I watched two documentaries back to back last week at the CMJ film festival and I got to hand it to festival programmers - the films, although each featuring very different genres of music, complemented each other very well. Kid Creole and My Coconuts follows the 1980s multicultural tropical funk band from its roots in divey downtown bars through the fun of celebrity to the end of an era as told through the voice and vision of Mama Coconut herself Adriana Kaegi. As happenstance would have it, Kid Creole and the Coconuts played their very first gig in an old Yugoslavian dive bar back in the early 80s, which is now the Chelsea Clearview Cinema where I and others watched the film. That was cool. Pardon Us for Living, but the Graveyard is Full reveals the often untold story of the band who never really “made” it by traditional measures of success. The Fleshtones, a garage rock band from Queens opened for the Ramones, hailed at CBGBs, and despite their longevity and brief moments in the spotlight failed to achieve the acclaim that would write them into the music history books. These guys still play bars across the U.S., and after seeing this film, I definitely want to see one of their live shows - these guys do not let age slow them down. What links these two films so perfectly together is the fact that both of these American musicians never really felt the love from fans in their own country, in their own backyard, and it was something that has kept the fire burning as they continue to “make it” as they say in the biz.
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I watched two documentaries back to back last week at the CMJ film festival and I got to hand it to festival programmers - the films, although each featuring very different genres of music, complemented each other very well.

Kid Creole and My Coconuts follows the 1980s multicultural tropical funk band from its roots in divey downtown bars through the fun of celebrity to the end of an era as told through the voice and vision of Mama Coconut herself Adriana Kaegi. As happenstance would have it, Kid Creole and the Coconuts played their very first gig in an old Yugoslavian dive bar back in the early 80s, which is now the Chelsea Clearview Cinema where I and others watched the film. That was cool.

Pardon Us for Living, but the Graveyard is Full reveals the often untold story of the band who never really “made” it by traditional measures of success. The Fleshtones, a garage rock band from Queens opened for the Ramones, hailed at CBGBs, and despite their longevity and brief moments in the spotlight failed to achieve the acclaim that would write them into the music history books. These guys still play bars across the U.S., and after seeing this film, I definitely want to see one of their live shows - these guys do not let age slow them down.

What links these two films so perfectly together is the fact that both of these American musicians never really felt the love from fans in their own country, in their own backyard, and it was something that has kept the fire burning as they continue to “make it” as they say in the biz.

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  1. brieflynoted posted this