Page 3 - Memory Anthony News Today

As well. just like the way people did at the turn of the century, you move to new york to immigrate to a new land, to start a new life. and thats really what the lower east side is all about. who was doing stuff that you >> anthony: who thrilled you back then? who was doing stuff that you just thought, "holy shit, this is really incredible and inspiring."? >> kembra: well, gosh, luckily my friends that i was working with were very inspiring. i loved joe colemans work. ♪

Because i had a relative who was basically my legal guardian. >> anthony: you came here first as a writer, as a poet. new york in your mind is where the writers life was. >> richard: yeah, well, it was just a place that had the most stimulation. >> anthony: was music even in the back of your head or was poetry and writing? >> richard: my model was dylan thomas when i was a teenager. you know, so being a drunken womanizer. that was my ambition. ♪

>> joe: no, i came to paint. but the paintings were like implosions, where i was studying the world around me and myself inside, and the performances became literal explosions. ♪ i learned violence from my old man. so i was angry. when your house is on fire, you know, you dont read poetry and you dont sing a folk song. you gotta scream. >> anthony: i missed all the great art of the time. i came for heroin and i came for music. other than that, i didnt live here. but man, a lot of people didnt ...

>> john: it feels pathetic, you know? >> anthony: this is incredible to me. >> john: what? >> anthony: you dont have shows. >> john: thats insane and its sick and is wrong and i dont even want to complain about it. you complain about it. >> anthony: im complaining about it. i am bitter. >> john: because im going to die one day, and theyre going to be worth a lot of money. ♪ how i came to new york, i was kind of on this coltrane thing, i wanted to find god through music. i started meeting all t...

♪ sha, la, la, la, la ♪ [ sirens ] >> man: nothing but a bunch of crackheads, dopefiends, and [ bleep ]. >> anthony: this is a show about a very special place, a very special time, and some very special people. so much happened, so much began on new yorks lower east side. ♪

Will address the situation that i know other people suffer from. >> anthony: okay, this is a film, very influential, far beyond the imaginings -- >> lydia: well, we didnt think that when we did it. we didnt think that when we did it. we didnt give a shit. we just wanted to make a film and get it out there because we had to do something because we were burning, our blood was on fire. ♪ >> anthony: looking back though, was it all that? was it a golden period? are you nostalgic? >> lydia: no. i a...

>> anthony: yeah, sure, id love to. id be interested to look at your dope bags. >> clayton: yeah, heres some. >> anthony: airmail! >> clayton: airmail. >> anthony: 12th street. >> clayton: yup. >> anthony: i might have to put the old glasses on for this. >> clayton: its a treasure. >> anthony: doa i remember. >> clayton: poison you must remember. >> anthony: poison! yes, of course. evidence. psycho. i remember all of those. >> clayton: classic, right? >> anthony: you knew you were doing somethin...

>> jim: i owe a lot to amos. when i saw "the foreigner," it was amazing the whole scene was there, everybody was there. >> amos: yeah, that was a big night. >> jim: i got so charged up. and i was sure i was going to make films. >> anthony: and your first film was a student film? >> jim: nyu film school made a mistake, so i had a $12,000 budget for my first film. >> anthony: which is enormous for the time. >> jim: it was huge, for me. but the root of the word amateur is the love of a form. and pr...

Im just curious to see when you eat the hard-boiled egg if youre going to say, "this is delicious." >> anthony: as long as its not like half-term chicken fetus in there. which wouldnt be the first time for me by the way -- ill be thrilled. im not eating this shit. theres a plate. >> anthony: eggs, the perfect food. thank you, sir. >> john: eat that. i dont think ive ever cooked for anybody before. >> anthony: im honored, sir. so looking back, is there a danger of over-romanticizing that place an...

Like popular culture, magazines, advertising, comics. and so some of the first people to buy paintings from me and jean-michel was chris and debbie from blondie. and then they also commissioned me, lee quinones, and jean-michel to do sets and art, and to participate in their music videos, some of the very first. >> anthony: your support and work with fab five freddy, i mean look at the soundtrack to the whole world, now. its hip-hop, that connection, that cross over there. you had to put conside...