The Beatles
The internet is kitty cat crazy, no denying. And if it had it’s way, everything would be cat-tastic, 24/7. Alfra Martini imagined just that and this is what some legendary album art from a world dominated by kittens would look like. From The Village Kitten‘s Macho Cat to Purr Division‘s Unknown Whiskers and a lot in between, here are some classics that will delight pussy lover. (Sorry, I ran out of synonyms for kitty…) If you don’t see your fave, check out their Tumblr for lots more here.
Artist unknown, signed photo of Madonna, 90s
The Legendary auction on Paddle 8 has a lot of lots of legends memorabilia. This used to be Julien’s Auction‘s territory but Paddle 8 is now getting in on the act. I was surprised to see the (very famous) photograph of Madonna above listed online as “Artist Unknown.” Hello!? That’s by Herb Ritts – for SURE. If you can Google, you’ll find this out in less than one second. These sorts of obvious mistakes always make me a little skeptical that, A. auctions sell things they aren’t sure of ALL THE TIME, B. people buy things that are falsely attributed or not authentic ALL THE TIME. Having said that, everything else in this online auction is such fun to look at. I love pop star ephemera, it’s really just the junk of everyday life but with scribbling of a famous person’s pen or it came out of their junk drawer. These things, to me, are the real artifacts of popular culture. I have several such things in my “display case of life” like a bounced check from Courtney Love and the pajamas of Ray Bolger, the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. But right now, the credit card of Kurt Cobain is up to $22,600so I’m staring to think …. hmmm. Maybe I’ll make a copy of that check and sell the original. I know, she was married to him, but Courtney ISN’T Kurt. I guess I’ll hang onto it for a while longer…
Bob Bonis managed tours of the Rolling Stones and The Beatles and he shot photos along the way. His collection of 2,700 Stones and 750 Beatles snapshots are now being sold on eBay. The young Brit musicians wanted an experienced American manager to organize their travels in the US, and they got Bonis to take the job. Over the numerous tours from ’64-66, Bonis photographed private moments with these legendary rock stars in their prime. Bob died in 1992 and until in 2008, when his son Alex rediscovered the one-of-a-kind archive, they’d been stored for over 40 years in a basement. He partnered with Kurt Benjamin of the LA-based Rare Rock Archives to create The Bonis Archive.
“We’re not in the merchandise business. We will never do an open edition of any photos from our archive ever.”
Once an edition sells out it’ll never be reprinted. The Bonis Archive is now on sale in editions between 50 and 250, from $175 to $625. Each print comes with a certificate of authenticity from the Grammy Museum. They are all pretty amazing, as you can see. Not like Annie Leibovitz‘s famous 70s tour pics of the Stones with the boys seriously misbehaving, Bob’s pics were taken in the hedy days of their early stardom. A bit surprising that of all the internet outlets that exists that they chose eBay, but I guess in order to make the photographs accessible to fans all over the world it was a good choice. Check them out here.
