Noir Dame Blog

Retro-inspired culture and media – audio drama, classic TV and film

Kathie Bleeker would be proud. You know Kathie Bleeker, right? She dreamed of open roads and wild, twisting rides by motorcycle – but unfortunately, even though Kathie is in one of the most influential films of the 1950s, most viewers overlook her.

They remember Johnny though – played by Marlon Brando in The Wild One – one of the bad boys who excited an entire generation, female and male, along with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. (And, let’s not forget, Elvis – but we’ll come back to him in a second.)

Johnny got thousands of movie viewers hankering for motorcycles and road trips. And Kathie’s desire for Johnny – well, plenty of girls in the audience shared that. Only, we tend to forget that Kathie wanted Johnny’s freedom and adventurous life, just as badly as she wanted Johnny.

In fact, when we think of motorcyclists on the open road, chances are, we’re still thinking of Brando… or Peter Fonda… or maybe those creepy guys from the first Billy Jack film. Maybe – just maybe – we think of Diane McBain as the psychopathic, well-coiffed stalker in the she-does-everything-but-boil-a-bunny exploiflick The Mini Skirt Mob.

We don’t think about sensible girls like Kathie, with brains and a work ethic, taking to the road and burning rubber. That may change once a documentary is finished about the “Girlz of Graceland,” a group of women from the Sol Sisters motorcycle club, planning a ride cross country:

On June 21st, 10 women from San Diego will be firing up their motorcycles to make a 15-day trip through 12 states. Our main destination is Graceland and we plan to arrive on 6/25/08 for a 2-day stay. We will have a documentary filmmaker along for the ride, as this trip is about so much more than just getting to Graceland. It’s about our journey as women, a celebration of why we ride, and an homage to the rebels of yesteryear who saw the open road as an escape, a challenge, and a friend. The documentary will be submitted to the Sundance Film Festival in October 2008 for their 2009 season.

When we reach Memphis, we’ll be stopping at Presley Place, a homeless shelter which is supported by Lisa Marie Presley and the Elvis Presley Foundation. While the dozens of parents at the shelter attend a Life Skills class, we’ll be babysitting their children – taking photos on the motorcycles, providing them with biker toys and leading a cooking class on “How to Make a Biker Meal.”

Now that – is cool. Man… I want to know how to make a biker meal! Eat your heart out, Anthony Bourdain!

And read through the biographies here – from Jett, whose passions include her work supervising a school bus fleet, and oh yeah – Elvis – to Anita, an environmental scientist who also tools around as a “garage artist”, and Biby, the “chaser”, a medical translator who hopes to educate people about Huntington’s Disease. Forget the old “motorcycle mama” stuff, it’s tired – some of these ladies, including Lilia, an old friend who awes me with her riding prowess, are in fact, mothers.

I’m sure there are a lot of real-life Kathies out there, whether they grew up in the fifties, or a little more recently – who are going to want to follow this wild ride, and maybe start one of their own.

We’ve been relocating to and painting our new spot, which includes an unfinished recording space (here I come plaster, sander and paint!), so I haven’t had a chance to add some interesting retro news that popped out recently. Several news stories have ties to Texas.

First off – we start with the unassuming town of Lubbock, Texas, where a paper fistfight has broken out over one of rock n’roll’s most gifted and beloved stars. Buddy Holly’s widow is threatening to sue Peggy Sue Gerron, the “Peggy Sue” of note (that’s a pun, ain’t it!). Gerron is releasing a book with her memories of Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Now, when Patti Boyd came out with her autobiography last year, Beatles and Eric Clapton fans were deeply curious about the woman behind pivotal rock songs like “Something”, “Layla,” and “Wonderful Tonight”… but Gerron was the first woman to be honored so publicly in song (as opposed to the anonymous “Hey Nonny Nonny” muses chronicled through history.)

As the story goes, the song “Peggy Sue” was originally written with another woman’s name as its title; then changed to help one of the other Crickets court Gerron. She later married that man, Jerry Allison, the Crickets’ drummer. So Gerron is – at the very least – not a stranger making up stories, out of whole cloth, about a celebrity, but someone whose husband worked closely with Holly. It’s therefore believable that she could have struck up a friendship with Buddy Holly.

Holly’s widow, Maria Elena Holly, recently filed a cease and desist order, claiming that Gerron was not Holly’s friend, and that the book will hurt her business, which owns the rights to Buddy Holly’s name and license.

Sounds a bit fishy — firstly, because celebrity books are a dime a dozen, and rarely do we hear complaints about them before the fact. While there’s been a great deal of controversy over the recent Charles Schultz biography, with son Monte going to great lengths to correct inaccuracies, the Schultz family hasn’t tried to circumvent the biographer’s right to free speech, or made claims about “damage” to their share of the Peanuts empire. (Damage to their father’s reputation – yes.) They’re just trying to get the record straight and have been above board and classy about it throughout.

And while the organization behind Graceland owns the rights to Elvis’ image and properties, as far as I know, they cannot legally stop a person from writing about their real life friendship with Elvis. A case of out and out libel (as with the questionable books by Albert Goldman) could be pursued in court, but someone writing about a friend who happened to be a celebrity? It would be “unauthorized,” but a person, of course, has a right to publish their own memoirs. Elvis is also a public figure, which means an exploration of his life is not an automatic invasion of his privacy.

And lastly, there’s the lunacy of suing a woman for writing about a man… who gained fame writing a song about her. Hypocritical and fishy.

If you’re in the Houston area, or just wish you could be, check out what the Continental Club (sister to the classic club in Austin) has on tap – the fascinating, scintillating sounds of not one, but two excitingly retro acts! This free event is held at 3700 Main St in Houston, doors open at 7:00 PM, band starts at 7:30 PM.

* The solid sixties thump of the Allen Oldies Band. I recommend you check out their website, including the MP3s that let you get a taste of their tunes; or the Houston Chronicle video showing their annual SXSW jalapeno pancake breakfast at the Austin Continental Club, last March.

* The “house” band, the El Orbits, who are also well loved thereabouts, offer a mix of rockabilly, pop and lounge. Their website is a lot of fun but doesn’t offer a sample of their sounds (or maybe I just got lost in the Bingo) … so below you can find a Youtubed copy of their “Sleigh Ride” video.

Now if you’re in the mood for a more traditional New Year’s Eve, you might also check out the SSQQ Dance Studio’s big New Year’s Eve dance, featuring the big band sounds of Bayou City Swing. $35 a ticket, with plenty of dancing in multiple rooms (rumors are that some rooms will feature western and Latin dancing).

Or, in Galveston, the gorgeous Balinese Room, which once hosted Jack Benny, Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra, will have a buffet with funk-rock by the Fondue Monks playing. Would love to see this beautiful club, which overlooks the beach, return to its roots with a more traditional band and dancing… the kind ol’ Blue Eyes could approve of. (Apologies to the Fondue Monks, who have a great downbeat). Let’s hope this venue doesn’t go the way of the Seabrook Beach Club, another great-looking venue that didn’t take advantage of its retro-looking (in this case, a Tiki Bar) roots.