iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 11h

Sad news... Larry Schorr - who kindly let me use some of his great pics of Peter Hammill in the book - has died. His Rock Pix gallery is one of *the* great unsung online archives, from Blondie & Beefheart to Yes & Zappa. Take a look here and prepare to lose an hour or two... mypixrock.format.com

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Tut, these bloody things are everywhere... (Eclecticism? I've heard of it...)

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

If you have a collection of shots of a similar quality - particularly from the 70s/80s! - that you might like to add to this page, please do let me know ;-) 2/2

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Major new feature alert on the Rock and Role website! I've added an Image Gallery to highlight some of the fabulous Peter Hammill/VdGG pictures that have been shared with me since the book was published. A lot of crackers here that you won't have seen before... www.rockandrole.net/image-gallery 1/2

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It's a lovely, folky paean to youthful innocence, with some gently satirical lyrics from Judge. You can hear the whole album here: thinklikeakey.bandcamp.com/album/the-ki... and buy it here: www.thinklikeakey.com/format/19210... A must-have for VdGG fans and song cycle aficionados! 2/2

thinklikeakey.bandcamp.com

The Kibbo Kift: The 1976 Rock Musical, by Maxwell Hutchinson & Judge Smith

24 track album

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Here's a visualiser/lyric video for The Campfire Glow, one of the mellower moments from The Kibbo Kift, the 1976 rock musical by VdGG co-founder Judge Smith and Maxwell Hutchinson, released earlier this year by Think Like A Key. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZEk... 1/2

youtube.com

Maxwell Hutchinson & Judge Smith – The Campfire Glow | The Kibbo Kift (Official Lyric Video)

YouTube video by Think Like A Key Music

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It is now. Where I spend a lot of my time...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Ah yes, somebody else mentioned this. And only today, I randomly came across a mention of Chronopolis that you had mentioned in your OTSG piece...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Great piece @wbgooderham.bsky.social on a terrific film that anybody with an interest in leftfield/new wave SF should watch. Original trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2jf...

youtube.com

Rock Hudson - " Seconds " Trailer - 1966

YouTube video by KayRHvids cellar

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Episode 3 of The Progressive Rock Show's new series Genesis By Numbers is here, this week about 1976's Wind & Wuthering. Which means that our 'random number generator' has picked the band's three mid-70s albums for our first three episodes! Listen from 0:58:42 - progzilla.com/the-progress...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

No, I haven't. Possession is the only other one of his I've seen, and that is - and I'm using a technical term here - completely mental (though I understand the US cut of it is quite different...)

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Like me, John first heard about the film's existence via Jane Weaver's excellent 2015 album The Silver Globe - my review here: thequietus.com/quietus-revi... - but unlike me, he didn't take 11 years to actually see the film! 3/3

thequietus.com

Jane Weaver — The Silver Globe | The Quietus

Jane Weaver is a transformed woman. After years as a folky, slightly leftfield singer songwriter, The Silver Globe sees her taking a full-scale leap into the cosmic void of contemporary space rock. An...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Went to the Garden Cinema near Holborn last night to see Andrzej Żuławski's science fiction epic Na Srebrnym Globie (1977/1988) aka On The Silver Globe. As I discovered, it is a) often visually stunning, and b) absolutely crackers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvxZ... 1/3

youtube.com

On The Silver Globe (Modern Trailer)

YouTube video by DM Edit

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

They were a biggish 'name' pull at a few UK festivals in the early 70s, but yeah, nothing like in the States, where they're an entire subculture...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Sorry, link issues, try here: archive.is/CB3sZ

archive.is

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The title 'The Grateful Dead Are More Important Than the Beatles' is just the radio equivalent of clickbait, because obviously that's the only way you can make people listen to anything these days... 3/3

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Yes, GD continued to be a totem in the US for Sticking It To The Man (and smoking dope) throughout the 70s and into the 80s, but so did Hawkwind over here. And according to the BBC, all that HW are apparently worthy of re the Beatles is being falsely accused of nicking Macca's bass... 2/3

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

This is an interesting, well-written article. But its central premise is patently absurd. Being the house band for the US counterculture, which happened to intersect with the early days of Silicon Valley, does not make you more culturally significant than the Beatles. archive.is/202610031058... 1/3

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Peter Hammill German dates, Spring 2027... www.eventim.de/en/artist/pe...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Yes, I remember the difficulty of trying to buy a pair of shorts in the late 80s that didn't look completely ridiculous!

