by Art Chantry (art@artchantry.com)
…here’s another franko poster that really blew my socks off. i’ve never seen anybody do anything remotely like this before or since. for a ‘second color’ on this poster, he literally dipped his hand in red ink and simply ‘SLAPPED’ each poster. talk about brilliant! still shocking, all these years later….
Read More:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=455467258872&set=a.313476963872.144857.608898872&type=1&theater
this was the very first time i ever saw somebody take headlines and use them as design elements to create a statement. the dils were notoriously political (‘eat the rich’ was their first single). to drive the point home, franko clipped cheezy sensational headlines out of the local daily paper and rammed them home, often doubling them up to use as a bludgeon.
AC: steve heller reproduced this (and another seattle area punk poster) in one of his books. sometimes i hook him up with stuff.
note the creosote stains and staple holes. this is a REAL poster, not a collectible ‘art print’ repro.
…seattle’s Ze Whiz Kidz spawned a number of great rock bands during hte punk era. one performer was (former cockette) tomata du plenty. he and his partner gorilla rose headed to new york in the early 70′s and were there for the formation of the nyc punk scene. they’re mentioned as hanging out at cbgb’s at the very beginning, befriending the ramones and stilletto (later blondie), among others. tomata also worked with bette midler and the harlettes in the continental baths, named and concepted the manhattan transfer, worked with bowie and kiss and others, and (according to legend) named and costumed the new york dolls.
AC: there were two official 'girls' in the group - cha cha samoa and louise di lovely. gorilla rose was another founding member who is so legendary that there is a major brand lipstick color named after him. one other member named satin sheets went on to foorm 'the lewd' (as 'satz'). whiz kidz showed up all over the map. one member costumed led zeppelin on their 1972 monster tour. one person even helped found the one reel vaudeville show, which now puts on bumbershoot. no kidding. the whiz kidz morphed into amazing stuff.
then he moved back to seattle and formed one of the city’s very first punk bands (called the tupperwares – until they got a cease and desist). his poster for the “T.M.T.” show (tupperwares/meyce/telepat​hs) is the earliest classic cut-n-paste scratchy crappy style punk poster i’ve ever found. it actually predates the first sex pistols performance
over a year.
later tomata moved to san francisco (he took along penelope houston) and then los angeles, where he was important in forming the punk scene there. his band “the screamers (with ex whiz kidz, rio de janeiro and melba toast [aka, tommy gear] in the image above).
this poster is a sort of homecoming show for the screamers- as celebrity punk stars. it was their last performance in seattle hometown before disbanding, never recorded.
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