

CD AFRICAN SWIM AND MANNY & LO STRANGE AND B SBM 0017

1998 25 TRKS Both original soundtracks

CD DOWN BY LAW CRAMMED BEL MTM 14CD

1987 21 TRKS

CD FISHING WITH JOHN (O.S.T.) STRANGE AND B SB 0014

1998 23 TRKS O.S.T.

CD GET SHORTY (O.S.T.) (Various artists) ANTILLES US 529310.2

1995 17 TRKS John Lurie & Various artists

CD MARVIN PONTIAC STRANGE AND B SB 0018

1999 14 TRKS

CD MEN WITH STICKS (J.L. Nat'l Orch.) CRAMMED BEL MTM 34CD

1993 3 TRKS

CD STRANGER THAN PARADISE STRANGE AND B SB 0010

1999 9 TRKS

Mr. Lurie has an amusing sense of humor – ever see his T.V. series “Fishing With John” (1991)? Some of those are pretty funny – there’s a DVD of it out, courtesy the Criterion Collection.

One definitely needs to have all (or most) of the releases by The Lounge Lizards:

“The Lounge Lizards” (1981), “Live From The Drunken Boat” (1983), “Big Heart (Live in Tokyo” (1986), “No Pain For Cakes” (1987), “Voice of Chunk” (1989), “Live in Berlin 1991, Vol. 1” and “Live in Berlin 1991, Vol. 2” (both ’92 releases) and, finally, “Queen of All Ears” (1998), their last studio recording. My friend Joe has a laser disc of The Lounge Lizards “Live in Tokyo” (1985), and I have a laser disc of the “Live in Berlin 1991” set. As far as I know, neither of these have ever been made into DVD’s. There are also a few CD’s on Mr. Lurie’s “Strange and Beautiful” label that I cannot find, primarily soundtracks – or did I get them all finally? Is something out-of-print? I really should check the OST for “Mystery Train” – Mr. Lurie has something on that…

It is uncommon to experience entertainment of this nature in person. I do not think the Lounge Lizards / Mr. Lurie were over-doing it by appearing in Los Angeles only twice in 25+ years.

I am a big fan of his artwork. Wish I had an extra $500 to get one of the prints up on his website presently. Very funny stuff – and I do not say that about just anything. Gotta have that coffee table book of his artwork, too (“A Fine Example Of Art”). I have heard that he has been in ill-health for a while now – I hope he is alright, and that he continues to create stuff that he chooses to share with the world.