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So, I don’t know if you’ve heard– there’s a party coming to BROOKLYN. Iron & Air is throwing down for the release of Issue Nine at Fast Ashleys Studios– and you’re not gonna want to miss it. I might be slightly biased, but I ‘m pretty stoked that the bike built for me by Kevin Dunworth of Loaded Gun Customs will be unveiled that night, and will also be featured in Iron & Air magazine. There will be lots of local Brooklyn eats ‘n’ drinks– The Shop Brooklyn will be dishing out their special slow-cooked brand of goodness. And their will be plenty of badass bikes to ogle, and some cool art going on. If you want to partake in the festivities, you will need to RSVP on the Iron & Air Facebook page (look for the ‘EVENTS’ tab and click on “GOING’), OK? If you can’t handle that, or ain’t down with the Facebook you can always blow-up Sonia’s email at sonia@ironandair.com and ask her to put you on the RSVP list. She’s gonna kill me…
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The TSY ‘Tramp’ a collaboration built by Kevin Dunworth of Loaded Gun Customs coming to Brooklyn.
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You can never have enough Norm Grabowski! From the grainy pages of Modern Cycle magazine, ca. 1965 (a follow-up piece published after covering Norm’s epic Corvair-powered “Six Pack” motorcycle), by way of Nostalgia on Wheels. Below is Norm on the Harley before the sidecar, and following along after you’ll see it fitted with the Steib sidecar as it appeared in Modern Cycle.
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Norm Grabowski on his custom ’54 Panhead Harley with special high-torque cams on a ’38 H-D rigid frame. This was later equipped with a Steib sidecar frame adapted by Mike Parti. –pic via Irish Rich
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Norm on his red metalflaked Pan chopper with the jugs and heads painted white, at the drags. Check out the sissy bar – it’s a combination beer can holder / “church key” beer can opener….too fucking much!
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Norm Grabowski is the kind of guy who goes nuts over things mechanical. If you read the Modern Cycle issue of May 1965, you’ll remember the story we did on his Six Pack, the ultra-smooth power monster consisting mainly of an Indian motorcycle frame housing a Chevrolet Corvair engine. Norm’s latest creation is certainly as far out as the last one, but at least this time he stuck mostly to motorcycle parts in creating it. Completed last Fall, the three wheeler was seen several times on television on the short lived series, My Mother The Car, in which the actor was a regular. Grabowski drove the melodramatic villain, Captain Mancini, around in the strange looking chair. –Modern Cycle magazine, ca. 1965
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Funny how often we automatically assume that long-standing, famous couples must be deeply devoted, madly in love, and happier than a couple of pigs in slop. Sometimes, like in the case of Salavador Dali and his wife Gala– what looked like love may have been a case of shared sins and “the devil you know”… I found this juicy tell-all on the couple written for VF some 15 years ago that made my own mustache curl on end… I even had to omit a few bits that were just too much. Let’s just say, it seems that they deserved each other– neither of them seem exactly easy, let alone pleasurable, to be with.
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ca. 1930– Salvador Dali and Gala in Port Lligat, a fishing village near Cadaques, before they married. When they met in 1929 Gala was still married to the poet Paul Eluard, and she quickly began an affair with Dali, who was around ten years her junior. After marrying Dali, she and Eluard continued their intimate relationship. “Letters to Gala” is the published collection of Eluard’s raw, twisted, and emotional letters to Gala that expose the powerful grip she held on him.
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DALI’S DEMON BRIDE
When Surrealist master Salvador Dali met Gala Devulina in 1929, the 25-year-old artist found a poisonous muse who defined decadence and outdid him in sexual perversity.
By John Richardson, Vanity Fair, 1998
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That Salvador Dali fell victim to his Russian wife Gala’s lust for domination is no longer a matter of conjecture. Ian Gibson, in an eye-opening biography of the artist that Norton will publish here this month, comes up with some terrifying new facts, which reveal in more detail and depth than ever before how and why this quintessential Surrealist—the master of the soft watches—allowed himself to be destroyed by one of the nastiest wives a major modern artist ever saddled himself with.
