The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music

From the Mail

2012-01-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

Today I paid a late afternoon visit to the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box and found my receipt for another six months of rent on Box 11872 as well as these four drawings, postmarked in Wyoming. The latter definitely make the former seem well worth the expense. The artist writes that she picked up the blank hairdo templates at the Madison Zine Fest and wonders if the drawings are up to snuff. I think they're great. Thanks, Isabel!

Happy New Year

2012-01-06T17:06:00.000-08:00

Above: 2011, the year in haircuts

I started 2012 the way I ended 2011-- with a whopping cold. So here, almost seven days and one bottle of Multi-symptom Cold and Flu Nighttime Relief Liquid into the new year, is a belated wish for a happy new year for you and yours from Lemon o Books and The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music.

Before talking about what 2012 has in store around these parts, let's take a quick look back at last year. It was a good one. The Chicago Zine Fest, the Madison Zine Fest, and, just last month, the stellar Milwaukee Zine Fest were great experiences. Taking myself, my projects and books out of the house and into the world is always a surprising, heartening, and illuminating endeavor.

And the books made in 2011 stand out for me as the best I've made so far. Last winter, The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music Volume Six cataloged drawings made by dozens of individuals (out of the total hundreds of drawings received so far) who contributed their work to The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project. I am forever grateful to everyone who has made this silly idea of mine into a real and growing thing, and I hope it continues. While the drawers are the soul of this project, I think this book has my best design and craft yet for this series.

This fall saw the release of Actual Bird Song, the first non-hairdo project from Lemon o Books. This project was a collaboration between myself and two Milwaukee musicians, Lucky Bone and Slow Owls, who each contributed a track to a CD packaged inside a short booklet.

Now, with the highlights of 2011 lovingly packed away like so many Christmas lights, let's talk about some of my most anticipated projects of 2012. I'm still so excited by Actual Bird Song that my next project will continue in a similar vein. Two musicians are already on board to create sounds for a compact disc while I'm working on an accompanying book. I'm going to keep my lips sealed about the subject matter and the collaborators until things really start to take shape, but I guarantee that no one will be as disappointed as me if this project isn't just as good as last year's foray into audio-visual collaboration.

Also, the long-rumored seventh volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music will become a real thing that you can hold in your hands. This will definitely happen before the project turns four years old in July.

Thanks for reading, everybody. Here's to another great year!

Drawings From The Milwaukee Zine Fest Part 4: Madonna

2011-12-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Here's the final batch of drawings collected at last Saturday's Milwaukee Zine Fest. Check out the other great drawings here, here, and here. Thanks again to the festival's organizers, everyone who attended, and everyone who made a drawing for this project.

Drawings From The Milwaukee Zine Fest Part 3: Glenn Danzig

2011-12-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a third set of drawings from the fourth annual Milwaukee Zine Fest, which happened on Saturday. This set is comprised of drawings inspired by Glenn Danzig's hairdo. Thanks as always to the amazing drawers who keep this project going. Check out Saturday's Elvis drawings here and the Gloria Gaynor drawings here, and check back soon for some great renditions of Madonna.

Drawings From The Milwaukee Zine Fest 2011 Part 2: Gloria Gaynor

2011-12-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

As promised, here is another batch of drawings acquired for The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music at the fourth annual Milwaukee Zine Fest, held last Saturday. You can see the first post here, featuring a recap of the event and all of the drawings inspired by Elvis' famous hairdo. Today is Gloria Gaynor's turn. Thanks as always to all the drawers, to whose creativity and generosity this project is actually dedicated. Check back soon for more drawings.

Milwaukee Zine Fest 2011 Part 1: Elvis

2011-12-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

Above: Outside The Polish Falcon, Milwaukee, WI, December 10, 2011

The fourth annual Milwaukee Zine Fest happened today, and I was in attendance representing Lemon o Books and The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music. With absolutely zero offense meant towards zine fests of the Chicago or Madison persuasions (which I've attended and at which I've had splendid times), this was the best festival I've tabled. And right in my backyard, too! My heart swells with pride.

So, what made this event so great? Was it the awesome crew of organizers, all the great folks who came out, all my fellow exhibitors, the bottomless cup of coffee, my gregarious table-neighbor Ben with the firm handshake, all my friends and family who came to say hello, the abundance of crazy, little kids being their crazy, little selves? Well, I'll tell you what it wasn't-- the weather! It was super cold. But all those other things, those are the things which set the day apart. When five o'clock rolled around, it was like last call after a great night out: bittersweet with a desire to keep the party going. Thanks for a great day, Milwaukee!

Below, behold some Elvis drawings that were done by festival attendees. Deep (like deep-sea-chasm-deep) thanks as always to the drawers without whom The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project would not exist. And keep your browser glued to this spot for more drawings in the coming days.

I believe the artist of this first drawing told me it represents a bobble-head on skis.

A word of explanation about the next drawing. This one was drawn by my nephew Jonathan (age four). Here's the play by play about the guy depicted: he's making tacos, right? And he's cutting a jalepeno, but somehow he cuts both his eyes. And he has to see the doctor right away. And that's why he's frowning. I hope that clears up any confusion.

The above drawing is by Eric Bartholomew who makes a zine called Junk Drawer. He's been a welcome presence at every zine fest I've ever attended. Read more about Eric's work and travels here.

One more drawing, this one by my friend Kate. If you read this, Kate, it was good catching up.

Thanks for looking. There are more drawings coming soon. Here's looking forward to a great Milwaukee Zine Fest 2012, which should happen just before the Apocalypse doesn't.

Fall Breaks and Back to Winter

2011-11-24T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here's some autumn news and events.

First off, Quimby's Bookstore in Chicago is selling copies of Actual Bird Song at their store and online. They have been super supportive of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project, and I'm very excited and thankful that they are showing love for this latest endeavor, too. Check out their listing here.

