James Chance Top 10 Film Noir Movies: Part One

James writes about his favorite noir films of all time in the new issue of online magazine, Perfect Sound Forever! Read part one now & learn about some cool movies only at http://www.furious.com/perfect/jameschancenoir.html.  

European tour starts in two weeks, London cancelled

James' upcoming European tour begins in just over two weeks from today (on Valentine's Day!). The London date at the Jazz Cafe, unfortunately has been cancelled, and a suitable replacement venue has not been located. Apologies to all of the fans in the UK who were planning on coming - we hope to make it up to you in the future.

For all of James shows, keep an eye on this site.

February 13
Feb 14 NANTES (44) - Pole Etudiant

Feb 15 CREIL (60) - Grange A Musique

Feb 16 VERDUN (55) - La Passerelle

Feb 20 RENNES (35) - Ubu

Feb 21 PARIS (75) - Silencio

Feb 22 PARIS (75) - Petit Bain

Feb 23 ANVERS (B) - Petrol

Feb 24 TOURNAI (B) - Water Moulin

Feb 25 LONDON (UK) - 

Feb 26 BRUXELLES (B) - Magasin 4

Feb 27 AMSTERDAM (NL) -OCCI

Feb 28 COLOGNE (D) - Gebaude9

March 13

March 01 STRASBOURG (67) - Laiterie

March 06 TOURS (37) - Temps Machine

March 07 LYON (69) - Sonic
March 08 CLERMONT FD (63) - La Coopérative de Mai

March 09 BORDEAUX (33) - I BOAT

Jean-Michel Basquiat wins dance contest, breaks records!

 

James Chance fan, Nicholas W, sent in this scan of this absolutely stunning gig poster recently along with the fantastic story about its origins. Big thanks to Nicholas for sharing, and if anyone else out there has anything to share - stories or otherwise - feel free to reach out to us here.

I found this poster lying on the floor of the Squat Theater on 23rd St. I had just witnessed the "James Chance Dance Contest" at the Squat....for which the judges were Richard Hell, Debbie Harry, and Anya, I think. I went with my girlfriend; the place was packed.

The contest was to be judged by James, Debbie Harry, and Richard Hell, who were all sitting in a row on the stage. The winner of the prize for best dancer was to receive a set of all James’s records. I noticed that wandering around in the big crowd on the dance floor was the painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, dressed in a three-piece suit but with no shoes…..totally barefoot.

The music started and everyone started dancing. Jean-Michel was dancing around like a wild man…it was kind of dangerous to go near him!

After about half an hour, the music stopped, everyone applauded, and James came to the mike and said “We’re going to discuss it and then we’ll announce the winner.” He got into a huddle with Debbie Harry and Richard Hell and they discussed. Then James came to the mike. “And the winner tonight is…..Jean-Michel Basquiat!” he shouted. Everybody clapped and Basquiat jumped up onto the stage as Debbie and Richard clapped and smiled approvingly. “And now we will present Jean-Michel with the prize.” said James, and he handed to Basquiat the stack of his albums.

To everyone’s complete astonishment, Basquiat took the records and with one rapid motion whacked the pile down on his knee and snapped the whole pile of records completely in half, and then threw the pieces out into the crowd. Then jumped off the stage and walked out of the theater.

James looked completely shocked. “Some people have no class!!” James yelled into the mike, as Jean-Michel disappeared out the door and the crowd roared with laughter.

After the show I went up to James and had him autograph this poster, which he did with great surprise, if not suspicion. He signed it "James White", which surprised me, because up to that point I had known him as James Chance. I may be one of the very few people on the planet to have a James White autograph from this early era! 

- Nicholas W., January 2013

James Chance remembers Steven Kramer

Steven Kramer by Marcia Resnick

I was stunned to learn that ex-Contortion Steven Kramer had died in his sleep of mysterious causes on January 19 at age 59. The last time I saw Steven was about 25 years ago, and I'd often wondered what had become of him since. Besides playing organ and percussion in the second incarnation of the Contortions in 1979-80, I knew Steven as the husband of blonde bombshell Patti Astor, the genius creator of bizarre art objects (strange machines & box-like contraptions often featuring mechanical rodents), and as an all-around mad man. Arguably the wildest of the whole sick No Wave crew (with the possible exception of his drinking buddy, and fellow Contortion, Bradley Field). Even a three story fall onto his face during a swinging downtown rooftop soiree didn't slow Steven down for long!

You can get an excellent idea of what Steven Kramer was like in those days from his appearance in Amos Poe's twisted takeoff on film noir from 1977, The Foreigner. Playing the most demented of a pack of punkish delinquents, Steven's performance stands out as the most crazed of a host of maniacs including Anya Philips, Patti Astor, and Eric Mitchell. You can even see one of his mouse machines in one scene.

