Sometimes a website comes along that reminds me what the internet is for. That happened this week when a friend sent me a link to Sleeveface.com. The site defines Sleeveface as "one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s), causing an illusion."

They should have said "causing an illusion and awesomeness." Because it's so, so good. Here are some of my favorites so far (there are still so many I haven't seen!):

Janis Joplin, by MathiasSchweppes

Peaches, by sophiekingo

Tina Turner (Private Dancer), by See Gee

  … continue reading

Tonight on the new Biography Channel series Final 24, Janis Joplin's last day is ... well, celebrated? Dissected? I'm not sure what the tone will be. I don't think I like the idea of a "last day in the life" series in the first place. I'd rather let Janis rest in peace.

But I did enjoy the TVGuide.com interview with Sam Andrew, the guitarist in Janis' band Big Brother and the Holding Company. Actually, enjoy might not be the right word there either. I was shocked to learn that Janis was more than willing to sell her soul to be a star:

I remember driving on the Hollywood freeway one night and she said, "I'll sell out. I'll do anything they want me to do to be famous. Just show me where to sign my name on the contract." It was kind of an epiphany. I was very surprised. But from a very early age, she knew where she was going and what she wanted. The rest of us were just hippies stumbling around.

This is like watching Debbie Harry disgrace herself on the Today show. I want my lady rockers to be anti-establishment badasses. Must we share Janis' darkest secrets in posthumous profiles? I kind of doubt she'd want us to know some of this stuff. Or maybe she wouldn't care, if it meant more fame: … continue reading

I just came across this photo of Tina Turner and Janis Joplin performing at Madison Square Garden in 1969. It's Tina. And Janis. Together!

The photo is by Amalie R. Rothschild and is currently part of the Music and Fashion 1965–1975 exhibit at the Staley-Wise Gallery. Rothschild has taken some stunning shots of rock stars, many of which are included in her book Live at the Fillmore East: A Photographic Memoir.

I really can't fathom the idea of Janis and Tina on a stage together. Who needs caffeine (or whatever the crowd was on) with that kind of raw genius nearby? The idea of two talents and a microphone made me imagine some other rock duos (or folk duos or whatever-else duos) I'd like to see. Here are a few ideas. They may not really make much sense, but that's why I'm calling them fantasy duos.

Stevie Nicks and Amy Winehouse
"Rhiannon" meets "Rehab" — how great would that be? But Stevie might have flashbacks when confronted by Winehouse's in-your-face hedonism. She would make her cry, make her break down!

… continue reading

On Sunday, The New York Times featured an article titled "Glorious Dissolution: Musicians on Film." It considers some forthcoming music biopics, whose subjects include Edith Piaf and Janis Joplin. The Piaf pic, La Vie en Rose (opening Friday in limited release) compares Piaf to her "spiritual double," Billie Holiday. I've never quite made that connection, but it's a fascinating one.

Director Olivier Dahan notes that Piaf and Holiday endured a fragility that was both boon and bane:

“I don’t believe that to be a great artist you have to be tormented,” Mr. Dahan said. But, he added, the very qualities that help musicians as artists may also render them vulnerable. “Maybe there is something about being fragile,” he said. “And to be fragile is to also be very receptive. You can’t be a great artist and not be fragile, so when you are fragile everything kind of hits you, the good and the bad for sure.”

That rings true, even if it does also make me frown. It's no fun when you know the person's going to self-destruct at the end. But thanks to some of the weird casting choices for upcoming biopics, the self-destruction is the least of my worries: … continue reading