On Saturday December 10th, the fourth annual Milwaukee Zine Fest will be taking place in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood. I'll be there behind a table all day, so if you'll be in Milwaukee that day, please come and say hello. In the meantime, check out the festival's website here. I'm very excited to be attending again after a year off.

Finally, be sure to check back for details about future projects from Lemon o Books. Already in the works are the next volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music (volume seven!) and a sort of follow-up/successor to Actual Bird Song. This book will be another quasi-field guide with a CD of accompanying music by one or more musicians. Count on more details about these projects as they continue to take shape.

Happy fall, everyone.

The Copy Machines I Have Known

2011-11-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

Above: Neil Gravander, Punch-Yourself-In-The-Face Machine, 2011
(Photo Courtesy of Lynden Sculpture Garden)

The biggest news here at The Famous Hairdos of Poplar Music/Lemon o Books in a month of big news and activity is the publication of Actual Bird Song. Actual Bird Song is a collaborative art project comprising a short zine and a 30-minute CD featuring sound collages, both inspired by birds and bird song. You can read the original post unveiling this long-brewing project here.

I made the book, and I've yakked about that at some length already, but the audio side of the project hasn't been featured as much. The CD features two tracks, the first by Lucky Bone and the second by Slow Owls. These two Milwaukee musicians took actual bird songs (well, recordings of actual bird songs) and used them as raw material to create audio collage. I would like to write here about Lucky Bone and his current art projects and then abruptly grind gears to express some ideas about how his work might relate to my own book projects.

Lucky Bone is the alias for the sound-making projects and performances of Neil Gravander. The original, germinal idea for Actual Bird Song was Neil’s, but it’s amazing that he got his part completed by our self-imposed October deadline. This is not due to any laziness on his part; rather, it's the opposite, because just before our idea was born, he received a grant to make a large art installation. This work is currently on display at the Inova/Kenilworth Gallery here in Milwaukee, and it's quite an accomplishment. You can check it out at 2155 North Prospect Avenue before it comes down December 4th. If you can, you definitely should.

Much of Neil's recent sculptural work uses VCRs and tube TVs, once-ubiquitous electronic devices which are now viewed as obsolete. One fascinating element of this work, besides the pieces' interactivity and sometimes flat-out beauty, is the recognition that they could not have been realized with any other technology. Hearing Neil's tales of scouring Milwaukee-area thrift stores for his materials, I know how specific his parameters could be for the ideal materials for his project. Adam Krause's catalog essay for the installation elaborates on this theme:

E.F. Schumacher popularized the notion of “appropriate technology” – the idea that the latest technology is not necessarily the proper means for achieving one’s ends. What has been deemed obsolete may actually prove to be the best tool for a particular task. Neil Gravander uses supposedly antiquated technologies...to generate sounds and images that could not be realized any other way.

Experiencing Neil’s pieces, there is a certain nostalgic recognition of the original function of the televisions, but the work resists becoming a commentary on our culture’s passive consumption of media. For one thing, many pieces require interactivity to fully function. They are all clearly handmade, often clumsily so, and shrug off didactic meaning by instead calling for the viewer to participate in the sense of play that obviously went into their creation. As Neil writes in his artist statement for the exhibition, “Within the realm of electronics, I know just enough to not get myself killed and to have some idea of what might be possible.” Taking these electronic devices as raw materials (as he did with recordings of bird song for our collaboration), he toyed with them until they unleashed the results he was after.

Above: Neil Gravander, Colliding Circles: Epileptic Electrons, 2011
(Photo Courtesy of Lynden Sculpture Garden)

Thinking about these ideas led me to ponder my own relation to an electronic device also seemingly at the twilight of its mass utility, the copy machine. This is on my mind especially while trying to promote Actual Bird Song. Elsewhere, I recently declared that for me this project was either six months or 28 years in the making. I meant to express my extreme pride, the way it formalized all my years of bird obsession, and how I think this is far and away my best book creation. I tend to use the word book way more than zine when describing my work, not out of any antipathy toward zines but because I am concerned with the way in which books (zine or otherwise) function. Some zinemakers are more concerned with the content of their zines outside of its relation to the book form, and this is valid. Others emphasize the handmade and embrace a rough aesthetic (equally valid). I strive to make formally beautiful books, and I do this with a photocopier, creating them with this means of production in mind.

In 1992, when I was eight or nine years old, my father got his first copy machine for his home office, although it was not new when he acquired it. It was a massive machine whose exact color, like much office equipment of its vintage, resides at that unnamable nexus of beige, light gray, and off-white. Or perhaps my memory is untrustworthy, and it was in fact light gray. Today, in 2011, I had to call my mother who confirmed that this copy machine was manufactured by Ricoh. Had she said Xerox, Canon, or Toshiba, I am sure I could have pictured each company’s logo just as easily as Ricoh’s. Believe me, though, that this copy machine was an important part of my life. When it finally broke (my fault, age 18), it was like the death of a family pet.

The arrival of that copy machine in 1992 means that for almost 20 years I have been using photocopiers to make and reproduce artwork. When that first copier arrived at our home, I was immediately trying to convince my dad to let me copy a drawing I had just made on a Post-It note.

As a zinemaker, my work exists in the context of the handmade books and zines that came before me and those being made today. One common conception of zines is that their means (typically they are photocopied, handmade) are a by-product of necessity, and this is not untrue. Photocopying small editions of books has long been a more viable option for many than offset printing and professional binding (although this is becoming less and less true). However, these traits do not guarantee that an artistic compromise was made, as though, if not for poverty, every photocopied book would have been printed through some "better" means. A photocopy is not simply a low-cost reproduction, it is a form of printing with its own intrinsic qualities which can be considered and exploited for artistic effect.