When the original Contortions imploded in the summer of 1979, Anya and I had to put together an entire new band in a very short time. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that Steven was a trained keyboard player - he'd never mentioned it before. We found him a vintage Farfisa organ, and he proceeded to tear that thing up (musically speaking, of course). Steven also played bongos, and a miniature conga drum he had made himself and wore on a strap around his neck. And he created some gorgeous devil backdrops for the residency we did at the Squat Theatre on West 23rd Street. The band also included Bradley Field on bongos, Kristian Hoffman from the Mumps on slide guitar, Patrick Geoffrois from Paris on lead guitar, Mickey Sevilla from Kid Creole on drums, and James Webster, a bassist straight off the streets of the South Bronx who we all called Funkmaster. It was definitely the best dressed band I ever had, with everyone decked out in beautiful sharkskin suits, although it was extremely difficult to talk Funkmaster into wearing his - he favored a purple polyester creation and platform shoes. Later, I added a horn section led by trombonist Joe Bowie, later of Defunkt.

Unfortunately, Steven's version of the Contortions never cut any records, but you can see/hear him on two video clips on this site - "Contort Yourself" from Max's Kansas City (with the horns and Steven playing his conga), and the same tune plus a cover of Chic's "Good Times" from the most memorable gig we ever did, the M80 "New Wave" Festival at the University of Minneapolis in Steven's home town.

Steven had been playing with the Contortions only perhaps 4-5 months when one day he abruptly disappeared from New York without a word to me. Later I discovered that he had up and moved back to Minneapolis. His various habits were apparently overwhelming him. It was a wise move because at the speed he was living he would have consumed himself before too long. Steven took everything to a mad extreme in those days. But back in his home town, Steven straightened himself all the way up, and he seems to have stayed that way for the rest of his life - even becoming something of a poster boy for sobriety.

Perhaps with some inspiration from his stint with the Contortions, Steven now became the front man of his own band, the Wallets, who combined some funk with a slew of other influences even including polka(!) - he even took up the accordion. The Wallets were quite successful for most of the 80's, and did three albums before breaking up in 1989. From the clips, Steven was one hell of an entertainer with them. (See them on YouTube here and on the Twin/Tone Records site here.)

I ran into Steven once on the Bowery sometime in the late 80's, but after that I completely lost track of him. For whatever reason, he seemed to have  completely distanced himself from his New York days, and No Wave associates. I was flabbergasted to discover from his obituaries that for the last 20 years Steven had a very successful career writing background music & jingles for commercials with big time clients like Target and J.C. Penney's. Steven always was full of surprises!

He seems to have become quite a beloved character in Minneapolis. One person added a comment to one of his obits calling him an "angel". But when I knew him 30 years ago, Steven Kramer was more like an imp of the perverse. For all of his wildness, and wicked sense of humor, Steven didn't have a mean or cruel bone in his body. His violent flare-ups were always directed at himself. I'm glad he was able to escape his own personal mousetrap, and reinvent himself several times. But I'll always remember him pounding on that homemade conga, or banging his head against the wall in The Foreigner, or all of those crazy mechanical mice.

- James Chance, NYC, January 2013

Euro-tour farewell show in NYC on Jan 31

This just in: James will be playing a small show on Thursday, January 31 as a warm up/farewell preceding his European tour dates which begin two weeks later on February 14. Details are as follows:

James Chance and guests

Jan. 31

206 Lounge

206 Sullivan Street (between West 3rd and Bleecker)
Music begins at 9:00PM

Feb/March European Tour Dates

There has been a slight update to James' upcoming tour dates - please note the London show will not be at the Jazz Cafe. We are currently working on the situation & hope to have a new London venue to announce soon:

February 13
Feb 14 NANTES (44) - Pole Etudiant

Feb 15 CREIL (60) - Grange A Musique

Feb 16 VERDUN (55) - La Passerelle

Feb 20 RENNES (35) - Ubu

Feb 21 PARIS (75) - Silencio

Feb 22 PARIS (75) - Petit Bain

Feb 23 ANVERS (B) - Petrol

Feb 24 TOURNAI (B) - Water Moulin

Feb 25 LONDON (UK) - 

Feb 26 BRUXELLES (B) - Magasin 4

Feb 27 AMSTERDAM (NL) -OCCI

Feb 28 COLOGNE (D) - Gebaude9

March 13

March 01 STRASBOURG (67) - Laiterie

March 06 TOURS (37) - Temps Machine

March 07 LYON (69) - Sonic
March 08 CLERMONT FD (63) - La Coopérative de Mai

March 09 BORDEAUX (33) - I BOAT

Hello/Goodbye Contortions in February issue of Mojo Magazine!

James discusses the beginning & the end of the original Contortions in the Hello Goodbye column of the February 2013 issue of Mojo Magazine (Johnny Marr cover).

James Chance & The Contortions - Contort Yourself - Max's Kansas City (1980)

James Chance, Patrick Geoffries, Kristian Hoffman, Melvin Gibbs, Ronnie Burrage, Joe Bowie, Byron Bowie, Steven Kramer, & Bradley Field. Shot by Paul Tschinkel.

Solo Piano, 2000

James playing solo piano, circa 2000: Peggy's Blue Skylight, Just Friends, Blonde Lee, and Another Pompadour.