Vinyl Dynamite #44: Foreign Tracks

If you've been following this blog at all you know that, upon spotting the LP pictured above, I simply had to have it.  I mean, this is just too good to pass up.  I couldn't live with myself not knowing what this record sounded like.

Well, I'm sad to report that it's about the most generic Hispanic music imaginable.  Still, it wouldn't be fair to not let you have a listen yourself.

Garimpeiro do Amor

Sex Sells #28: Men's Fashion Advertising

It's so easy.  Just lay down a few bucks for our shirts and slacks, and BAM! the chicks will be coming out of the woodwork.  You'll have to beat them off with sticks.  And your girlfriend?  She'll be so overcome with sexual desire, you'll think she's possessed.  But who can blame her? You've become the kind of man you've always dreamed of becoming.... king of his castle, a sex machine, a modern day Adonis.

And it's all because you bought our shirts and slacks.  ....You're quite welcome.

Let's Get Physical #12: 1980s Muscle Mags

Yes! That's what I'm talking about.  A hot 80s chick, a roided up dude in a Speedo, and a freaking lion! It doesn't get much better than this for pure narcissistic pathos. We've covered muscle magazines before, but those were mostly from the early days.  The truly maniacal vanity didn't come to its glorious fruition until the eighties.  Ah, sweet sweet vainglory.  The 80s were ground zero for overt self-worship, and nowhere is it more pronounced than in these old muscle mags. Enjoy!

Artful Conceptions #16: The A Frame (Part III)

Whether it's a comic book panel or album cover, there's only a finite number of ways you can arrange a canvas.  Naturally, there's going to be some patterns that emerge, and one that has intrigued me for years is the A Frame. From an armchair sociologist's perspective, it's rife with meaning and subliminal interpretations.  Sometimes it means "power" as in the picture above, but sometimes it takes on an altogether different meaning, usually sexual.

If you have any A frame examples you'd like to share, please drop a link in a comment.... or even better, email them to me (only vintage images please).  I have a feeling there will be many more A Frame posts to come.

Vintage Reads #41: More Paperback Trash

You'll notice that many of the books in this collection have seen better days.  They're pretty well worn.  This underlines my point (one that I've reiterated many times on Retrospace) that we need to be scanning and preserving these things.  The powers that be will no doubt preserve those documents they deem worthy; however, trashy paperbacks from the sixties won't be on the preservation list.

When I do scan a cover, the temptation is there to Photoshop it to death and make it look clean and new.  But I'm on the fence as to whether that's the right thing to do since you'll never get it to look like it originally did without some serious cropping, cloning, erasing, etc.which sort of defeats the whole purpose

Oh, well.  Here's another round of paperback trash preserved for the Ages.  Enjoy!