Tag Archives: 1933

RIP Krzysztof Penderecki (1933 – 2020)

Krzysztof Penderecki was a Polish composer of 20th century classical music, a period characterized by the use of dissonance.

Outside of the classical music domain his music has been popular in horror films. The piece Polymorphia (1962) for example, is used in The Exorcist (1973) and in The Shining (1980).

And then there is his opera based on the book The Devils of Loudun (1952) by Aldous Huxley. The story of the Loudun possessions is highly remarkable and any occasion to bring it to your attention, shall be grasped.

RIP Manu Dibango (1933 – 2020)

“Soul Makossa” (1972) single

Another covid-19 victim.

Manu Dibango was a Cameroonian saxophonist best-known for his composition “Soul Makossa” (1972), a crucial proto-disco recording.

I also had Gone Clear (1980) and Electric Africa (1985) in my collection.

Soul Makossa (1972) album

Only today do I listen for the first time to the whole Soul Makossa (1972) album. I already was familiar with “New Bell” (which had been covered on the electro scene) but “Hibiscus” was new to me and totally exquisite.

Now that I listen to “Soul Makossa” today, I hear in the bassline resonances of acid house. Do you hear it too?

RIP Stanley Long (1933 – 2012)

From the opening credits of Naughty! (1971)

Sometimes a death escapes my attention.

This particular death escaped my attention for eight years.

Stanley Long was a British filmmaker active in what is known as exploitation cinema.

An untypical work, Naughty! (1971) is recommended for including scenes of the Wet Dream Film Festival (1970).

The film is a laudable attempt to fictionalize the history of erotica and is appears to be based on The Other Victorians (1964) which was the first book to revert the received idea of Victorian prudishness. It’s similar to way worse movies such as Sexual Freedom in Denmark (1970).

You can watch Naughty as I just did by following site:https://www.eroticage.net “naughty”. That ‘eroticage.net’ site seems interesting because it has lots of vintage erotica films from the golden age of porn.

P.S. While researching Naughty! I found out that William Levy passed away in 2019.

RIP Joe Shishido (1933 – 2020)

Joe Shishido was a Japanese actor known for his eccentric yakuza film roles and his artificially enlarged cheekbones. He also played in Japanese exploitation exercises such as Gate of Flesh (1964).


The clip above is a tribute to Joe Shishido, a montage of clips from A Colt Is My Passport (1967). It is, as is usual with this kind of endeavors, more interesting than the product it is based upon.

RIP Syd Mead (1933 – 2019)

Syd Mead was an American concept artist best known for his work on Blade Runner (1982), Tron (1982) and Aliens (1986).

His death comes only three months after the death of Luigi Colani (1928 – 2019) who was in a different but comparable branch of concept art.

Both Colani and Mead were obsessed with futuristic aerodynamics.

RIP Danny Aiello (1933 – 2019)

Danny Aiello was an American actor, often characterized as a character actor.

The Stuff (1985), full film, Mr Aiello can be seen from 15:40 onwards.

Aiello played in The Stuff (1985) by Larry Cohen. In that film he is Mr. Vickers, a man who works for the FDA and approved ‘the stuff’. He is later eaten by his dog who was being fed ‘the stuff’ too. They were both addicted to ‘the stuff’.

The Stuff is a typical Cohen film, at once critical of society and sensationalist.

It belongs to a small category of Hollywood films with an anti-consumerist message. Another important film in that category is They Live (1988).

Perhaps these are the two only films in that category.