As a kid, my photocopied output was largely confined to making duplicates of drawings. The originals were usually ballpoint pen renderings on sheets of copy paper. I remember showing one of my reproductions to one of my brothers . He said that it looked like a photocopy of one of my drawings, and I didn’t know how to respond. Of course it was. I could not then articulate and maybe I still can't, but I was infected by the joy of seeing something reproduced, of an image duplicated. An ephemeral drawing somehow became more official and more real when reiterated. And my tool was my dad's copy machine.

In the winter of 2005, in my second to last year of college, I used some of my student loan disbursement to purchase my own copy machine. It was a cheap desktop machine made by Canon, that same nameless gray color but much smaller and slower than the old Ricoh and without the ability to reduce or enlarge. Still, I was excited, and I tried to share with friends my excitement to once again have a copy machine in my home. They invariably explained to me, as though breaking bad news, that an all-in-one copier, scanner, printer could be had for up to half what I had paid for my new copier. They didn’t understand the joy of toner. Inkjet prints cannot compare to copies, not because one is superior, necessarily, but because they are produced by very different devices.

Physically, a copy is toner melted to paper with heat and pressure on a cylindrical drum. A copy comes out of the copy machine warm and smelling like a hair-dryer. Photocopiers can make velvety blacks or graphite-like grays, depending on the specific machine or the settings used or the original being copied. They are very limiting in many ways, and limitations, I think, are good for artists. You can’t register with fine accuracy. They print in one color, and that color is almost always black. Successive generations of copies degrade in quality quickly. But having grown up with a photocopier, I know all this, and I know how to make art that I am proud of using these means.

An inkjet printer does many things that a copy machine can do and it does many things better, but this does not mean that one should replace the other, at least as far as an artist should be concerned. If an idea is conceived to be reproduced on a copy machine, it can be beautiful for what it is, not as a compromise to be apologized for. While techniques like letterpress and silkscreen printing are enjoying a revival at the moment, photocopying retains its lowly stature. The photocopy was never state of the art as a printing method. Its primary association is with office work. None of this should invalidate its use for artmaking or limit the scope of what this art can take on. Just as Neil Gravander's art unapologetically utilizes outmoded video technology for its intrinsic technological and aesthetic qualities, an artist who primarily uses a copy machine should hope for his or her work to be encountered on its own terms.

I hope to continue making books, and I am confident that a copy machine will continue to play some part. Maybe one day I will conceive a project that will be produced in some other way, and it will be created with that in mind. In the meantime, please consider checking out Actual Bird Song, the newest photocopied book from Lemon o Books.

Madison Zine Fest

2011-10-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Hello again! It feels great to be posting a second time in one week.

Monday saw the grand Internet unveiling of Actual Bird Song, a zine that has nothing to do with hairdos, famous or otherwise. In fact, it is all about creatures with feathers. I am very excited about that book and its accompanying CD, but don’t think that The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project has been abandoned, forgotten, or neglected. Below are three sets of hairdo drawings collected at the Madison Zine Fest, which was held this past weekend in Madison, Wisconsin on a beautiful fall Saturday. I was there, manning a table, for most of the day. Thanks to the organizers and everyone who came out.

The above set of drawings was done by a quiet fellow whose name I wish I knew, who came to the festival all the way from Portland (Oregon, I presume) and sat at the table to my immediate right.

This second batch was done by Brad Gottschalk (www.silenttheatercomics.com), a cartoonist who sat to my left and the acquaintance of whom I am glad to have made. We discussed Aldo Leopold, coffee, architecture, and the runaway popularity of the name Ethan. The third set of drawings is by a festival-attendee who was kind enough to stop and make drawings for me.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Madison Zine Fest, checked out books, made a drawing, or said hello. And thanks again to Jason and family for the air mattress, coffee, and companionship.

Actual Bird Song

2011-10-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

The newest publication from Lemon o Books is the first to be totally unrelated to the ongoing Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project. I am incredibly proud of this one.

A "field guide and audio companion," Actual Bird Song is a short visual zine and a two track, 30 minute compact disc. I designed and produced the book, while Milwaukee musicians Lucky Bone and Slow Owls each contributed a track. These three parts were created in isolation but, I think, complement each other in interesting ways. Together they comprise an open-ended meditation on bird song and humanity’s relationship to the natural world. They are waiting for readers and listeners to join the conversation.

Below are some more images, a brief explanation, and information for obtaining a copy through the mail.

Writing here as the book designer, I can only explain my own motivations for the visual component of the project. Despite the title’s implication of scientific rigor and accuracy, Actual Bird Song is an exercise in pseudo-science-- book design and illustration as a vehicle for abstractly considering our relationship to nature as outside observers, our frequent inability to contain and grasp the wildness from which we have secluded ourselves and for which many simultaneously yearn. I tried to avoid using birds as a ready metaphor for human desires and ended up doing just that anyway. Taking the idea of a “field guide” literally, Actual Bird Song is an attempt to visually depict the sensation of standing in a field surrounded by the sounds of avian activity using the language of textbook illustration.

The books and CDs were produced in an edition of 100. The covers and endpapers are beautiful French Paper products, milled in the Midwest with hydroelectric power. The fore-edge corners are rounded to resemble the pocket field guides on my nightstand that never seem to make the trip to actual fields. The printing was done at Milwaukee’s own Clark Graphics, where their professionalism is matched only by their patience. Thanks to them and to Lucky Bone and Slow Owls for making this project real.

Anyone who wants a copy should mail $5.00 well-concealed cash to:

P.O. Box 11872
Milwaukee, WI 53211

Shipping costs are included in the price for anyone living in the contiguous United States. International friends should email for more information. Thanks for looking!

