Prepping for Supercrawl 2016, we have a lot of exciting things coming up the woodwork!
Just want to give a huge thank you to our friends and fans for all the support and love over the years, and especially the dedicated readers who have been there since day one! Its hard to believe we are creeping on five years….
From the modest blog we began to explore the past, and the things we love, to where we are now, is just mind blowing.
So, THANK YOU.
This year has been especially busy, so its been really hard to keep up with writing articles for the website, as well as do all the amazing creative things we have been afforded the opportunity to do in our community, but hopefully we will get a breather soon, as there is a shit load of inspiration we are dying to share with the WWW.
We are especially amused by this classic music video for Nirvana and their iconic song “In Bloom” circa 1992!!!
A perfect example of the {past} influencing the {present} and shaping the {future}. In this case, its a double whammy of {past} influence with 90s style icons Nirvana taking on that classic 50s Buddy Holly vibe.
Also, a pretty sweet chill-out summer jam.
Can you believe, the summer might almost be over?!
“Edie was spoiled materially, but starved and tortured emotionally. You can see that in her eyes. Oh, those sprightly, beautiful but also deeply sorrowful light brown eyes that I will never forget.”
– Andy Warhol
+Style Divinity+ Edie Sedgwick is one of those icons of style that cannot be denied. She also seems to represent a sort of decadent disheveledness that seems to have swept the upper classes of the 20th Century (for better or worse).
And for those in that world, it must have been most shocking to see a socialite like herself take off on a truly remarkable roller coaster ride through the world of Art & Fashion only to pitfall into a dark hole of abuse and addiction.
We admire her freedom. But like we always say – is freedom free?
After all, could she really have lived such a life if it weren’t for her entitled upbringing? Probably not. But, in all respects, we all wish we could have a piece of that entitlement, really, and there are those who are brought up with the same regard to status in society who live very successful and honourable lives.
In the end, it all comes down to choices.
“You have to put up with the risk of being misunderstood if you are going to try to communicate. You have to put up with people projecting their own ideas, attitudes, misunderstanding you. But it’s worth being a public fool if that’s all you can be in order to communicate yourself.”
-Edie Sedgwick
So in the end, what will you choose?
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Our {MUSIC MINUTE} gives an ode to this Stylish Queen of Tragedy, and points to some of these ideas, and the world Edie inhabited, and looked toward.
It is a rare song from one of the most iconic bands of the post-punk/goth rock movement of the 1980s, led by the singularly iconic Ian Astbury whose mystical and almost enchanted rock persona still pushes the bounds of style for men (giant black hats, anyone?), so its not surprising that he also grew up in the same hometown as us here at The Eye of Faith!
Recorded in 1989, ” Edie (Ciao Baby)” is one their great songs, and seemed all too fitting to not feature!
We are also excited to announce that we have in possession a very rare tour t-shirt from the iconic Electric World Tour of The Cult back in 1987!! That in itself is quite unusual, but what makes the piece in our collection that much more unique is that it was from a run of shirts made in Canada featuring only the cities in Canada they performed at on the back.
Rare THE CULT Band 1987 Electric World Tour British Punk Goth Mystic Rock N Roll Canadian Soft Unusual Bad Ass Graphic Concert T-Shirt
“A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labor and there is an invisible labor. “
-Victor Hugo
New Wave just wouldn’t have been New Wave without this eccentric to pave the way through the 1980’s. With a penchant for pastels, and bold black and white stripes, we thank this latest E.O.F. Style Idol inductee for being part of a fashion revolution for men, for being fearless, and for using that pelvis for the good of mankind.
We would like to introduce you to William Michael Albert Broad.
Having grown up in Stanmore, Middlesex, England, amidst the English countryside with a background in proper Boys Schools, this rebel rocker would boldly defy convention and using peroxide to pave his way, he would come to be know as the one and only Billy Idol.
In October 1975, Idol went to Brighton Polytechnic to pursue an English degree, and lived on campus (East Slope), but left just after Year One. Billy’s academic ambitions would be cut short, as there was definitely a change in the air…
The world was shifting and popular culture was rapidly changing; the squeaky boy bands of the past were begging for a make-over! Raw unbridled sexuality would be exactly what the doctor would prescribe…
“If your world doesn’t allow you to dream, move to one where you can”
– Billy Idol
The name Billy Idol was inspired by a schoolteacher’s description of the young Broad as “idle” – a bit of a slacker, non-chalant, “too cool for school”, as they say. But it was his music ambitions and talent for performance that showcased the young man as anything but idle.
The stage name was also a nod to the pop acts that came before him. Billy Idol looked to history, comparing himself to his own idols like Billy Fury and Elvis.
