It’s no secret that my sleeping schedule has been a bit off recently. In fact, I’m practically nocturnal. Last night, for instance, I slept from about 6:00pm until midnight, and then stayed awake until around 6:00am. The night before that wasn’t much different – I slept from 9:00am until 2:00am. (No, that’s not a typo.) Unfortunately, that night I didn’t get back to sleep, and was awake from 2:00am until 6:00pm.
But what does a person do once they’re awake at the wee small hours of the morning? Well, this person decided to try and redesign HeatherLawver.com. I haven’t touched that page in several years, which is unfortunate, since it’s my portfolio and now it’s ridiculously out of date. But I hadn’t felt any inspiration whatsoever for a design change, and thus, left it untouched. At 2:00am, however, I felt a twinge of inspiration. That inspiration was pulp fiction.
Not the movie, you heathen, the art form. The fantastic illustrations from the likes of Frank R. Paul and his buddies – they created sensational covers for science fiction periodicals for decades, beginning at the turn of the twentieth century. It’s a highly underappreciated form of modern art, and besides, I just find it quite funny and cute. Perfect for my portfolio!
Unfortunately, it being two in the morning, I was easily distracted. One of the pulp galleries I was scouting through happened to have a gallery of another sort. Another highly undervalued art form was there, just waiting for me to discover it, and laugh myself silly. What is it?
LP Cover “Art” from the 1960’s.
Yup, I was hooked. Instantly. It was all over and I knew that pulp fiction was now expected, too easily recognizable. LP art, though, I couldn’t think of a single website I’d ever seen that had been based around its camp silliness. I mean, I’m sure there’s a website out there somewhere touting the wares of Xavier Cugat or Martin Denny, but I can’t think of one, and that’s all that mattered. Furthermore, I’m actually a fan of both Cugat and Denny, so it wouldn’t even be as random as you might think.
Plus, it’s just so ridiculously funny!
I spent hours searching, I went through hundreds of LP covers, and came up with a collection of just over forty covers that I thought were editable to the point that I could extract a person or two in order to use their image for my website design. At first, I thought that would be the extent of my use for these images. But as the day progressed and I finished the design for my site, I knew I couldn’t just delete the other covers. They had become to dear to me, too close to my heart, and too important when it came to suddenly producing fits of laughter. Most especially, how could I possibly delete my beloved Heino?
That’s right, I said Heino (tee hee). It was all over when my heart found Heino. The hair, the glasses, that delectable white suit… I knew I had fallen in love with this long forgotten art form. I needed it, and Heino needed me.
But who is Heino? Heino, apparently, was quite a superstar in Germany. Need I say more? I will anyway. I don’t know much about this particular character, but thanks to Mike, I was able to put a sound to that crazy face. My new favorite song, I’m proud to say, is Lustigen Holzhackerbub. I swear, I’m not making this up. Imagine every single stereotype you’ve ever heard about Germany, now roll it into a scary 1960’s folk-polka-pop vinyl record. And that’s Heino.
I’ve found many, many records, and I knew I just couldn’t keep their medicinal quality to myself. So, I spent a great deal of time this morning between midnight and 6:00am creating a web gallery for all of you, so that you might share in the joy I’ve found through Xavier Cugat, Martin Denny, Alvino Rey, Esquivel the Nerd, and most of all, Heino. Check it out, learn a thing or two about the 60’s, and please, laugh until your sides hurt.