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

That's true, most of the 'shorts' here are actually jean cut-offs. Like a lot of a period's look, it's often down to what was available at the time. There were shorts for playing sports in, and that was pretty much it for adult men...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Classic picture and headline... Robert Calvert does NOT wear shorts, even in a heatwave...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Following on from the 'Six Bob' tour of a few months before... still 30p at Manchester! #VdGG

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Back on my slow tour of classic SF with Edgar Pangborn's A Mirror For Observers (1954). Pangborn was new to me, but the blurb pulled me in: "two Martians, disguised as human beings, are locked in a bitter struggle for the mind of a child genius." My thoughts here: www.facebook.com/joebankswrit...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I mention in Rock And Role that I unwittingly first heard VdGG on the Friday Rock Show in the early 80s, with Theme One used at the start of the Friday Night Connection... But did you know that the FRS also featured vintage VdGG sessions? Investigate here: www.facebook.com/joebankswrit...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Episode 2 of The Progressive Rock Show series Genesis By Numbers aired last night on Progzilla radio. This week, the panel discussed and played music from Genesis's ninth album, And Then There Were Three... Listen to what we had to say here from 1:00:30 - progzilla.com/the-progress...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

On saying that, have just watched Boorman's Exorcist II, which really is as terrible as everyone says. Thought it might be a case, like Zardoz, of people just not getting it, but no...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Love Zardoz, never read any Wolfe. I probably should at some point...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Oh yes, that's a wonderful scene. The audience is unsure whether or not Bogart and the book lady have had a quick knee trembler in the back room... ;-) "So long, pal..."

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In fairness, probably because the film script deviates quite a bit from the original book I think...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Oh, and it also means I can share one of my favourite Ren & Stimpy scenes ;-) www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ0C... (ironically, the expression "the big sleep" is never mentioned in the film) 4/4

youtube.com

Ren & Stimpy - "THE BIG SLEEP"

YouTube video by The Magnificent Majunior

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

And The Big Sleep certainly delivers, with both Bogart and Bacall mesmerising in their different ways. In fact, given the chemistry between the two, there seems to have been a decision taken at some point to get Bacall in as many scenes as possible, and screw the narrative. 3/4

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

But that doesn't stop it being a terrific film, with dialogue so sharp you could cut yourself and a pace that can only be described as frenetic. It really does feel like a window on a different world, where audiences weren't scared of complexity so long as the performances and scenes were great 2/4

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Saw The Big Sleep (1946) last night at the CINÉ-REAL 16mm film club. I read the book a long time ago, but had never seen the film, though its reputation as a head scratcher preceded it... And sure enough, it's practically impossible to follow what's going on, or how it all fits together. 1/4

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Another excellent night at the Tufnell Park Film Club yesterday, with a screening of 'dark Disney' classic Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983). Scripted by Ray Bradbury, it's a dreamlike and often quite disturbing film, with lots of pondering about mortality, failure and regret...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Spot the, err, deliberate spelling error...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Peter Hammill vinyl reissues finally happening... www.proper-records.co.uk/2026/09/pete...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Some myth making for sure, but I think it's just a great song with a slightly 'risky' lyric... In other words, rock & roll

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I've never been a massive fan of Supper's Ready, but will no doubt be giving it another listen soon... I do like quite a bit of The Lamb...

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't like some of their stuff... even if Genesis Live will always be my favourite album by them ;-)

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Joe Banks @joebankswriter.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

(The idea re the title is that someone who has no idea about the Genesis back catalogue - usually a panel member's wife! - selects a number at random from 1-15. The number selected for the first episode was 7...) 2/2

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