“We were saying the opposite to the Clash and the Pistols. They were singing ‘No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones’, but we were honest about what we liked. The truth was, we were all building our music on the Beatles and the Stones”
He then went on to join the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans; a loose gang that traveled into town when the band played. Billy could see similarities between himself and the motley punk troupe. He had a hunger for performing, and Billy knew he had to make his mark as an entertainer.
Billy first joined the punk rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (before the band had decided on that name) in 1976, but soon quit and joined Chelsea in 1977 as a guitarist.
It wasn’t until Billy would step out from the background and take center stage as front man of Generation X that the act from across the pond would make a huge splash in international waters. This quickly ushered in the ‘second wave’ of British invasion acts during the MTV era in the 1980s.
“I love it when someone insults me. It means I don’t have to be nice anymore.”
-Billy Idol.
By 1982, Billy made a splash on the club charts as a solo artist. The single “Dancing by Myself” hit the pop charts like a comet! With a string of hits like “Rebel Yell”, “White Wedding”, and “Eyes without a Face”, as well as a hit cover of “Money Money”, Idol Fever hit America in a huge way.
With an electric look consisting of scantily clad chains and leather, with a gyrating pelvis and curling lip, only comparable to the King himself, Idol had the idol sex appeal like no other teenage dream, and successfully ruled the charts for over a decade.
In 1990, Idol was involved in a serious motorbike accident that slowed down the shock rocker, and nearly cost him a leg. He was also hit by a car when he ran a stop sign while riding home from the studio in Hollywood one night, requiring a steel rod to be placed in his leg. Idol would go on to speak about this accident and credit it for completely changing his life.
Having spent years partying and crediting much time to white weddings, Idol didn’t want to waste anymore time.
Due to the circumstance of the accident, Billy would have to pass on a movie role tailor made for the Prince of Peroxide.
Film director James Cameron had chosen Idol to play the T-1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and had drawn storyboards to resemble him. Unable to perform major stunts, Idol was replaced by Robert Patrick.
And did you know?
“Don’t You (Forget About Me)“, written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff, had originally written it with Billy Idol in mind, but the singer turned it down, leaving the song to Simple Minds, who made it a hit in 1985! The Breakfast Club would have been a very different film if the rebel-hearted singer had left his hand print on the flick.
Influencing youth to revolt to this day, bleaching one’s head peroxide blonde wouldn’t have the same impact if it weren’t for the one and only Billy Idol. And if you browse LOOKBOOK, or any other street style source, you will be finding kids rocking the edge just like Billy.
Wiktor Hansson as Billy Idol for Tush Magazine
Count on finding this rocker’s look mimiced in fashion magazines and on the backs of the style obsessed youth. Billy Idol is what every man fantasizes of being; a sexual being unrestricted by the bounds of society, a creature of vanity, insanity, and completely possessed by the spirit of rock n’ roll. He shows that it’s good to stand out from the crowd, and to be extraordinary.
With a touch of James Dean’s rebel ways, the natural class of Errol Flynn, and a wildly adventurous spirit, Billy keeps himself current to this very day, performing and touring the world over. We love this star decked head to toe with crucifixes and chains, or wearing nothing at all. One thing is for certain, he’ll always be our Teen Idol!
Is there more perfect a Monday morning than this for a wicked musical pick me up?
You’ve grabbed your coffee by now, I hope, so now it’s time to get to the shimmying and shaking before your boss catches on that you look a little tired.
Here’s a sure-fire sold gold {Music Minute} to get you in the mood!
This one comes to you straight from the big T.O.
A very talented band, whose leading lady we are honoured to call our friend,
“They say I live a fast life. Maybe I just like a fast life. I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. It won’t last forever, either. But the memories will.”
-Dennis Wilson
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Since the summer started we’ve been excited to write a piece on Dennis Wilson, the infamous bad boy and drummer of The Beach Boys; the band that brought the beach lifestyle to the forefront of popular culture in the 1960s – a romantic notion that still resides in the populous today.
It’s hard to think of that era without the The Beach Boys and their iconic sound, a mix of harmony, rhythm, soul, and blues all dedicated to Southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and girls.
Hits such as Surfin USA, California Girls, and Good Vibrations, encapsulated the image we still associate with the notion of surf and beach living to this day.
Their music certainly came to define the dreams and musings of many who longed for the coasts and beaches of California, and the utopian recluse this magical land of surf and sun could provide (Don’t tell me it’s just us!)
Though his eldest brother Brian Wilson is accredited with much of the band’s creative and technical genius, it was the rebel bad boy drummer Dennis who lived and breathed the California that inspired the band in the first place.
