25Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch ‘O The Day – A L’il Fluff’ll Do Ya

25Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch ‘O The Day – A L’il Fluff’ll Do Ya

So yesterday was the big Fluff Festival in Sommerville, MA.  If I wasn’t still out of town and so far behind getting my upcoming Soup To Nuts Party Mix live show on October 18 written I would sit here and post a zillion photos that I took over the last 36 hours. But I couldn’t get a plane out of Boston with an aisle seat so I vowed to lock myself in my hotel room for the next 36 hours until my flight and write, write and write in hopes of having something significant to say and do on stage. But I’ll be posting a bunch of Fluffified photos every day this week. That is if I can get all the marshmallow out of my hair and off my fingers so they don’t stick to the keys as they’re doing now. So for now I’ll just leave you with a couple photos from Friday night at the Fluff VIP party with two fellow VIPs, the Brady girls, Cindy and Jan #2, Susan Olsen and Geri Reischl, photo #1 of our first dip into the Fluff and photo #2, post dining on the foodstuff we flew thousands of miles to honor.

Long love Fluff. Stay tuned for more…

 

22Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Fluff Festival Top Pick in the Boston Globe today!

22Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Fluff Festival Top Pick in the Boston Globe today!

PICK OF THE DAY

Fluff it up

In 1917, Archibald Query invented Marshmallow Fluff in Union Square, Somerville. Of the many Fluff-focused tributes at Saturday’s Marshallow Fluff Festival, check out games including Pin the F on Fluff Boy, Fluff Fishing, and Fluff Jousting. Artists, musicians, performers, inventors, vendors, and humorists include songwriter Allee Willlis (“Boogie Wonderland” and “I’ll Be There For You”), and Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady from “The Brady Bunch”) whose Fluff-inspired artwork will be on display.Sept. 24 from 3-7 p.m. (rain date Sept. 25). Free (except for food and some activities). Union Square Plaza, Somerville. 617-955-0080. www.unionsquaremain.org/fluff-festival

http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2011/09/21/list/gPFmlDfXZvTDfVWicHY19O/story.xml


21Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Have a most happy 21st of SEPTEMBER!!

21Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Have a most happy 21st of SEPTEMBER!!

Needless to say this is a very special day for me, like an extra birthday a year, as it’s the opening line of my very first hit song – “Do you rememba the 21st night of Septemba?”- and my favorite of my hits to boot! So I hope everyone is having a very blessed and happy 21ST OF SEPTEMBER!!! And listening to the record a lot!

20Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Get Out Your Bellbottoms and Marshmallows!

20Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Get Out Your Bellbottoms and Marshmallows!

If anyone’s going to be in the Boston area this coming Saturday, head to Somerville where thousands of Fluffed-up folks will be honoring Fluff, the marshmallow food topping invented there, and where I’ll be judging the 70’s fashion show while people cremate my song, “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, by changing the lyrics to reflect their love of Fluff.

I’ve  been laboring on my outfit for the last 48 hours, the beginnings of which you can see above. I refuse to slop Fluff in my hair, as many of the participants do, so choose instead to ruin a few hats and shirts experimenting with Fluff-like effects so that I, the judge of the Pharaoh of Fluff fashion show and songwriting contests, look like I’m in the swing of the Flufftivities. I still have about 40 pounds of glue to go but that shirt will be covered like shag carpeting smothered a 70’s living room by the time I’m done.

More details on the Fluff festival here: http://unionsquaremain.org/fluff-festival/pharaoh-of-fluff/

16Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Fluff Flubb

16Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Fluff Flubb

It’s really completely nuts for me even to be leaving my desk let alone fly east to the Fluff Festival this coming week, an extravaganza honoring the creation of the marshmallow foodstuff created in Somerville, MA. where the annual festival takes place. But I have official duties there and made arrangements to attend long ago, before I decided to jump off the cliff and perform live in a few weeks for the 1st time since jumping off my own stage in the middle of a song 37 years ago.

I was going to the Fluff Festival not just for the foodstuff but for the kitsch of the event itself. Those who choose to honor Fluff attend the festival in theme attire, dine only on those substances made with Fluff, sing songs about Fluff, etc. I didn’t expect to be in full Fluff kitsch mode until I arrived there next week but, lo and behold, I just saw this:

Evidently, as I’m chained to my desk in LA, I’m supposed to be judging a fashion show in Cambridge in about 6 hours. Obviously that’s not happening. Obviously it was never supposed to happen. Obviously it’s a very kitschy moment when one is booked at an event they had no idea they were supposed to be at, and it’s happening thousands of miles away in only a few hours.

I will be there in excellent fashion NEXT Friday. Until then, thank you for the pre- Fluff Fest flubb. These kinds of occurrences only whet my appetite for even larger doses of kitsch upon landing.

 

13Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – My “Soup To Nuts Party Mix” Live Show Chosen as a Top Pick by The Los Angels Times!

13Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – My “Soup To Nuts Party Mix” Live Show Chosen as a Top Pick by The Los Angels Times!

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My time to pay as much attention to my Kitsch O’ The Day blog as I am want to do has dwindled lately because I’ve done what I never thought I would have the guts to do: give live performing a try again after marching off stage in the middle of a song in 1974 and proceed to walk right out of the building, never to return again. Or so I thought… On October 18 I’m going to give the whole thing a go again. As such, I was most ecstatic to stumble on this in the Los Angeles Times, especially as I haven’t really even publicized the show yet, which means they stumbled on it on their own.

If you’re going to be in LA on October 18, come to the El Portal Theater. Leave plenty of room in the aisles as you never know who’s going to be jumping off of the stage. Although I hope that almost 40 years has matured me somewhat and that all my years as a party thrower pay off in this, my about-to-be-most-recent incarnation.

08Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – The Statue Of Liberty, Live In Beverly Hills

08Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – The Statue Of Liberty, Live In Beverly Hills

One of my favorite things about living in a climate where it’s warm enough for people to keep their front lawns going all year round is the crazy things they stick on top of them. I’m a strong believer in your house, your lawn, your car, your clothes, your hair, your anything being a canvas for self-expression. I’m fascinated enough when people dress up concrete penguins or make picnic areas for plaster frogs and the like. But sticking a giant Statue of Liberty on your front lawn is a statement that only some are bold enough to make. This is one of my favorite things about Beverly Hills.

In the New York harbor Lady Liberty welcomes all who pass her with “Give me your tired, your poor/ your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. But west coast Lady Liberty only welcomes the masses huddled in their cars crawling over Coldwater Canyon, especially in rush hour when most of them are tired, poorer than they used to be, but can at least be thankful they’re not nose to nose on a freeway and are free to look at something this ridiculous on their long trek home.

07Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Gay Parisian Ashtray

07Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Gay Parisian Ashtray

Gay as in ye ol’ sense of the word: happy, frolicking through the streets of Paris with n’ary a concern in the world. I love this Little ashtray for much more than its gayness however. Above all, I relish the little paint mounds that stand above all the matte black surfaces.

It’s hard to really tell from the photo – and I took at least 20 of ’em trying to get the little white mounds of glaze to properly pop – but you can see the little nubs of the sweater and those puffed locks of yellow blond hair and get an idea of the dimension of the glaze. Shoulder pads were a big 1940’s fashion trend, which I’m sure influenced this 1950’s design, so it’s a shame the white won’t photograph right. Of course, it’s a bigger shame that I don’t know how to shoot with anything other than auto focus…. Maybe you can see the gay raised paint splotches better on her skirt:

I love when you can see the imperfections in the glaze. It adds to the handpainted feel. Which someone did, though I’ve tried to make out the name unsuccessfully for 25 years since I’ve owned this thing.

I love the sidewalk treatment:

So Atomically perfect in design, splotched right on the pavement from the artist’s palette. I love her shoes too, though doesn’t one foot look five sizes larger than the other?

The fringe on the dress is etched into the clay. I love this reverse effect.

Other Parisian essentials, an umbrella…

…and The Eiffle Tower:

But the big mysetery is why a French Poodle wasn’t thrown into the mix? That particular canine so often accompanied French designs in the 1950’s.

Missing poodle acknowledged, this gay Parisian ashtray is still one of my fave ash receptacles.  May you all have a very gay day and remember to deposit your ashes in a stylish gay ashtray for optimum esthetic enjoyment.

 

01Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – ‘Allee Willis’ Soup To Nuts Party Mix’ – LIVE SHOW!!

01Sep 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – ‘Allee Willis’ Soup To Nuts Party Mix’ – LIVE SHOW!!

In 1974, Allee Willis walked off stage in the middle of her own show. Now she’s finally coming back! The Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Webby award-winning and nominated songwriter, artist, singer, technologist, collector, and party thrower comes to the El Portal Theater in beautiful North Hollywood for one night only of songs, stories, and party games. Sing-along to Willis’ greatest hits like “September”, “Boogie Wonderland”, “Neutron Dance”, “What Have I Done To Deserve This” and “I’ll Be There For You (theme from Friends)”! Win valuable prizes! Watch her as she attempts to get through the evening without walking off stage for another 37 years!

Show starts at 8:00PM, Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Doors open at 7:00PM with kitschy food + drinks, beer and wine available

TICKETS
So reasonable it’s crazy!
$24.99 and $34.99
(tickets are limited and they’re going fast…)
http://www.elportaltheatre.com/events.html
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9248165
or call 1-866-811-4111

El Portal Theatre
5269 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601

“Ms. Willis…considers party-giving an art form” – New York Times

“Allee Willis’ parties are the campiest hot tickets in town” – People Magazine

“..A rare look inside the process of one of the most prolific and tenacious interactive media artists working today.” – salon.com

“Willis is the spokeswoman for this grand dance of junque nouvelle and vérité… as if Ozzie Nelson had acquired a sick and sudden taste for Surrealist poets. Her own interest in kitsch typifies the dichotomy that makes her interesting…The silliness, un-self consciousness, sense of whimsy and innocence are reflected in the absurd designs and bright colors (that surround her). Even the themes lack pretension… Hopeful images of a powerful America and its future.” – LA Weekly

“…A singular vision by an artist, who if not limited by building codes, would be the Simon Rodia of the 21st century.” – Chris Nichols, Los Angeles Magazine

31Aug 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Pringles Carrying Case

31Aug 2011

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Pringles Carrying Case

Being a potato chip lover, I viewed Pringles as blasphemy when they first came out. It’s like thinking a baked potato is gonna satify someone who’s lusting for french fries. But when the airlines first started making you pay for food and came around with that wicker basket of hard cookies and crackers and cheese the size of a pat of butter, I took a leap and went for the stack of Pringles. Not that I still wouldn’t take a bag of original Lays first, but the Pringles definitely had my tatse buds saying hello.

The shape and symetry of Pringles really appeals to me. So when Windup Kitty gifted me this plastic Pringles carrying case I was a most happy chip muncher to say the least!

Other than you have to have the appetite of a flea to be satified with the mere ten chips that it holds.

I know there are two missing. They were begging to be sampled.

If you look close at the top of the case you can see the Pringles imprint:

The grey bottom is a little too institutional of a color palette for me. At least go for the same anemic yellow as the chip to suggest the contents within.

But that’s a small complaint for something that’s going to keep my Pringles chip free and fancy fresh!