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The latest articles on PleaseKillMe.com – music, art, culture, fashion, poetry and movies from the 60s through today. This Is What’s Cool!

FOXY LADY: HONORING PAM GRIER

Mark Jacobson·December 24, 2020

Originally written in 1975, at the height of the so-called “Blaxploitation-era”, this New York Magazine piece was recently dusted off by Mark Jacobson for PKM. It is offered here as a lasting tribute to Pam Grier, a ‘singular star of...

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FOUR DEAD IN OHIO: GRAPHIC NOVELIST DERF BACKDERF REVISITS HIS LOCAL HISTORY

Eric Davidson·December 23, 2020

Derf Backderf, the Cleveland-based artist best known (until now) for his long-running strip “The City” and his graphic novel My Friend Dahmer, has created a masterpiece of historical cartooning in Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. Though a boy when...

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TIGHTEN UP: ARCHIE BELL TAPS INTO A TIMELESS GROOVE

Scott Schinder·December 22, 2020

Like a much-needed vaccine of good-time dance music during the darkest days of 1968, Archie Bell’s “Tighten Up” shot out of Houston like a NASA rocket. America said, ‘Houston, we have no problems now because we got ‘Tighten Up!’. More...

All Please Kill Me Posts Cool People History Musicians Scott Schinder

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FRANK ZAPPA: ALEX WINTER’S NEW FILM CAPTURES HIS GENIUS

David Konow·December 21, 2020

Today (Dec. 21, the first official day of winter) would have been Frank Zappa’s 80th birthday. Given how his music continues to attract new generations and the prescience of his social commentary, it’s hard to believe he has been gone...

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ROSE SIMPSON: LIFE IN THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND

Richie Unterberger·December 17, 2020

The Incredible String Band was best-known as the vehicle for the otherworldly talents of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson. However, two other members, Rose Simpson and Licorice McKechnie, were vital to the communal spirit and D.I.Y. ethic of the group,...

All Please Kill Me Posts Books History Interviews Musicians Richie Unterberger

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EINAR ÖRN BENEDIKTSSON: BEYOND BJÖRK AND THE SUGARCUBES

Robert Gourley·December 16, 2020

Einar Örn Benediktsson’s career faced an enviable and yet daunting dilemma right out of the gate: His early band, formed in Iceland on a lark with some kindred spirits, were an overnight international success. The Sugarcubes, with whom Einar shared...

All Please Kill Me Posts Interviews Musicians Robert Gourley

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DAVE ALVIN IS STILL BLASTING: ‘IF CHARLES BUKOWSKI OR RAYMOND CHANDLER HAD A BAND’

Noah Lekas·December 15, 2020

In 1979, Dave and Phil Alvin formed the Blasters, a band that grew out of their love of the blues and folk music nurtured at the legendary Ash Grove club in L.A. The Blasters, along with kindred spirits X, expanded...

All Please Kill Me Posts Cool People Interviews Musicians

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LUC SANTE: CHRONICLER OF NEW YORK’S ‘LOW LIFE’

Eric Davidson·December 14, 2020

As a chronicler of New York’s underside and forgotten histories, Luc Sante walked straight out of the pages of Joe Mitchell, A.J. Liebling, the photos of Weegee and the films of Nicholas Ray. Before publishing the book that raised his...

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GO PUNK OR GO HOME: PKM’S HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

PKM Editor·December 11, 2020

Take a deep breath, let it out slowly and celebrate this: 2020 is almost over. It’s time now to think holiday shopping, in a safe and healthy way, of course. With that in mind, the PKM elves have hand-picked some...

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STEVE KILBEY KEEPS GOING TO CHURCH

Robert Gourley·December 10, 2020

Australian band, The Church, had hoped to spend 2020 celebrating its 40th anniversary but world events interceded. Bassist and singer Steve Kilbey took the down time to adapt Church back catalog for solo performance which, in turn, inspired him to...