Three New Drawings or Back to Life, Back to Reality

2011-10-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome back, everybody! Above is one of three new drawings submitted over the weekend to The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project by a fine fellow named Zach. You can scroll down to see the other two (please do...I like them a lot). If you then scroll a little further down, you can ascertain by the date of the last post that almost two months have elapsed between those drawings and these. In that time the humid days of August have given way to a fleeting Indian Summer, and winter is surely on its way. Sorry, folks. But don't worry because there is exciting news on the horizon here at The Famous Hairdos HQ and Lemon o Books!

Before the end of October, this space will have news of a brand new zine for you to cherish. This publication will have nothing to do with hair, but it will be beautiful. I am very excited to share it with the world. The grand public unveiling will occur at the Madison Zine Fest on October 22nd, 2011. If you happen to be in Wisconsin's fair capitol that day, I highly recommend you attend this event. And then, on December 10th, before the full force of winter strikes the Midwest like a linebacker at the Ice Bowl, I'll be making an appearance at the Milwaukee Zine Fest with boxes of zines for sale and trade.

Check back here for more information about all these doings. I promise it won't be as quiet as it has been. Thanks for looking, and thanks again, Zach, for these great drawings! Best wishes, all.

2011-08-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Check out these new drawings. They're done by a friend named Joe who has had drawings featured here before. Thanks, Joe!

Drawings from Utah

2011-08-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here are just a couple drawings from a stack of images that were waiting in an envelope in the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box this morning.

The drawings came here to Milwaukee from a state prison in Utah, and, as you can see, the url for the artist's blog is written around each picture. Please check it out at brandongreensblog.blogspot.com. Thank you so much for the drawings, Brandon.

Happy Birthday!

2011-07-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

It's almost my birthday and, coincidentally, the third birthday of the Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project. A friend sent this beautiful collage and two hairdo drawings to my P.O. Box today.

My friend Lindsey is one of the organizers of Zine Fest Houston, which went down this past Spring, and she offered to sell some of The Famous Hairdos books and give out postcards for people to draw on. This is awesome enough, but today I received this early birthday card and two drawings by zine fest attendees. The drawings are below, and be sure to check out Lindsey's comics and art at weakhighlights.com. Thanks as always to the drawers and kind friends who have allowed this silly project to thrive for three years.

Elvis was a hero to most

2011-06-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the awesome people who submitted these drawings and thanks to Chuck D.

2011-05-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

This postcard arrived at the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box from Chicago, Illinois. It held up to the journey somewhat better than the rendering of Loretta Lynn featured at the end of Monday's post. I love this drawing. Thanks to everyone who puts something in the mail to keep this project going.

Fleeting Pages

2011-05-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

I was approached about a month ago regarding an interesting project going on right now in Pittsburgh. In a recently shuttered Borders bookstore (a two-story, 24,000 sq foot behemoth), some enterprising folks have set out to fill that space with an expo for small press books for one month only. They're calling it Fleeting Pages. In their own words:

Taking over (taking back?) a space, left empty by a failed big box bookstore, for one month, starting MAY 7th, and filling it with independent & self-published work of all kinds, book arts, workshops, and events. All revolving around written self-expression.

I sent them five copies of the latest volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music to sell. So if you live in Pennsylvania, you should make a trip down. But even if you can't support this rad project in person, they are also selling stuff online, on the Internet! Here's the link to their page, and here is the listing for my book. Check it out!

2011-05-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

A new week and some new drawings for you to enjoy. As always, enormous thanks to all the drawers for contributing to this project.

A brief word is in order about the next drawing, a rendering of Loretta Lynn that arrived over the weekend at The Famous Hairdos P.O. Box by way of Chicago, Illinois.

I didn't realize that a postcard traveling from Chicago to Milwaukee had to travel through the Post Office in Hell, but that is apparently what happened. Even after some cosmetic Photoshopping, it is still evident that the trip to my P.O. Box played Rauschenberg to this artist's De Kooning, and the image I retrieved was certainly very different from the pencil drawing that had been mailed to me. All the same, I love this spooky little drawing. This is not the first time this has happened: check out this Jimmy Page from last August for one example.

I hope that the artist agrees with me that this postal iconoclasm still leaves a beautiful image, and I hope that they don't mind that I still saw fit to post it on this site. Thanks for the drawing!

2011-05-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more great drawings. Thanks to everyone who has made drawings for The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music. Here's to many more!

First Fruits

2011-05-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

A week ago, the fourth and newest hairdo template for The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music appeared in this spot, and here are a few great drawings that have come in already. Thanks for drawing, everyone! Let's start with some Elvii.

I have hesitated to include Glenn Danzig's hair in this project since the beginning because I was afraid that I would receive a surfeit of drawings that might be described as too "fangy". The adorable drawing below hints that maybe I needn't have worried. Shades of Melvin Monster perhaps?

New Hair for 2011

2011-04-26T16:07:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth set of hairdos for you and your friends to draw on. Since July 2008, hundreds of people have completed drawings for this project, The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music, and I would love even more contributions. Just follow the Hairdo Templates link on the right-hand side of this page, print this template full-size, complete the drawings, and mail them back to:

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music
P.O. Box 11872, Milwaukee, WI 53211.

Thanks for looking. This project would not be celebrating its third birthday this summer if not for all the awesome people who have submitted drawings so far.

Drawings From The Chicago Zine Fest, Part Four

2011-03-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the last three drawings from the Chicago Zine Fest, and they're good ones. Thanks again, everyone. Check them out as well as the preceding posts to scope just a sample of the great outpouring of creativity that was gathered in Chicago this weekend.

Drawings From The Chicago Zine Fest, Part Three

2011-03-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a third batch of drawings from Chicago, and I'm still not quite done scanning all of them yet. Thanks to all the drawers, The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project is still going strong. The more people who contribute drawings, the better this gets. Thanks, everyone.

Drawings From The Chicago Zine Fest, Part Two

2011-03-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here are more great drawings from Chicago, and there's still more to come! Thanks for drawing, everyone.

