One of the best things about not having a television is that I can really find some treasures in the Watch Instantly section of Netflix. Par example, I recently ran across the film, Downtown 81 - a seedy, bizarre, "urban fairytale" of the undergorund NY scene, starring Jean-Michel Basquiat, a.k.a The Black Andy Warhol a.k.a Mr. Neo Expressionism a.k.a The Radiant Child.
The film is craaazy dope and it took a lot of painstaking work from the Producers to get it out to the public. It was made sometime between 1980 and 1981, but was not officially released until 2000 - over 10 years after J-MB had passed. The audio of the film was destroyed, and an overdubbing of Basquiat's voice was done by musician/poet Saul Williams. And as if witnessing the too cool for school swag of Jean-Michel weren't enough, there are some pretty great cameos from Hip-Hop pioneers Fab 5 Freddy and Lee Quinones, former Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky and Debbie Harry from Blondie. Ohhh and some incredible indie rock music featured in the film from bands that I am still trying to find out the names of..
Check out the trailer I found on YouTube below and if you find it somewhere, Watch It.
THE SOUNDTRACK includes music by: Gray, Jean Michel Basquiat with Andy Hernandez, John Lurie, DNA, Tuxedo Moon, the Plastics, Marvin Pontiac, Kenny Burrell, the Specials, Chris Stein, Melle Mel with Blondie, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, James White and the Blacks, Vincent Gallo, Lydia Lunch, Steve French and Suicide.
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