OK, a couple of weeks ago I was speaking to a friend about what movies I'd especially like to see screened... At the top was Kamikaze '89, Fassbinder's starring role in a totally depressing (now retro) futurist New Wave sci-fi thriller. Second on the list was Never Too Young To Die. Only a matter of a couple hours went by before I noticed that, due to the terrible fire at Universal Studios, Phil had changed a few of the titles he was showing. Boom, there it was!!! A real life, full screen showing of one the 80's strangest creations.  Gene Simmons dressed up looking like Carmen Miranda morphed with Frank N Furter, wearing Lynda Carter's old fake Kiss costume. The God of Thunder as an eco-terrorist by day and Pre-Op glam-metal cabaret singer by night. Vanity flying "high" after her big role in Barry Gordy's the Last Dragon. John Stamos as the 2nd generation secret agent gymnast sent to save LA. It's all waiting for you 24 hrs from now, down at the New Beverly which is located at  7165 Beverly Blvd., just west of  La Brea. Phil will take your $7 at the window, please thank him for showing this film!!! 

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OK, part 2 of our trip through Obiland begins with a Boston classic, along with its promo sticker sheet...



A trio of 80's classics. I'm sorry, but Pete Burns was always scary...


 
This Al Kooper Obi was used in a series of albums related to him via production and such...

Not sure if short lived subsidiary "American International Records" is the same as the "A.I.R." from the late 60's, but it's very likely.  The studio 54 comp had this custom jobber and the final image is a great example of the classic early Casablanca blue label design...



When studying the classic desert scene design, one will begin to notice many variations. Here's an interesting trio...A later period label, with mention of Polygram at the bottom.  Middle label bears the Fauves-Puma Records imprint, a pairing that was reported to have moved some 15 million units on this Santa Esmeralda hit!! Finally, the classic desert scene from the Village People's heyday, before "Can't Stop the Music" nearly did...

1980 saw the Casablanca release of Tony Joe White's The Real Thang album, which contained the amazing track "I Get Off On It", in which he discusses various individuals and their predilections--  junk food, trannys, trenchcoat flashers, bondage. Combine with a couple of other album highlights "Disco Blues" & the disco-ized version of "Even Trolls Love Rock and Roll", add copious amounts of cocaine and you've pretty much 'crystallized' the Casablanca Records story. 1980 was also the year that Polygram final squeezed Casablanca's founder out of the picture.  Neil Bogart went on to put together Boardwalk Entertainment, signing Joan Jett.  He also signed Get Wet -- if anyone out there knows what the Lou Reed connection is with them, please chime in. Anyhow, Mr. Bogart's body gave out on him 2 years later. 

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