I can testify to the accuracy of Gibson’s account. In the early 1970s I was a vice president of M. Knoedler & Co., Dali’s dealers. One of my responsibilities was keeping the artist to the terms of his contract at a time when his eye was so bleary and his hand so shaky that assistants had taken over his more arduous work. I could not help feeling sorry for the seedy old conjurer, with his rhinoceros-horn wand, leopardskin overcoat, and designer whiskers, not to mention his surreal breath. The Wizard of Was, as someone called him, was all patter and very little sleight of hand. His virago of a wife and the creepy, conniving courtiers in charge of his business had reduced Dali to a mere logo, a signature as flamboyant as his mustache.
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ca. 1930– Salvador Dali and Gala in Port Lligat, a fishing village near Cadaques, before they married. Dali was reportedly a virgin when they met, who feared female private parts, and in a very close relationship with the poet Federico Garcia Lorca. There are differing opinions on whether it was a gay love affair– some say it was, while others claim Dali rebuffed Lorca’s sexual advances. Reports are also that what Dali really got off on was candaulism.
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Brian Duffy photograph of David Bowie for the Aladdin Sane album cover, 1973. “Bowie’s sixth studio album marked the birth of the ‘schizophrenic’ character Aladdin Sane who was a development of the space-age Japanese-influenced Ziggy Stardust. To create the compelling album cover image, Bowie collaborated with photographer Brian Duffy and make-up artist Pierre Laroche. The result was one of the most recognizable images in popular culture– a ‘lightning flash’ design which has been reproduced in multiple forms world-wide.” via
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Unless you’re living under a rock (which may be the case if you depend on TSY for current affairs), there’s no way you could not feel the intense media blitz that’s happening around all things David Bowie. The release of the new single and album “The Next Day”…the 40th anniversary of Ziggy Stardust…the “David Bowie is” exhibit at London’s V&A…even the whole androgyny thing that’s sweeping the fashion scene bears his mark. Bowie is everywhere you turn, for chrissakes.
Look, there are those that revere Bowie as an ahead-of-his-time visionary who revolutionized Rock ‘n’ Roll. And there are those who see him very black & white, as a plodding opportunist who coldly studied what was happening around him (heavily borrowing from true innovators at the time like Marc Bolan), and then expertly went about merchandising himself for mass commercial consumption. Both are fucking true. Bowie is an epic genius who learned through years of toil, trial, and error how to create a magical out-of-this-world persona and artistically sell it to us on a silver platter. No one has done it better in recent memory, and it’s unlikely that anyone in our lifetime will top him. Period. End of story.
There’s an incredible account by Glenn O’Brien in the recent issue of Out Magazine. Gay or straight, get over it, go buy it, and devour the entire spread on David Bowie. It is brilliant. You can read a chunk of it here after the jump. Now go– oh, you pretty things.
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who revolutionized Rock ‘n-
“David Bowie (AKA Ziggy Stardust) wearing a sensational creation by Kansai Yamamoto. Born in Yokohama in 1944, the Japanese fashion designer was only 27 when he held his first international fashion show in London in 1971. The Japanese division of RCA records made MainMan aware of Yamamoto’s work and Bowie purchased the “woodlands animal costume” from Kansai’s London boutique– which he wore at the Rainbow Concert in August 1972 and which was later remade by Natasha Korniloff. Bowie subsequently viewed a video of a rock/fashion show that Kansai had staged in Japan the previous year and reportedly loved the costumes which were a combination of modern sci-fi and classical Kabuki theatre. Kansai and Bowie met in New York where he gifted Bowie two costumes during the 2nd US Tour. Kansai was then commissioned to create nine more costumes based on traditional Japanese Noh dramas for Bowie to pick up in Tokyo in April 1973. These were the flamboyant androgynous Ziggy Stardust costumes Bowie wore on the 3rd UK tour in 1973.” via The Ziggy Stardust Companion –photo by Masayoshi Sukita, the David Bowie archive
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David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust –photo by Mick Rock via
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“Norm Grabowski”s monster– the Corvair-powered “Six Pack”. Neil East (another rodding icon), owned AutoBooks in Burbank, CA, and Colorado Carbooks here in Denver told me that Norm used to come to L.A. Roadster club meetings on the Six Pack, and he said Norm had no problem kick starting this bike, when it was time to leave. It had no electric starter!” –Irish Rich
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Norm Grabowski’s epic “Six Pack” — an air-cooled, flat-six Corvair engine mounted on the frame of a ’41 Indian shaft drive with no transmission, just a clutch. Another future Kustom Kulture legend pin-striped the bike– Dean Jeffries. Irish Rich (whose website is the authority on old school builders, and is due a ton of respect for his own incredible work) saw this impressive bike himself back in ’65, and has chronicled it well. Norm actually built 2 Corvair-powered “SIx Packs” — the other mated with H-D tranny called “PP ‘n’ Vinegar.”
