Before Blogger blew up last week, we had a few comments on the "Star Hustler" post mentioning "Alive From Off Center". I wasn't able to find videos of the opening credits, but I do have a couple mp3s.
The original opening, by Laurie Anderson and David Byrne:
And a later version:
The thing about this show was they showed everything. Most of the funky art films I saw as a kid, I first saw there. I've collected what I can.
"What Do You Mean We?" was the first time we saw the Laurie Anderson "clone"; and, as a result, the duo hosted the show several times afterwards. I do recall that they introduced the next piece.
"The Street of Crocodiles" by the Brothers Quay. In the "Alive From Off Center" introduction, Anderson reads some of the story to her clone. The clone, upset that a chair might have some secret life, stands and moves the chair to the far corner of the room.
And no, they did not do the video for Tool's Sober. That was Adam Jones.
This was also how I found out about Jan Svankmajer and his short films. The Brothers Quay pay tribute to him in The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer. As it turns out, they didn't discover him until 1983, long after their own style had cemented.
Besides stop-motion, AFOC regularly featured classical animation. (Go here for the full piece, uploaded by the animator herself.)
Sometimes the show just got weird. Meredith Monk's "Book of Days" never went anywhere, yet still felt preachy. She's also the only performer I've ever walked out on. Granted, it was at intermission, but I couldn't take it anymore. I'm sure she's a fine artist, just not one I care for.
Alive From Off Center really felt different from anything else that was on TV back then. The clips they showed were subversive and revolutionary. It showed the potential of what TV could be. MTV had suggested that you didn't need the standard formats that television lived by. TV didn't need to be about talk shows and sitcoms, but it didn't have to be bands lip syncing to songs, either.
True, Alive From Off Center was a bit too arty at times, but it even when it was it was showing something that you would never see on any other channel.
Yes, there was an episode with some of Wegman's B&W work. I think that same one had a CGI house with a woman blue-screened into it, talking about drudgery.
There was also an episode about Georges Méliès, and featured some modern interpretations of his work. I wish I could find it again!
I remember one episode (though from the later "Alive TV" series) where they had some stage play version of Punch & Judy that was shown with Carl Stalling music in the background that was mentioned to have came from the CD "The Carl Stalling Project", the first time I had heard of such a release of just the music from those Warner Bros. cartoons. It was quite unique to see it used in such an unusual way.
6 comments:
I forgot how much that original theme reminded me of "The Get Along Gang".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPO2KQL4-8M
Certainly had that "get with the 80's spirit" at play here!
God that Punch and Judy film scared me shitless as an 8 year old!
I also remember this little classic that wastes 30 minutes of your life perfectly...
http://vimeo.com/7198223
And this is why we need to keep supporting PBS if we want to see more of this show up!
Alive From Off Center really felt different from anything else that was on TV back then. The clips they showed were subversive and revolutionary. It showed the potential of what TV could be. MTV had suggested that you didn't need the standard formats that television lived by. TV didn't need to be about talk shows and sitcoms, but it didn't have to be bands lip syncing to songs, either.
True, Alive From Off Center was a bit too arty at times, but it even when it was it was showing something that you would never see on any other channel.
I wish they'd release this as a DVD box set.
I think these might've played on there too .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6afbl--ze8
Yes, there was an episode with some of Wegman's B&W work. I think that same one had a CGI house with a woman blue-screened into it, talking about drudgery.
There was also an episode about Georges Méliès, and featured some modern interpretations of his work. I wish I could find it again!
I remember one episode (though from the later "Alive TV" series) where they had some stage play version of Punch & Judy that was shown with Carl Stalling music in the background that was mentioned to have came from the CD "The Carl Stalling Project", the first time I had heard of such a release of just the music from those Warner Bros. cartoons. It was quite unique to see it used in such an unusual way.
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