Drawings From The Chicago Zine Fest, Part One

2011-03-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

As promised yesterday, here are several more of the drawings that The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music collected on Saturday at the Chicago Zine Fest. It was great meeting (however briefly) so many great people. Thanks again!

Below are the drawings. Some of the drawers even wrote messages on the backs of their postcards. Check back later for another bunch.

As far as I can tell, "A Face Like A Brick Wall" is not an actual Loretta Lynn song.

Judging by the bevy of incredible Loretta Lynn drawings, it's safe to assume that Volume Seven of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music will be dedicated to her hairdo and to the many drawings that have been inspired by her imposing coif. Although it won't likely see print until the fall, I'm already excited. In the meantime, please check out Volume Six: Jimmy Page.

2011-03-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music just got home from two days in Chicago. We sold and traded books and collected great drawings at the second annual Chicago Zine Fest, which was held on Saturday. I'll be scanning all of the drawings tomorrow and posting them here, but in the meantime I want to thank the organizers of the festival, everyone who came out, and everyone who stopped at our table. It was a great day and a great weekend. To tide you over, below is just one of the many awesome drawings we received. Yes, that is real lipstick.

Volume Six at Quimby's

2011-03-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here is some wonderful news. The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music Volume Six, just like the five previous volumes, is for sale at Quimby's in Chicago! What's more, you can order it directly from them on this very Internet.

If you want to get your hands on this book, you can always order it directly from me ($3.00 postage paid to the lower 48 states, P.O. Box 11872 Milwaukee, WI 53211), but if you also want to support a rad store that has been supporting rad art for 20 years, by all means, follow the following link.

What's extra amazing is the write up on their website, written by one E.F. Here it is (I'm so flattered, that I will make it a block quote):

I gotta whole lotta love for this drawing zine. Using famous hair as the template for some physical graffiti, 30-odd artists complete pages and pages of Pages. -EF

Thanks!

Famous Hairdos of Popular Music: Volume Six

2011-03-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music
Volume Six: Jimmy Page

______________________________

Volume Six features 28 drawings (twelve more than the last volume!) spread over 32 pages. Drawings by kids and drawings by adults, friends and strangers alike, and every drawing is inspired by Jimmy Page’s flowing locks. The books are photocopied, folded and staple-bound in a numbered edition of 80 books. The covers are printed on heavy, “Blu Raspberry” French Paper, made (despite the name) here in the Midwest. Each copy is mailed with four postcards for you to cherish or, better yet, draw on, mail back and keep this project going. Thanks for looking!

The price remains the same:

$3 postage paid in the contiguous US

P.O. Box 11872, Milwaukee, WI 53211

2011-02-02T09:28:00.001-08:00

Another great set of drawings. This might be my favorite Dusty Springfield Hair House, and there have been many. Why do I love this project? Because Dusty Springfield Hair House is now a thing. I will have to consult the records, but Hand Turkey Morrissey Hair may also be a trend. Thank you, all past and future drawers. The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music could not exist without you.

I'll bring back a souvenir

2011-01-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here are two new postcards!

2011-01-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

Once again, here's a batch of wonderful drawings by area high school students. Big thanks to them for drawing and big thanks to their teacher, my friend Tom, for supplying them with the hairdos to draw on. In related news, Tom has recently launched a website called Pancake Parade, where he and another guy rewrite the dialog from pages from old pulp comic books. It's like a static version of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Check it out after perusing the drawings below.

2010-11-22T13:51:00.001-08:00

Thanks for the great drawing, Joe. I'll get that Morrissey book to you soon.

Volume Six Coming Soon

2010-11-20T13:55:00.000-08:00

Volume six of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music is mostly laid out for print, and this one is going to be packed. So many stellar drawings have arrived in the last year that this book will contain more drawings than any previous volume. This will be a jam-packed, attractive zine for you to hold in your hands. I am really excited to put this one out.

But if even more drawings were to arrive before publication, it wouldn't take much to convince me to add even more drawings. This volume will be dedicated to drawings based on Jimmy Page's hairdo, so if you want to contribute to the project, please consider making a rendering of Mr. Page on the template above. For inspiration, check out this great portrait sent in just last week or any of the other hundreds of drawings that have been showcased here over the last couple years.

I love this project and want to see more people have fun with it, too. If you want to join in, just click on the image above, then click to view the picture at full size and print off a copy. Fill it out and send it back to the address at the bottom. You will likely see your work on this website and maybe featured in the forthcoming book.

Thanks as always to all past and future drawers!

Necessity Is the Mother of Sandwiches

2010-11-16T08:16:00.000-08:00

It's not just about hairdos here at The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music. We also love sandwiches. Here is the second sandwich review to be posted here, AND WE'D LOVE TO READ MORE.

The first sandwich review was a detailed analysis of a peanut butter and jam sandwich, and you can read that review at the bottom of the first post recounting our adventures at the Madison Zine Fest. That review was kindly written/drawn by a friend in Texas who sent it through the mail to The Famous Hairdos P.O. Box. (In related news, the friend in question draws an autobiographical comic called Weak Highlights that you should check out.)

This newest review is by my brother, given to me in person in a car heading to my mom's sixtieth birthday party. Yes, my brother owns a rubber stamp of an AK-47. Don't you?

Thanks, Adam and Lindsey, and happy birthday, mom!

If you want to see your sandwich review posted here, send it to:

P.O. Box 11872
Milwaukee, WI 53211

Best wishes.

2010-11-15T15:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Kathy!

2010-11-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

Wow. I love these. The chance that something like this might have arrived over the weekend at the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box is what makes me walk my dog to the post office as soon as I wake up on Monday morning. Inside, instead of the more typical nothing, was these two somethings.

So apparently pastel does not hold up so well against postal sorting machinery. Who would have guessed? But I sort of like the mechanical smudging on these drawings. Maybe the drawer would disagree, but regardless, I want to thank them for sending them in and making my Monday. Thanks and best wishes!

