Soundtrack Review: Lou Waxman on Sex, Warhol, and the Summer of Love

Lou has sex on the brain.  Some might say sex is more ubiquitous on his head than his Carhart beanie.  Could be true.  On a recent trip to the Ellsworth Public Library, Lou ordered Sexplosion:  From Andy Warhol to A Clockwork Orange – How a Generation of Pop Rebels Broke All the Taboos by Robert Hofler and Adventures in the Orgasmatron:  How the Sexual Revolution Came to America by Christopher Turner.  That is some beanie.  At the time, Lou was also reading The Gay Talese Reader, who wrote Thy Neighbor’s Wife, an investigation into American sexual mores before AIDS completely changed the landscape.  Lou will put an order in for that too.  Hats upon hats upon hats.  We all know what Freud said about the meaning of hats.

So, when Lou saw a copy of the original soundtrack of Hair at The Vogue, he had to take a look at that which was under his hat.  We all know what hair is all about.  Just ask Samson.  Or Gregory Corso.  Here is Sexplosion on Hair from the index:

Hair

Banned in Boston, 139

And censorship, 106

And cultural legacy of the Sexplosion years, xi

And Keller, 173, 175

Move to Broadway, 33-41

And nudity, 1-2, 33-34, 36, 40-41, 96, 112, 137, 290

Venues for, 98-99

And women in the arts, 282

There Hair is right at the beginning of the book, page 1.  Hair is seminal and pivotal in the story of the sexual revolution in the arts.  The soundtrack is from the 1979 movie version by Milos Forman, the director of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The People vs. Larry Flynt.  Forman’s Hair is much different than the 1968 version that appeared on stage.  It is somewhat sanitized.  The sexplosion of 1968 has lost some of its charge. The creators of the original were extremely disappointed with the movie version and felt Forman made the hippies oddballs not outlaws.

As is often the case, Lou has little to say about this soundtrack, the play, the movie, or really anything at all about Hair.  Lou is more drawn to a couple of names listed on the back cover credits:  Lester Persky and Beverly D’Angelo.  

Persky first.  He is the co-producer of the film, but all Lou cares about is a party that he threw in New York City in 1965.  Lou is not much for parties.  He does not get out much, but that said Lou would have loved to be a fly on the wall or a wallflower or whatever at this party.  Persky’s Fifty Most Beautiful People Party is, in Lou’s mind, THE party of the 1960s.  Fuck Truman Capote’s Black and White Party of 1966.  Capote is just a guy who was drunk on Johnny Carson and spilled water on himself.  An embarrassment.  Capote is a non-entity and a non-talent.  He is like Warhol doing portraits of socialites in the 1970s.  A has been.

Persky had an eye for talent.  He hosted his party at Warhol’s Factory when the Factory was operational 24/7, three shifts a day, churning out the most interesting art and media of the post-WWII era.  The most beautiful concept was pure Warhol and related to his Screen Tests and his 13 Most Beautiful Boys and 13 Most Beautiful Women series.  This is prime Warhol.

The party was held in April 1965 and lasted until 5:00pm the following day.  Judy Garland arrived carried by five boys on their shoulders.  Persky had to pick her up personally to actually get her to arrive.  Rudolph Nureyev, Tennessee Williams, Brian Jones, Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Montgomery Clift attended.  The star of the party was Edie Sedgwick, and this was her coming out.  She knew all about coming out parties from her teen years in Boston.  In 1965, she was truly the center of the Warhol universe from this party and for over a year.  Warhol is in the subtitle of Sexplosion and he is all over the book.  As with so many things, Warhol was at the forefront of making free expression of sex in the arts possible.  Hair is impossible without the underground films of Warhol.  Persky has all this history behind him when he produces Hair in 1979.

Second, Beverly D’Angelo.  She plays Sheila Franklin in Hairand was dating Milos Forman at the time.  Thereafter she married into Italian royalty in 1981.  From 1997 to 2003, she was in a relationship with Al Pacino and had a twin son and daughter with him in 2001.  But fuck all this sexual history, we all know her as Mrs. Clark Griswold from National Lampoon’s Vacation.  The fact that Clark is with Beverly D’Angelo is the biggest joke in the entire movie.  He is punching so far above his weight it is not even funny.  It is unbelievable even with a suspension of disbelief.  That twit Clark doesn’t know how good he has it, which is exemplified by the fact that he chases his dream girl, Christie Brinkley, across the country.  D’Angelo was with Milos Forman and Al Pacino, Christie Brinkley was with fucking Billy Joel.  Big difference.  She can’t dance; she can’t fuck.  She can pose and she is all pose. All flash and no substance like the car she drives in the movie.  In addition, like the car, she is high maintenance.  The pool scene with Brinkley has absolutely no heat to it.  D’Angelo’s “Big Spender” routine is pure fire.  She makes an amateur porn for goodness sakes.  Clark does not deserve her.  This makes sense.  Chevy Chase, like Clark, seemingly lucked into his best roles.  Left to his own devices, Chase made movies like Under the Rainbow.  Chase is a comedic icon despite how hard he tried to sabotage his career.  The Fletches and Vacations are few and far between.  The question is not why Clark chooses D’Angelo over his vapid dream girl, but why D’Angelo is with Clark in the first place.  She deserves better.  This is what happens when you stay married for the sake of the kids.  Sad.

Lou should really listen to Hair, from what he hears on the grapevine it is a hoot and a classic of the late 1960s zeitgeist.  Like Putney Swope.  If you track down Swope, Lou will listen to Hair.  Is it a deal?

Suggested Sites and Sounds:
You Can Leave Your Hat On:  THE SEXUAL SYMBOLISM OF HATS on JSTOR

Sexplosion:  Sexplosion – HarperCollins

Thy Neighbor’s Wife:  Thy Neighbor's Wife (book) - Wikipedia

Drunk on Carson:  Johnny Carson’s SHOCKING DRUNK Guest Moments – Watch Now!

The Pool Scene: My Creedo Is Go For It

Big Spender:  Big Spender

Putney Swope: Putney Swope | Black Comedy Masterpiece | Full Movie HD | Subversive Humor

 

— Lou Waxman