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“I don’t do much surfin’, no I don’t. Actually, I don’t even know how to surf, but one guy in the group is a real good surfer, he’s a lot better than any of us, actually, all of us put together. His name is Dennis Wilson, of course, he’s our drummer, and he’s actually the inspiration behind this whole sort of surfing image for the Beach Boys. He encouraged me to write a surfing song a couple, 2, 3 years ago which started the whole thing moving.”
Brian Wilson, St. Louis 1964
Perhaps you noticed, but Dennis certainly had a different presence and a certain swag, as they say, compared to the rest of the band. Even his eldest brother Brian, who created most of the music during The Beach Boys’ hit making days, knew that Dennis and his SoCal rebel lifestyle was the clue to the puzzle of making a name for themselves.
Dennis always seems a mystery, a part of his embodiment of the surfing rock n’ roll image, you could say. Definitely an archetype of rebellion, desire, and thirst for danger. Behind his eyes there are stories and thoughts completely untold.
There are not many rock stars today who truly live the fantasies they suggest in their music. Dennis was not only a surfer, but also a pro drag racer, sailor, movie star, and notorious womanizer. These are the stories and tales written into almost every hit breaking, chart smashing song produced by the band.
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++”I wrest the waters, fight Neptune’s waters, sail through the sorrows of life’s marauders. Unrelenting, often empty, sail on, sail on, sailor.”++
-Sail on Sailors by The Beach Boys from “Holland”
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As much a piece of the puzzle to The Beach Boys’ success, Dennis never seemed to be able to stay far from trouble. As early back as childhood, Dennis was known for getting in fights, and failing classes. He married four times, and had developed a heavy habit for drugs and alcohol.
Most can definitely agree he had some demons.
Free-spirited Dennis would hit the ultimate heights of his notoriety when it was found out that he had housed Charles Manson and his cult for a time. Viewing the group as just a bunch of cosmically inclined free loving spirits with a itching for music, Dennis welcomed the “family” into his home, and housed them for several months.
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During this time Charles Manson and his groupies were hoping to become the next great music act with the help of Dennis. Dennis would indeed get some of their songs out there, but reworked for The Beach Boys, and in 1968 they would release the single “Never Learn Not To Love” written by Dennis, a reworking of a Charles Manson original.
Morbid, considering the message, and later the acts committed by the Manson Family in the Hollywood Hills…This attachment to the Manson family would always stain Dennis’ reputation, and only further instill his bad boy image in the public mind.
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His 1977 solo debut album “Pacific Ocean Blue” was a huge critical hit for the artist, which allowed him to demonstrate his very own unique and progressive point-of-view. Many fans and critics agree it is Dennis’ fearlessness, drama, and deep soul that almost eclipse The Beach Boys altogether.
These are the traits we admire in the man. The adventurer in all aspects. His music. His life. His soul. And the whole time, he wasn’t even trying. He just simply was the most pure form of himself at all times. He just was.
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His style is almost the same. It is not pent up in being cool, it just is…sounds silly, but most of the time Dennis Wilson was just chucking clothes on. His wardrobe is simple, always comfortable, and fitted just right. Classic, but he shakes it up with his rough and messy sort of way about him.
Wilson’s body was found curled up in a fetal position at the corner of the dock that once harbored his yacht, Harmony – one of his greatest joys, as well as the scene for many dramas in his life. He had spent the afternoon drinking and diving into the waters finding objects he had thrown over his boat and into the water.
At 39, Dennis Wilson was already a legend in every right. He had inspired his band to create an entire persona around him, and with that they became America’s most famous and beloved band in history.
His devilish grin, and candid charm kept him a favorite of the group, and with a wicked ability to adapt and change, Dennis kept the band going during the band’s hardest times. Sadly, no one would be able to help carry him through his own.
Dennis Wilson was given a burial to sea, his favorite place on Earth, and an honor reserved only to members of the military. The perfect resting place for a restless, wandering, and beautiful soul.
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We love you Pacific Ocean blue
Yeah we love you Pacific Ocean Blue
Oh we love you Pacific Ocean Blue
Oh I we love you Pacific Ocean Blue
It’s no wonder the Pacific Ocean is blue
“Have you seen her all in gold,
Like a queen in days of old?
She shoots colours all around
like a sunset going down.
Have you seen a lady fairer?”
She’s like a rainbow! This is one of our all time favourite Rolling Stone tracks. From the album Their Satanic Majesties Request from 1967, the Stones had their own unique asthetic and sensibility with creating the perfect sound… all around chaotic but organic. The entire album is magnificent, but this track is such a joyous standout.
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