2010-10-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

This drawing by a local high school student was procured for the Famous Hairdos of Popular Music by my pal Tom, an art teacher and longtime friend of this project. Big, big thanks to the drawer and thanks as always to Tom.

2010-10-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

This postcard was in the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box this morning. Thanks to the drawer for sending it in. I love these drawings where all the constituent parts are nameable, like, ok, that's a river, some hills, Morrissey's hair, a tongue, shining sun, maybe those are nostrils, stegosaurus spikes. Yeah, that's everything. But still, what am I looking at? Is this a prehistoric ancestor of Morrissey's hair, pausing to drink from a cool mountain spring? There has always been a Rorschach element built into this project, but it's interesting when a completed drawing comes back and the hair has been turned into yet another inkblot, and I wonder just who is in the psychiatrist's chair, so to speak.

This is fun. Let's keep doing it!

2010-10-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

A little roughed-up by the postal service, but nonetheless a nice postcard drawing retrieved from the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box this afternoon. Thanks to the drawer for sending this in! Here Jimmy Page has a neck to make Parmigianino proud.

Famous Hairdos Postcard Installation

2010-10-11T12:45:00.000-07:00

Last week (while showing off all the great drawings from the Madison Zine Fest) I promised exciting news, and here it is: For the next two weeks (October 11- 22, 2010) blank postcards for the Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project will be hanging in UW-Milwaukee's Mitchell Hall for passersby to take and fill out! For anyone new to the project, this short paragraph should catch you up and give all the necessary details:

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music is a two and a half year old collaborative art project based in Milwaukee. Friends and strangers complete drawings inspired by images of famous musicians' iconic hairstyles. Between October 11 and 22, you can participate in the project. Check out the space in UWM's Mitchell Hall between rooms 349 and 353 on the third floor, take a postcard, complete a drawing, and mail it back to the address printed on the reverse. This project becomes more fun the more people participate. Please join in!

I have to thank Lisa Moline, who arranged this for me, and Marcelino Stuhmer, whose students' work usually hangs in this location, for allowing me to use his space. As I write this, my fingernails are still sore from sticking all those pushpins. As an added incentive, the first hundred postcards come pre-stamped, so you can give your drawings to the project without spending the twenty-eight cents to mail them in. I will be dropping by often to replenish the postcards as they are taken. So please take them.

In other news, some may recall that a small contest was held here a few weeks ago to celebrate the publication of the fifth volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music. I doubt that anyone is waiting with bated breath for the results of this contest because, well, no one entered. But if there are any armchair quarterbacks who have been checking for updates, that's your answer. No winner, but also, I suppose, no losers (or infinity losers, pessimists), but I'm not too disappointed. It was fun to try, and a similar contest will likely be mounted when the sixth volume comes out.

Thanks as always to any drawers, past and future, who keep this project going.

Madison Zine Fest, Part 3

2010-10-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the last of the drawings acquired at the Madison Zine Fest for The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music project. There are some all-time faves in this batch, too. If you want to see the rest of the drawings, the first batch is here and the second is here. So pour yourself a generous glass of red wine and admire some truly inspired drawings.

Thanks again to all the drawers, festival organizers, attendees, and other friendly folks. Best wishes.

Madison Zine Fest, Part 2

2010-10-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some more (but not all) of the remaining drawings that we collected on Saturday at the Madison Zine Fest for the Famous Hairdos project. Only while scanning the stack of postcards that we went home with did I realize just what an awesome outpouring of great drawings we got that day. So here is the second of three batches. Click here to see the first.

Thanks again to everyone who drew.

Madison Zine Fest, Part 1

2010-10-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music have just returned from a long, fun weekend in Madison. The Madison Zine Fest held on October 2 was a blast. It was maybe the most fun we’ve had at one of these events, aside from trying to navigate the streets of the Borgesian labyrinth that is Madison, and even that wasn’t too horrible.

Big, big thanks to the organizers of the Fest, everyone who came down, and anyone who bought a book from us, gave us a drawing, or both. Thanks to all of you I am still very excited about this project. It wouldn’t exist without you.

Back home in Milwaukee, there was a postcard waiting in the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box from a stranger here in town, so we’ll start with that one, and then please keep scrolling down to see half of the wonderful submissions we gathered in Madison. The rest will be posted very soon. Last but not least is a wonderful, not-hairdo-related, illustrated review of a peanut butter and jam sandwich sent in the mail from a good friend in Texas because some things are too great not to share. If you feel compelled to share your own sandwich reviews or hairdo drawings or any other correspondence, send them to:

P.O. Box 11872, Milwaukee, WI 53211

There should be more exciting news here within a few days as well as the rest of the Madison drawings. Stay tuned. Thanks again and enjoy!

And here is a review of peanut butter and jam sandwich:

Bob Dylan said Hi to me once

2010-09-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

Here are three new sets of drawings.

Also, the free zine contest announced last week is still going on. There is still time to participate, but it's running out. Any drawings that arrive in The Famous Hairdos P.O. Box postmarked between September 21 and October 1, 2010 will be eligible, so get drawing. The fifth envelope receives a free copy of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music Volume Five.

Once again, Madison residents should mark their calendars for the Madison Zine Fest on October 2. It's now just under a week away. You can say hi, make a drawing in person or buy books at discount prices. I just bought some new pens for any prospective drawers to use. They're really nice (the pens and the drawers). Then, check back here to see your rendition of Loretta Lynn's hair immortalized on the Internet.

Thanks as always!

2010-09-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

Just in time for the onset of autumn here in Milwaukee, this postcard rendition of Jimmy Page’s famous hairdo apparently depicts the time that he went as Adam Ant for Halloween.

