Glenn O'Brien Movies

Inevitably recalling his earlier effort, the long-incomplete Downtown 81 (which was eventually finished and issued in 2001), Edo Bertoglio returns to the same subject with this documentary effort. The film, like its predecessor, leads viewers on a tour of the New York avant-garde scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Using archival footage and interviews with such individuals as Deborah Harry, Glenn O'Brien and Victor Bockris, Bertoglio conjures up a re-evocation of the said time and place, and draws on the vivid, colorful and anecdotal recollections of his participants - thus revealing how collective experiences helped shape and define a particular environment and atmosphere in a Manhattan that no longer exists. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Originally aired live in color on New York City's Channel J (a public access "commercial station") this episode of TV Party from June 13, 1982 found the producers of the show growing increasingly desperate as producer/host Glenn O Barr announces, "Everything here is for sale." He's missing a tooth, and he hasn't had a haircut in quite some time, and while the energy is there, it's obvious that the crew isn't functioning at full capacity. Lenny Ferrari, Karen Geniece, and Charles Rocket join the TV Party Orchestra, the latter plugging into a stack of Marshall amps and running his accordion through a variety of guitar pedals in order to achieve a "heavy metal accordion" sound. Recently fired from Saturday Night Live for uttering the "F" word during a live broadcast, Rocket later launches into a droll, post-modern version of the radio hit "Wild Thing". While at first it appears as if Gun Club's Jeffrey Lee Pierce won't be able to perform due to a broken guitar, he quickly gets a lender and offers a soulful rendition of a Robert Johnson song. The episode winds to a close with a thirty second meditation led by O'Barr, a punk rock poem read by a Russian poet, and a live performance of the original composition "Why Can't I Get Laid" by German new waver Lothar Manteuffel, featuring accordion accompaniment by Rocket. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Chaos gives way to art as a live television broadcast of the legendary, late 1970s public access show TV Party experiences some serious technical difficulties before getting under way with appearances by such special guests as Debbie Harry, Klaus Nomi, Adny Shernoff, and The Patty Smith Group's Richard Sohl. The sound-man has gone missing, ensuring that the opening segments of this episode of TV Party from January 8, 1979 gets off to an alternately amusing and artistically agonizing start. Later, when the sound board gets working, Blondie singer Harry and host Glenn O'Brien back up Compton Maddox in a typically droll performance by the underground singer/songwriter, futurist soprano Nomi takes the microphone to deliver a post-modern aria, and The Dictators' Shernoff covers The Beach Boys' "Be True to Your School" as Manic Panic designers Tish and Snooky cheer along with pom-poms. Later, director Eric Mitchell announces the grand opening of the New Cinema theater and shows a few clips from the latest film Kidnapped. "White people talk about reggae" in a segment featuring British director David Silver and photographer Kate Simon, and the episode winds to a close as Blondie singer Harry, her band-mate Chris Stein, and good friend Sohl sit down to puff on a joint while taking calls from viewers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This docudrama celebrates the colorful lives of teens who live in the South Bronx. There they are seen break dancing, creating graffiti art, and listening to raucous rap. The slim story centers on Zoro, who likes to spray-paint subway cars. He gets a break when he is hired to decorate a platform for an upcoming rap concert. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide