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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
 Posted - 12/10/2007 : 2:03:40 PM
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Yes, his apallingness is so great that his tentacles will on occasion cross clean out of the genre of film and into other media. How, you ask?? Well, how about a live rock concert presided over by the giant floating reanimated simulacrum of Richard Burton's head??
Read that last sentence again. I'll wait.
First some background:
Way back in the dark ages of the late 70's there was a band called Alan Parsons Project. Al wasn't actually a musician, he was a producer who had worked in the legendary Abbey Road Studios and helped make Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd and many other famous recordings. His "Project" pulled together a core band of studio musicians and singers to do light rock concept albums based around ideas like the works of Edgar Allen Poe and the ancient pyramids. Cue a young guy named Jeff Wayne with ties to Broadway who reasoned, why not take that sound and make a BIGGER concept album, with a storyline, a narrator to tell the story and a tied in graphical book and everything? And if it was a hit it could play on Broadway as a live show. The album would be a musical telling of the H.G. Wells classic War Of The Worlds. And for his narrator he chose the biggest scenery chewer he could get at the time: Sir Richard Burton.
Do you see where this is going. (Don't scroll down to the picture yet- wait for it *g*)
The album was a fairly big hit due in large part to a ballad sung by Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward called "Forever Autumn". But in spite of the success by the time things were starting to work out to mount a live version of the show Burton passed away and the whole thing fizzled and was forgotten.
Cut to 2006. Apparently the album still carries enough cult appeal to finally do a live tour. But, who to narrate? Well, the only choice is still the one and only Sir Richard! So, a new actor is brought in to mime the words from the original dialog track, his mouth is mapped over a picture of a young Rick in his 20's, the image is projected onto a HUGE head shape that floats over the stage and the final result is--- man, really just... wrong.
It's like Burton as a post modern Clutch Cargo. The mouth moves and the eyes are dead. It's SO creepy.
Here's an actual picture from the show:
[img]http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200706/r147986_522750.jpg[/img]
Imagine that talking while semi-cheesy light disco rock plays. It's even worse because you can see the struts that hold him up coming out of his head and it winds up being even more creepy, cyberpunk and Borg-like. If only they had put translucent green liquid coursing in and out of the head. That would have been awesome. And it should have floated around the stage instead of stuck rooted in that one spot. And lasers could have come out of its eyes at the audience. Damn, they should have let me produce this. But oh well.
I actually scored a DVD of this and watched the whole thing. Honestly, the music, while still terribly cheesy in places, holds up well and comes across much better live than on the old album. On the whole I liked the show- it would have been a blast to see live. But that animated Burton head- dang. Just- wow, that's all I can say. You have to see it in action to really understand.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo
edit- fixed a typo |
Edited by - Sardu on 12/23/2007 11:32:09 AM
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2007 : 3:50:15 PM
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Must...not think...ZARDOZ...
Marvin the Paranoid Android to Buzz Lightyear "Too infinity and beyond-i've been there, its rubbish!"
"Hoody Hoo, i waste 'em with my cross bow!" Bob Herzog- KODT
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 12/10/2007 : 4:15:00 PM
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Ooh, right, I knew that reminded me of something. And ZARDOZ was directed by John Boorman, who went on to make Exorcist II: The Heretic, which starred- Richard Burton! Right before he made Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of War Of The Worlds!! It's all connected!! Owwwwww, my head!!
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Gristle McThornbody
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Germany
186 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 07:44:14 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Flangepart
Must...not think...ZARDOZ...
I will freely admit that the first thing I thought of upon seeing that head was "It should be bellowing 'The penis is bad!'"
"Hi, I'm Bob Evil!" |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 12/11/2007 : 4:26:42 PM
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The penis is bad!...and that trombone player in the third row has a wicked bald spot!
Marvin the Paranoid Android to Buzz Lightyear "Too infinity and beyond-i've been there, its rubbish!"
"Hoody Hoo, i waste 'em with my cross bow!" Bob Herzog- KODT
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Altair IV
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Japan
110 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2007 : 08:51:39 AM
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Oh man, is that awesome. I have to admit that the Alan Parson's Project is one of those that I've never bothered taking the time to familiarize myself with, but I'd have loved to have seen this show live, even if I knew nothing at all about them. It just seems so..., so..., well you know the feeling, there are no words to properly describe it. That has got to be one of the wildest live shows I've ever heard about. I'm certain that no video recording can really do it justice.
But speaking of video, here's a touch of the Burton action courtesy of [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7vfjJHcfeE "]YouTube[/url]. I agree though, it would've been even better if the Disembodied Head of Richard Burton* had actually floated out over the audience or something.
*Isn't "The Disembodied Head of [name]" one of the greatest phrases in the English language, or what? |
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CDiehl
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2007 : 9:02:17 PM
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quote:
*Isn't "The Disembodied Head of [name]" one of the greatest phrases in the English language, or what?
It sure is. It's part of why Futurama is so cool, isn't it?
Also, I hope the severed head claims at some point that this concert scientifically proves that an ancient demon is possessing someone in the crowd.
You know Grand Funk, don't you? The wild, shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner? The bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher? The ... adequate drumwork of Don Brewer? |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 12/24/2007 : 11:33:12 AM
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Just as a footnote:
Burton is sometimes erroneously referred to as "Sir Richard Burton", perhaps due to the similarity of his assumed name to that of Sir Richard Francis Burton, but unlike the 19th century scholar, he never received a knighthood.
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://www.henrybrennan.com/
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 12/24/2007 : 11:41:27 AM
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D'OH!!!
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Ken HPoJ
Supreme Potentate
USA
1530 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2007 : 11:44:34 AM
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He's a Knight of Jabootu, though, and well earned of the title.
As well, it should be noted that Jabootu itself is a disembodied head. This is why so many films on the subject find it's unholy favor.
PEGGY: I don't see how having a girl on the team would ruin it. Did a woman judge ruin the Supreme Court?
HANK: Yes, and that woman's name was Earl Warren.
--King of the Hill |
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