The artist of this postcard suggested I check out her blog at elizabethemer.blogspot.com. Maybe you should, too. Thanks, Elizabeth.

Free Zine Contest

2010-09-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

In celebration of the still-new fifth volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music and the upcoming Madison Zine Fest on Saturday, October 2nd (where we shall be sitting behind a table), it was hastily decided while taking the dog for a brisk walk that a contest is in order. The contents of The Famous Hairdos, for those not in the know, is entirely generated by generous friends and strangers. The often anonymous drawings are based on black and white images of famous musicians’ hairdos, printed on sheets of paper or postcards with the exhortation “Complete the drawing.” It is an admittedly silly project, yet also one that I am still very excited about. The project is a celebration of the creativity of so-called average people making sometimes silly, sometimes beautiful, and sometimes profane drawings as gentle graffiti on top of artifacts of celebrity culture. As such, the project becomes more fun the more people contribute. Remember: despite their similarities, Sparks was a far, far superior band to Rush, because Sparks knew that they were silly. Mull that over, and then read the details of the contest below.

THE CONTEST:

The rules of the contest are simple. The blank hairdo templates can be found at the Hairdo Templates link at the top right of this page. Simply view the image of your choosing at full size and print off a copy. Follow the directions and complete the drawing. Find an envelope and a stamp, and take the whole parcel to your mailbox or local post office. The fifth drawing (in honor of the fifth volume) to appear in The Famous Hairdos P.O. Box from the lower 48 states between today (September 21, 2010) and the Friday before the Madison Zine Fest (October 1, 2010) will receive a complimentary copy of the newest book in the mail. As always, the drawings will be showcased here and the winner will be announced as well. Good luck to all.

In other news, if contests are not your thing but you live in Madison, please stop by the College Library on the 2nd and say hello. We are the Andrew W.K. of partying. It promises to be fun.

The Children Are Our Future

2010-09-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

Tons of great drawings by local middle school students. Check them out, and then stick around to read a message to these cool kids and their teacher, Tom, who has been a big supporter of the Famous Hairdos of Popular Music from the start. Thanks for looking.

These drawings (and many that have appeared here before) were facilitated by my friend Tom. In addition to being a super stand-up guy, he is an art teacher in the Milwaukee area and is thus afforded a captive audience with No. 2 pencils who are supposed to listen to his instructions. And sometimes he instructs his students to fill out these sheets after a lesson. From time to time, I meet Tom for a pot of tea and leave with a fresh stack of drawings done by his students. He has been deservedly thanked in every volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music to date, and now I want to thank him here as well. Thanks, Tom, and congratulations on your recent engagement.

All of the above drawings were done by summer school students at Wisconsin Hills Middle School in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Biggest thanks go out to them and all the other kids who have drawn in the past.

In this batch, there is one drawing of Jimmy Page's hair devouring Pac-Man and in another drawing a figure sporting Loretta Lynn's hair as a massive moustache comments that his "mustach (sic) way's (sic) a ton," an apparent reference to Public Enemy's 1987 "Miuzi (sic) Weighs a Ton." What I want to know is how middle school students in 2010 are so hip to 1980s popular culture? Furthermore, anyone who ever finds him or herself compelled to utter any portentous proclamations about "kids these days" can take solace in the evidence here: that kids today are clever, funny, and are pretty into animals and fire-breathing monsters. This seems about right to me. And at least one kid thinks that road kill is as funny a punch line as I once did, so if anyone thinks that this might show an alarmingly morbid sense of humor, there is also the possibility that this student might end up a vegan who hates to drive cars. Sometimes humor is the best way to show empathy.

I hope you enjoy these drawings as much as I do.

In other news, the fifth volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music can now be ordered online from Quimby's Bookstore in Chicago, which has sold all five volumes on consignment. If you want to get your hands on a copy and support this project and support an awesome bookstore in the process, this might be the most efficient way to go. Check the listing out right here and browse some of their other wares in the process.

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music: Volume Five

2010-09-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music

Volume Five: Prince

______________________________

16 drawings photocopied, folded and staple-bound in a numbered edition of 75. Covers are 100 lb. French Paper . Each copy comes with four postcards for you to cherish or, better yet, draw on, mail back and keep this project going.

The price remains:

$3 postage paid in the contiguous US

P.O. Box 11872, Milwaukee, WI 53211

2010-08-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

This is the second postcard to arrive in the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box in one week. This one didn't travel as far as Wednesday's drawing from California, but I love Milwaukee drawings, too. So I'll take this opportunity to thank all the MKE drawers, without whom this project would be a faint wisp of what it is today (over two hundred artists and counting!). And a special August 27th thanks to Betty, who mailed this one in. Please keep them coming.

2010-08-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

This drawing appeared in the Famous Hairdos P.O. Box today from San Diego, California. I have no idea how one of these postcards made it to California, but this sort of thing is exactly what I dreamed could happen with this project. And what a postcard this is!

There is also an equally weird prose poem on the verso that I would be remiss not to transcribe verbatim:

He sees life through his eyes along with other lovelies. Like birds flying in threes and a cactus sending secrets for our teams. Gulls want him doc, so everything stays the same. Except for his head! Which gets HUGE, but you'd never know because of his BEAUTIFUL HAIRDO!

Thank you, Kelly in San Diego!

2010-08-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

The anonymous drawer of this image used a blue colored pencil that appears to be basically non-photo blue and turned out be hella hard to scan. It is a testament to how much I like this particular drawing that I exhausted my meager Photoshop skills to bring it to you. It reminds me of the offspring of Jimmy Page and Koko the Clown from old Max Fleischer cartoons. Given some of the sordid stories of Led Zeppelin sexual excess, this is actually not so hard to imagine.

2010-08-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a quiet month since the last drawings appeared on this space, but this batch seems worth the wait. Another six months of rent has been paid to the postmaster for P.O. Box 11872, and I would love if those months were not as quiet as July.

The second rendition of Jimmy Page from the top looks more like Joey Ramone than the drawing some months ago that was actually relabeled Joey Ramone. And this is a good thing in my book.

In other news, the fifth volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music is all laid out for publication. This one will be dedicated to Prince, and, yes, the covers will be purple, a nice lilac-ish shade. Sometimes you have to give the people what they want. The book should be out by the fall, definitely in time for the Madison Zinefest.

Life happens and self-imposed deadlines disappear in the rear-view, so the publication schedule shifted from quarterly to biannual. One reviewer at Razorcake Magazine will certainly be disappointed that my paper wasting output has shrunk by half. Perhaps this is what their motto "We do our part" refers to. I am sorry not to be living up to my own obligations.

Thanks as always to the drawers who keep this silly project alive. And a belated thank you goes to Anne at Xerography Debt who had kind words to say about volume four last winter. You can read them here.

2010-07-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

2010-06-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

It appears that a Peter Gabriel fan is attempting to impose a hidden agenda on the Famous Hairdos of Popular Music. This is well within your rights, but just know that we're on to you.

2010-05-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

2010-05-03T09:39:00.000-07:00

Another fantastic kid drawing.

2010-04-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

2010-04-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

2010-04-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a review of the second volume of The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music published in Razorcake:

Volume 1 was James Brown. Volume 2 is Diana Ross. Neither are good. I was watching a PBS special on Ed Sullivan and they had a clip on Diana Ross. Not even that hairdo could help this book. A photocopy of a hairdo with drawings of faces done by first graders is the only way to describe this waste of paper [my emphasis- ed.]. Sorry, I just don’t get it.

Below is a drawing by a third grader, and I think it's great.

Strawberry Letter 24

2010-04-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

Above is a beautiful handmade envelope retrieved from Famous Hairdos Headquarters (a small P.O. Box in Milwaukee, WI) this morning, arriving by way of Chicago, IL. Here are the constituent parts: a grocery store circular, Scotch tape, some labels, and $0.44 postage. The paper that it’s made of is generally called junk mail, but inside were three new drawings, kindly keeping this silly project going. The return address has been redacted, but I want to take this opportunity to thank the sender(s) and everyone else who has ever put something in the box: a drawing, a postcard, or an order for a book. Thanks also to any drawers who have given me their scribbles any other way.

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music is approaching its second birthday (maybe accounting for the wistful, grateful tone of this message), and the drawings that come in are still exciting and are even more exciting (I think) in the company of all the other drawings.

The blank hairdo templates that are now adorned by sweet silly lovely drawings likely found their way from Milwaukee to Chicago at the Chicago Zine Fest that was held in March (while we’re handing out thank yous: big thanks to the kind folks who organized that event). It was a long, rainy day. Awake at 4 00, bus at 5 05, Amtrack at 6 15, too many nervous trips to the train bathroom, fest 10 to 5, subway to dinner right after, back to downtown for an 8 05 train back to waukee. Plus, it was St. Patrick's Day weekend. Plus, plus, daylight savings time, so losing an hour of much needed recovery sleep afterward. Then work in the morning. But it was great. Really great. And this mail keeps that greatness going a month later.

Here are the new drawings. Please, keep 'em coming:

2010-04-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

2010-04-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

2010-04-05T08:16:00.000-07:00

2010-04-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

Here are the first fruits of the new Hairdo Template for 2010, including a drawing of Robert Smith as a pineapple. This is exciting.

2010-03-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

These drawings arrived at Famous Hairdos Headquarters from Louisville, Kentucky.

2010-03-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

New Hair for 2010

2010-03-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

The next set of four hairdos for you and your loved ones to draw on. The fun continues for a third year. Go here to print 8 1/2 x 11. Please consider mailing completed portraits to:

P.O. Box 11872
Milwaukee, WI
53211

Thanks!

2010-03-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

2010-03-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

2010-03-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

2010-03-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

2010-03-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

2010-03-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

2010-03-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

2010-03-02T15:57:00.000-08:00

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music

Volume Four: Aretha Franklin

______________________________

If you are in downtown Chicago on Saturday, March 13th, The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music will have a table at the Chicago Zine Fest. Say hello, submit a drawing, sample our wares at discount prices.

Otherwise, this and all preceding volumes are still available:

$3 postage paid in the contiguous US

P.O. Box 11872, Milwaukee, WI 53211

2010-02-22T09:48:00.000-08:00

2010-02-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

2010-02-22T09:41:00.000-08:00

Famous Hairdos of Popular Music: Volume Four

2010-02-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music

Volume Four: Aretha Franklin

______________________________

16 drawings photocopied, folded and staple-bound in an edition of 75. Covers are 100 lb. French Paper Spearmint. The first volume of 2010.

$3 postage paid in the contiguous US

P.O. Box 11872, Milwaukee, WI 53211

2010-02-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

2010-01-30T19:01:00.000-08:00

2010-01-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

2010-01-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

2010-01-19T16:50:00.001-08:00

2010-01-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

2010-01-16T17:03:00.000-08:00

2009-12-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

2009-12-07T18:58:00.000-08:00

2009-11-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

2009-11-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

2009-11-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

2009-11-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

2009-11-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

2009-11-14T19:40:00.000-08:00

2009-11-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

2009-11-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

2009-11-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

Hairdresser on Fire

2009-11-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

The Famous Hairdos of Popular Music

Volume Three: Morrissey

______________________________

Once again, drawings previously seen for free on the Internet, corralled into book form-- photocopied, folded and bound in an edition of 75. Covers are 100 lb. somber blue. A lovely keepsake.

$3 postage paid in the contiguous US

P.O. Box 11872, Milwaukee, WI 53211

The last volume of 2009!

2009-09-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

2009-09-02T17:41:00.000-07:00