The King of Rock & Roll
– one of the most memorable song in late 80’s British music was the “hot-dog” song by Prefab Sprout. Written by Durham bred Paddy McAloon it tells the poignant tale of a washed up crooner living off a one hit wonder from decades past. Photo on blog is from photoshoot of their ‘85 LP titled Steve McQueen; the album was titled “Two Wheels Good” for the US market.
– it looks sad and forlorn in a garage stall. $450 all there; but we know the cost in getting ‘er back on the road. Given the means…
DNA
– For over six decades there has been a Tiger model in the Triumph line-up. Each generation epitomized the riding needs of its time.
Knoll (nōl) vb. Knolling is simply the process of arranging objects so they are parallel or at 90-degree angles. It helps keep everything organised and when photographed creates clean, noticeable images. The term was coined in 1987 by a janitor name Andrew Kromelow who was working at Frank Gehry’s furniture making shop. The story goes that Kromelow would neatly arrange the jumble of the day’s tools at right angles on the benches as he cleaned up.
He dubbed the practice knolling because it reminded him of the right angles in Florence Knoll’s angular furniture (Gehry was designing for Knoll at the time).
Quick sketch of a Tiger and it’s rider in Shōtarō Kaneda style from the cult Japanese Akira film.
– 8 Bit graphics in bright colors. Shifting perspective and panning horizon. High scores and top speeds. Blocky pixelations but excitement was guaranteed.
Back in the eighties there was a comic strip drawn by the extremely talented Ron Smith of the judicial escapades of Judge Dredd; lawman of Nega City One from 2000AD, now heading into its fifth decade of publication. The strip appeared weekly in the Daily Star newspaper allowing the commoner to delve into the classic character and his world. Ron’s ink work is pure perfection and his representation of Joe renowned. This quick story published in late October 1981 is about the capabilities of a Judge’s motorcycle.
A classic of early eighties British comic book stories was the droids of Ro-Busters and ABC Warriors. One of the horde was Deadlock the Grand Wizard of the Knights Martial, an order of robot mystics of unknown origin who are worshippers of the god Khaos, the embodiment of chaos. This cover art of a collection of strips is an awesome graphic piece depicting one of the Martian War storylines. A chopper tearing along Valles Marineris looks the part.
– this clean example of Honda’s long serving early powerhouse was parked outside my office yesterday. 1980 CB750K DOHC – it’s an immaculate restoration looking cleaner than a fresh off the floor model.
– wonderful imagined future of the mischievous Calvin and his sardonic pet tiger Hobbes on an adventurous escapade. The flights of fancy Calvins imagination drew the pair of them into are legendary in Bill Watterson’s strip published in worldwide newspapers between 1985 and 1995.
At about the same time BMW was introducing the Gelände/Straße GS range Triumph was grasping a straws during its business death throes. One model that hinted of what was to come was a slightly modified 750 Tiger named the Trail. 21” front wheel, single seat, high pipe, off road gearing. You can nearly see the looks of latter model Tigers in its DNA. Growing up I always loved the look of the dirt oriented front fender.
News yesterday was that the Olympus Corporation are getting out of the camera business. With the advent of ever increasing resolution and features on smart phones standalone digital photography can’t compete. So, like the advancement from film to digital, we’re starting to see the progression away from traditional photographic equipment. I still have a fridge drawer full of Ilford HP5, Fujichrome, Kodak Ektachrome… perhaps I should pick up a trusty OM-1 for old tunes sake.
Well, as George said “All things must pass”
Picked up this great reference book of Triumph motorcycles from the last eighty odd years. All models and variations discussed in depth from the legendary Meriden examples to the current Hinckley offerings. Lots of photos and masses of written information.
The Complete Book of Classic and Modern Triumph Motorcycles 1937-Today https://www.amazon.com/dp/0760366012/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EIw8EbMGGRAH3
In the late eighties comics evolved from pen and ink drawing to full blown painted illustration blowing the mind of impressionable readers. One of the greats at this effort was British artist Simon Bisley who transformed: the ABC Warriors; Slaine with his Hornéd God series; Dredd & Batman graphic novel; Lobo; and this one from 1992’s Dredd Megazine. a combination of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta; secessionists Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele; and Marvel Comic artist Bill Sienkiewicz.
The Great Pretender | “Let’s talk with Pete Farndon. When he’s not playing his electric bass, you can probably find him on his bike.”
Bassist from the original line up of the English American rock group The Pretenders Pete lived life in the fast lane on his Trident.