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From the archives of Nostalgia on Wheels comes this lil’ peek at Barred Outlaw Motorcycle magazine– a biker exploitation rag written not for riders, but for voyeurs looking for what makes those bad boys tick. Think of it as a primer for squares on bikers. There’s just enough laughable, inaccurate and hyperbolic writing that when they do actually mention the true 1%’er MC’s it kinda lacks any sting. Hell, they can’t even get the year right for when The Wild One (the Godfather of all biker exploitation flicks) was filmed… ca. 1960??? What I do love about the magazine is the use of images, the layouts, fonts, etc. It is pure gold for the design-minded among us. It’s kinda refreshing compared to all the stripped-down aesthetic out there right now.
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BARRED OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE SPECIAL– ANGELS FROM HELL! Today’s rebels on wheels, living a legend of violence and excitement. Their love is hate…for everything and everyone– but each other!
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Hi JP,Your latest post about the Air Fast images really hit a cord with me. Coming from a predominately Air Force military family, almost every male relative has flown a plane at some point or another, and having been schooled in aviation history and legend my entire life I find endless stoke in those images. I thought I would share a few stories with you that might tickle your flying wings.Firstly this chick [Gladys Ingle] has more balls that all your subscribers combined, including me!
All the best,
Eric Lindeman
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Well Eric wasn’t just whistlin’ Dixie! Gladys Ingle definitely had balls to spare– Maybe she had 13 pairs! She was the only female member of Hollywood’s 13 Black Cats aerial daredevil stunt troop. They flew “Jennys”– Curtiss JN-4 biplanes with an abundance of struts and wires to grip, making it ideal for stunt-riders and wing-walkers. Gladys earned her fearless reputation by changing planes in mid-air without a parachute or safety gear. Legend has it she performed her wing-walking stunts hundreds of times. She’s a young and spry woman of 25 or 26 years old in the below pics– amazing. One popular stunt had Gladys performing archery atop a Jenny biplane in midair. She went on to live a long and healthy life, passing away in 1981, at 82 years of age. I’d love to know more about the incredible Gladys Ingle, so please reach out if you’re in the know!
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Wing-walker Gladys Ingle transferring from Bon McDougall’s airplane to Art Goebel’s airplane with no parachute or safety gear. In 1927, after several aerial stunt and wing-walking deaths, parachutes were finally required by law. –courtesy San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives. Keep reading and you’ll see an amazing video of her in action…
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Scott Pommier is alive and well in Paris! His latest work shot for FAST is a moving testament to his incredible eye and vision. FAST is a quarterly magazine, put out by the French advertising agency Born to Run. For each issue, they decide on a theme with a photographer, and have featured the works of– Henri Roy, Mathieu Cezar and Scott’s friend Dimitri Coste. The two first met on a Vans shoot and Dimitri was kind enough to introduce Scott to the folks who work on FAST, and planted the idea that they should work with him on an issue. It’s interesting to hear in Pommier’s own words how the shoot came together. It illustrates that having the balls to stick to your vision, even when the clock is against you, can pay off in big brass spades.