All Please Kill Me Posts Interviews Musicians Robert Gourley

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TOM BAKER: DRINKING IT UP WITH JIM MORRISON

PKM Editor·December 9, 2020

Actor-filmmaker Tom Baker (1940-1982) befriended Jim Morrison in L.A. when he was a budding filmmaker and poet, at the beginning of his Doors’ career. The pair remained friends and drinking buddies for the rest of Morrison’s short life. Baker detailed...

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CHELSEA FLEA MARKET: REBORN AND THRIVING POST-COVID

Larry Baumhor·December 8, 2020

New York City has been celebrating the September reopening of the Chelsea Flea Market. The shared joy of dealers, collectors, buyers and tourists is palpable, even with restrictions and social distancing. Larry Baumhor, a former dealer in vintage photographs at...

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SOUL MUSIC QUEENS: SUNG AND UNSUNG IN THE TIME OF ISOLATION

Christine Ohlman·December 7, 2020

The Queens of Soul, from Aretha to Dolly, will warm up any winter night, even during the coldest times of this pandemic. Christine Ohlman, herself a soul queen and a musical staple on Saturday Night Live, defines her terms and...

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ANDY WARHOL: THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW #7

Billy Hough·December 4, 2020

In a new biography this year, the New York Times art critic Blake Gopnik called Andy Warhol the 20th Century’s most important artist. Obviously, such a declaration takes in far more than the visual aspect of Warhol’s art. In his...

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Jack Kerouac based his muse/lover “Mardou Fox” in The Subterraneans on Alene Lee, a mixed race (Black/Cherokee) bohemian writer and intellectual who was a part of the NYC Beat circle of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Lucien Carr. Despite her intimate connection to these writers, the real Alene Lee is nowhere to be found in most accounts and biographies—partly due to her own reticence to speak. Erika Blair did some digging and presents a more rounded portrait of this fascinating woman. Read more!

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SAM CUTLER: LIFE WITH THE STONES, THE DEAD & OTHER WONDERFUL REPROBATES

ALL THE RAJ: HOW ‘NORWEGIAN WOOD’ UNLEASHED THE ‘INDIAN INVASION’

THE KNACK … AND HOW TO GET IT: AN INTERVIEW WITH PRESCOTT NILES

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All Please Kill Me Posts

FOXY LADY: HONORING PAM GRIER

FOUR DEAD IN OHIO: GRAPHIC NOVELIST DERF BACKDERF REVISITS HIS LOCAL HISTORY

TIGHTEN UP: ARCHIE BELL TAPS INTO A TIMELESS GROOVE

FRANK ZAPPA: ALEX WINTER’S NEW FILM CAPTURES HIS GENIUS

ROSE SIMPSON: LIFE IN THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND

EINAR ÖRN BENEDIKTSSON: BEYOND BJÖRK AND THE SUGARCUBES

DAVE ALVIN IS STILL BLASTING: ‘IF CHARLES BUKOWSKI OR RAYMOND CHANDLER HAD A BAND’

LUC SANTE: CHRONICLER OF NEW YORK’S ‘LOW LIFE’

GO PUNK OR GO HOME: PKM’S HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

STEVE KILBEY KEEPS GOING TO CHURCH

TOM BAKER: DRINKING IT UP WITH JIM MORRISON

CHELSEA FLEA MARKET: REBORN AND THRIVING POST-COVID

SOUL MUSIC QUEENS: SUNG AND UNSUNG IN THE TIME OF ISOLATION

ANDY WARHOL: THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW #7

SAM CUTLER: LIFE WITH THE STONES, THE DEAD & OTHER WONDERFUL REPROBATES

ALL THE RAJ: HOW ‘NORWEGIAN WOOD’ UNLEASHED THE ‘INDIAN INVASION’

THE KNACK … AND HOW TO GET IT: AN INTERVIEW WITH PRESCOTT NILES

POLY STYRENE: BREAKING DOWN THE BONDAGE

WE NEVER LEARN: GUNK PUNK IN THE 1990S