Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Frank Grow's Red and Rosy

Now, I know everyone loves Steel Pole Bath Tub - few more than I. Especially if we're talking their first couple of Boner records, Butterfly Love (1989) and Lurch (1990). We all know about the debut's "Brady Bunch" samples and Marcia Brady album cover and poster/title connection. But who's the monster on Lurch? Because it ain't The Addams Family's butler.

Lurch
Well, lemme tell ya. Back in 1989, two movies came out. One was pretty widely distributed, being Japanese and crazy and relatively medium-budget. That one was Tetsuo: The Iron Man, about a fetishist who keeps accruing metal body parts until he's a walking scrapyard cyborg killing machine, with drillbit sex organ. The lesser known one got very little distribution, because it was domestic and shoestring and 16mm. It is Red and Rosy, as American as Tetsuo was Japanese. Instead of bizarre fetishes and repressed salarymen, Frank Grow's monster is all hotrod drag-racing speedfreak psychosis! According to this review, the mechanical beast was created by Mark Pauline's Survival Reseach Labs. Oh, and by the way - after the Reagans finish their sales pitch, stay tuned for our feature presentation: the climax of Red and Rosy (1989)!!


Reagans + some of Red and Rosy (1989)


And here's the opening track on Lurch:


"Christina" from Lurch (2009)


And for good measure, this...

Butterfly Love
"Pete! Somebody... anybody! Let me out! Please, lemme out! Peter, c'mon, let me out! Somebody help me!! ~~~
Thanks, Pete!"
"All I did was open the door."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing the only (?) reason R&R didn't make it big was the presumably without-permission use of some of the music. I friggin' love "Sweet Leaf" (song and subject of song) but it was used in the film in such a way that I doubt permission had been requested. Nevertheless, why isn't this film more well known? I've enjoyed it since the '80s, and it goes great with cannabis.