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“Boeing Stearman A75N1. This plane was used to train American pilots in the 1930s. It was sold-off cheap in the 1950s and likely flown by Nicaraguan guerillas up thru the ’60s, riddled with bullet holes. It was recovered and restored to its original glory by Philipe Ciepiela, A French aviation enthusiast. Now it lives in a hangar outside of Paris once run by the Nazis.” – Scott Pommier
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“When I came to Paris in October of last year, the Born to Run agency was one of my first stops. They asked me what I’d want to shoot for the next issue, and I had a few ideas– things that I thought would be easy enough to pull off in a short time-frame, with a tight budget. But the idea I was most excited to shoot was a cinematic fashion story involving vintage aircraft. I managed to convince them to help me find two 1930s bi-planes and two pilots who would be up for flying them in December– during some less than ideal weather.” –Scott Pommier
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–Photograph by Scott Pommier
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“The agency really came through, and so I scrambled to find an assistant, a stylist and models. At one point it was looking like we wouldn’t be able to fly, it was going to be too windy and the clouds too low, so that’s when I made a last-minute call to Dimitri to see if he would make a guest appearance along with his father’s 1935 Norton 500 single. If I couldn’t shoot the planes in motion, having a running bike would at least allow me to capture some of the spirit and some of the movement that I had envisioned. In the end we were lucky and there was a brief window where we were able to fly. It was a very hectic day and the shooting was really compressed, but in the end, even though there were a hundred more setups I would have loved to shoot, it all came out very close to how I’d imagined from the outset. Shooting a seventy-something year-old piston-powered bi-plane over the french countryside is something that I will never forget.” –Scott Pommier
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–Photograph by Scott Pommier
AIR FAST @ REPUBLIC GALLERY | PHOTOGRAPHY OF SCOTT POMMIER
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For our friends in France, Do not miss this!
AIR FAST
photography by Scott Pommier
Republic Gallery
38 Rue Notre Dame De Nazareth
75003 Paris
FAST #9 Launch & Opening
March 6th, 6pm (18:00)
Runs March 6-March 13
scottpommier.com
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Scott Pommier is a talented photographer, and no stranger to TSY. We’ve featured the campaign for Moto Guzzi motorcycles, and his epic shots of Max Schaaf, Shinya Kimura, and Stacie B. London. In AIR FAST, Pommier showcases his amazing range, sensitivity and command of the craft. He’s the rare cat that is capable of shifting gears to shoot everything from Harleys to high fashion with enviable ease.
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–Photograph by Scott Pommier
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“TAKE NONE GIVE NONE” | A FILM ON THE LEGENDARY CHOSEN FEW MC
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In 1959, the Chosen Few MC officially formed out in LA on the cusp of the chaotic ’60s. As they tell it —“The 60s was a hell of a time. With the Civil Rights Movement, The Viet Nam War, Flower Power & Free Love. Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. Also the Crazy World of the Outlaw Bikers…When you talk of the Outlaw Bikers you automatically think of ‘Them Crazy White Boys’ doing what a lot of folk wish they could do. Live Life Like You Want & Fuck You And Your Rules. Well Guess What? There was some crazy Black bikers who felt the same way, and didn’t give a Fuck. Thus was born the Black Outlaw Bikers!”
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Now there is a documentary on the Chosen Few in work, hopefully soon to be released, that tells their story. Hearing these guys speak about their brotherhood and love of riding in the above trailer gave me chills. If you like what you see, like their page, follow them on twitter, leave a comment on their site– all that social media shit that says YES, GIVE IT TO ME! I WANT TO SEE IT!
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Take None Give None evolved from a long-term relationship between the photographer Gusmano Cesaretti and the Chosen Few Motorcycle Club. In 2010, he teamed up with photographer Kurt Mangum, and a team of talented professional cinematographers to capture in light, motion and sound what it feels like to ride with the oldest integrated outlaw motorcycle club in the United States.
During the two years of filming, the club experienced many changes — from the mounting tensions and differences between the founding members and the younger generation, to the raiding and seizure of their historic South Central clubhouse by the LAPD. There have been many poorly-researched and superficial news stories about the club in recent years, but this film hopes to offer a ground level, unfiltered and unbiased look at what it means to be one of the Chosen Few.
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THE ONE MOTORCYCLE SHOW ROUNDUP | PORTLAND IS MY KIND OF TOWN
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The One Motorcycle Show has officially blown-up. Hat tip to Thor Drake & crew at See See Motorcycles for putting on an unforgettable event, and forging a community of passionate and fun-loving riders, builders & fans that now call The 1 Moto home. It was definitely an eclectic mix of personalities and styles that made for an epic display of jaw-dropping machines. Big name custom-build powerhouses cozied-up next to local bikes and newcomers. Young and old stood shoulder to shoulder without a dissenting word towards old farts or hipsters alike. In fact, there were more smiling faces and open hearts than you could shake a chain at, as everyone pulled together without nary a grumble and gave the crowd a show they won’t soon forget– I know I won’t. The talented Scott Toepfer was official bike photographer, and Ray Gordon’s THROTTLED II exhibit raised the rafters off Sandbox Studio.
