Off The Record

Rip It Up, Issue 95, 1 June 1985, Page 34

Off T he Record

The Book Of Feeling (Various Artists, Pulp & Pigment Print) For all those who collect one-off magazines which explore the bizarre; the real and unreal and probe behind all masks, The Book Of Feeling is a must. This publication takes the fanzine/alternative theme and pushes it to new limits of visual virtuosity. The book consists of various contributions by poets, artists, writers and musicians. Innovative use is made of the printing process; high quality art paper, cut-ups and fold-outs. The book is a beautifully tactile object. Themes explored include obsessions, fetishes, the media, sex and sound. There is a youthful honesty which is illuminating and disturbing. Contained within is an advert for the Urgent Dispensary soundcassette, which acts as a useful soundtrack as you read. The use of pure sound and noise is exhilirating. Both are available from selected outlets and Pulp and Pigment Print, PO Box 47-295, Auckland, for $5 each. Buy it before they start burning it. R. Kane John Lennon, In My Life Pete Shotton and Nicholas Shaffner (Coronet, $19.95) Loving John, the Untold Story May pang and Henry Edwards (Corgi, $14.95) Both the people responsible for these books knew John Lennon personally and very well, Shotton as schoolmate, fellow piss-freak and employee, Pang as assistant and lover. Between them they span 30 years of his life, give or take a month or two here and there, constructing a picture of my

onetime hero as a brilliant, extreme, lovable arsehole. A real mess of a man whose demise is almost acceptable as retribution for those callously treated in his self-absorbed past. Violent and full of hatred, he storms through these pages, using and manipulating those around him. If he hadn’t been so stunningly brilliant and charming no one would have mourned him. Mind you, both authors believe his background formed him and Yoko kept him under both control and her thumb. The Shotton book is fascinating, especially in its early stages, and has Shaffner’s impeccable Beatle credentials behind it (he cowrote The Beatles Forever, the best general Fab Four book so far). Shotton obviously loved John deeply. Pang’s book is more like a raunchy Mills & Boon but does ring true. If it’s wholly true, Yoko’s John’s Mum and John was a baby. I dunno what I believe but it’s food for thought. Shit-food. CK Graham Sinclair Overcome Spikey From the colourful cover in, this is an enjoyable, meticulously attended project. Sinclair and friends have put together mostly short, concise pieces of music, often using altered orthodox sounds and voices. - Parallels perhaps with a less sombre This Kind Of Punishment. Serves equally well as background music or actual listening stuff. Good value too, at $7 (plus s.a.e.) for 85 mins, from Severely Limited, PO Box 6972, Wellesley St, Auckland 1- RB