Video R.I.P.'s

I didn't make a year end list for 2008, because it was just a crappy year for me. But if I had, I think I would have made a list of the Top 10 Legends Who Died in 2008. Because, man, it was a heavy year for some of my favorite musicians, entertainers, and all around inspirations to move on. The best year end wrap ups so far have been at AM, Then FM and Locust St. But if you really want to go obit-crazy, just look at the full list on wikipedia.

And here are some video clips from a few a few of my personal heroes who passed away in 2008.

Yma Sumac, as she appeared in Secret of the Incas (and yes, Heston's character was the inspiration for Indiana Jones).

Even better, a French documentary about Yma features amazing clips from throughout her career.

Jerry Reed's Hot Stuff was my first, and still remains my favorite, Jerry Reed song. I really loved the movie of the same name, which featured another 2008 RIP, Suzanne Pleshette.

Eartha Kitt doing the song that made me fall head over heels for Eartha Kitt.

More after the jump!

Odetta on the Johnny Cash show, 1969. Her duet with Cash was written by calypso artist Sir Lancelot.

Miriam Makeba, The Click Song. All the clips from the 1966 Live at Berns Salonger DVD are incredible. Sadly, it's out of print, but search for more clips on YouTube and see for yourself.

Al Wilson, Willoughby Brook Road (from Soul Train, also a 2008 RIP).

Bettie Page in the vintage Irving Klaw bondage short "Second Initiation of the Sorority Girl". The Charlie Feathers soundtrack really works with this one.

NSWF! (duh)

One name that keeps getting left off the year end lists is Maila Nurmi (aka Vampira), who was lovers with Marlon Brando, Orson Welles, and James Dean. Va-voom!

And I didn't forget Bo. From the Big TNT Show.

Previous RIP videos on the blog: Isaac Hayes and Dolemite. 

Comments

[motordog]

Oh, Miss Kitt...the world is a little less spectacular with you gone. You will be missed, for sure.

[andy]

i figured someone else would do it for me, but it looks like not, so: thanks for the vids. much appreciated. somehow, with several slabs of jerry reed and a 70s youth, i never caught this song, nor (unrelated to all that obviously) that eartha kitt song, which wins best lipsynch performance ever award (wish they had stayed on just the one camera, but amazing all the same)

[Austin]

I enjoyed all these clips. The Bo Diddley clip was just amazing. I found the Bettie Page clip enlightening. So, that's what they do in sororities? I'd always wondered about that.

[Jeffersonic]

Surely the inspiration for Indiana Jones was the 40's cliffhanger serial "The Tiger Woman" and its ilk.

[Resident Clinton]

Here's what I based that statement on, via Wikipedia:

"Secret of the Incas is often cited by film buffs as a direct inspiration for the Indiana Jones franchise of films, with many of the scenes in Secret of the Incas bear a striking resemblance in tone and structure to scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Throughout Secret of the Incas, the main character, Harry Steele, can be seen wearing the "Indiana Jones" outfit - brown leather jacket, fedora, tan pants, an over-the-shoulder bag, and revolver. The character also sometimes wears a light beard, unusual for films of its time, and there is a tomb scene involving a revelatory shaft of light similar to the "Map Room" sequence in Raiders.

Raider's costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis noted that the inspiration for Indiana's costume was Charlton Heston's Harry Steele in Secret of the Incas: "We did watch this film together as a crew several times, and I always thought it strange that the filmmakers did not credit it later as the inspiration for the series.""

That said, the old 40s serials were certainly also an inspiration to the creation of the film, as Lucas and Spielberg have often stated.

[tadalafil]

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