I dare say– How the HELL are you gonna top this one, Thor!?
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Todd Blubaugh proudly posing on his Harley-Davidson Shovelhead, so good to meet you.
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Buddy and badass photographer Scott Toepfer snaps this Harley-Davidson Shovelhead chopper.
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Pre-show snapshot of THROTTLED II goodness by the irrepressible Ray Gordon – love that guy.
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WHO THE F*CK IS RETRO MOTO? | THE SHOW FOR TRUE MOTORCYCLE LOVERS
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Matt Smith (Smoke and Throttle) is the host of Retro Moto TV– here with a vintage Norton Manx.
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Through authentic content and the tenacious dedication of four single-minded PA motorcycle enthusiasts (John Lawless, Ed Buffman, Matt Smith, and Sheldon Brown), Retro Moto has garnered a lot of exposure, and gained strong interest. Motorweek – the longest running automotive show in America — aired the first segment in January, and will run another in April. The ultimate goal is to launch Retro Moto as a full-blown program, that Ed Buffman would say — “…is truly about the love of vintage motorcycles, and celebrates the people that love them, work on them and ride them, without any phony stuff tied into it. Retro Moto hasn’t found a home yet because of the nature of reality television. They have all these shows, that we all know aren’t real. They have made-up scripts with somebody being stupid, somebody being smart, to create this made-up drama. That’s not what we’re about.”
Let me just say — This show is going to happen. The time is right, and it’s just too damn good a concept. This is a show for us, the people. We are the primaries, and we are the audience. So if you want to get involved, reach out to me. You can partner in Retro Moto’s success by becoming a sponsor. We’ll build this thing together — it’s about community — always has been in our world. That’s who we all are, and it’s what we do. We go out and make it happen ourselves — we don’t wait for the mainstream world to bless us and pat us on the head. No thanks — Fuck that.
Buy me a beer and talk to me at The One Motorcycle Show Friday or Saturday, or email me at info@selvedgeyard.com — I’ll tell you more about it, and how easy it is to get involved. I’ll then put you in touch with the guys and we’ll get this thing rollin’.
Cheers, JP
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GET TO THE ONE MOTORCYCLE SHOW | RAY GORDON’S THROTTLED II EXHIBIT!
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Still regretting that I blew my chance last year to see Ray Gordon’s adrenaline-infused work in person last year– so, I’m sure as hell ain’t going to miss The One Motorcycle Show this Feb. 8th-10th at Sandbox Studios, Portland, OR. Got my ticket, getting on the plane bloody frickin’ early tomorrow morning. See y’all there!
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THROTTLED II — photograph by © Ray Gordon
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THROTTLED II — photograph by © Ray Gordon
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THE ONE MOTORCYCLE SHOW NOT TO MISS THIS YEAR | ARE WE GOING?
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This is the one bike show NOT to miss, so get ready to head to Portland and have a blast. Featuring bikes by Chabbott Engineering, See See Motorcycles, Deus Ex Machina, Roland Sands, G&H Cycles, 4Q Conditioning, and more… James Hammarhead had mentioned he’d be there too, hope that’s true! Also, there will hand-painted Bell helmets by over 21 artists, food, drink, merch, music, and more.
Follow the fun on instagram – @THE1MOTO & @THESELVEDGEYARD
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Find out more about the show here…
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PULP FICTION | VISUALLY GRIPPING PAPERBACK ART OF THE ’50s & ’60s
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In case you missed it over on the TSY facebook page I’ve been obsessed with the below piece of work for quite some time, and finally posted it up and asked the beloved The Selvedge Yard clan for help in identifying the artist. It took about all of 2 seconds.
As a kid, my healthy diet of Happy Days, Sha Na Na, and flicks like The Lords of Flatbush deeply engrained a love of greaser culture and style that will surely remain until I die. “Bad Girls” by James Alfred Meese slays me with every viewing. Obviously the cover art was intentionally as lurid and enticing as possible to get you to part with your money and buy the “pulp” paperbacks that were named after the cheaply produced paper they were printed on. Here are a few other fine examples of pulp art, which really peaked in the ’50s & ’60s, in my humble opinion.
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Bad Girls — paperback cover art by James Alfred Meese, 1958
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Bad Girls– They prowl the fringe of the underworld for kicks – cover art by James Alfred Meese, 1958
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