#chelsea girls

[ornithorynquerouge]

Chelsea Girls - Andy Warhol. 1966

[bitter69uk]

“Mary Woronov burned herself into my brain when, as a college student in 1966, I first saw her smoldering, imperious performance in Andy Warhol’s epic film Chelsea Girls. She was one of the most original, stylish and articulate sexual personae of the royal House of Warhol. I never forgot her, and I followed her subsequent movie career with great fascination … Warholism, which is my philosophy as a critic, merged the visual and performing arts and closed the gap between high and popular culture. Thirty years later, it can be clearly seen that the Warhol Factory, with all its riveting decadent excesses, was as seminal an avant-garde circle as that of the Dadaists and Surrealists after World War I in Paris.”

/ Camille Paglia from the back cover blurb on Mary Woronov’s 1995 autobiography Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory /

Born on this day 80 years ago (8 December 1943): insolent Warhol Superstar turned queen of cult movies, actress, writer, visual artist and recovered amphetamine enthusiast … Mary Woronov! I love the strikingly angular Woronov’s deadpan performances, resting bitch face and witheringly contemptuous voice in Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) (which is recommended Christmas viewing by the way), Death Race 2000 (1975), Rock’n’Roll High School (1979) and Eating Raoul (1982). But hell, Woronov is even great value doing guest spots on episodes of Charlie’s Angels (1976) and Murder, She Wrote (1985). One of the best things she ever did was play the mother in punk band Suicidal Tendencies’ 1983 video “Institutionalized” (“All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me”). Pictured: sullen young Woronov as Hanoi Hannah in Chelsea Girls (1966).

[reprisearchive]

Velvet Underground and Nico.

[mannymuc]

Outrageous Tour De Force 1966

A collage of screenshots and a contemporary ad of "The Chelsea Girls" underground film, featuring Nico and many other Warhol Factory faces

[morepeachyogurt]

chelsea girls by eileen myles

[text id: See, I come from an alcoholic household, and resultantly kind of don't react to violence. I think it terrifies me, but I am so drawn to it (highlighted in red) I never hit anyone, but I would love to kill a lot of people. end id]

[iloveyouphillipmorris]

— MARY WORONOV on the set of Andy Warhol’s ‘CHELSEA GIRLS’ May 4, 1966.

“Andy always said the blandest things, it drove people crazy, they were forced to read meaning into his words, but we knew different. Andy was not only dyslexic but he was uncomfortable with words. [ … ] He never took vacations or enjoyed himself and was suspicious of anything different. I think the only reason he liked me was because I was Catholic, like everyone around him, and I was Slavic. In other words I was familiar, and therefore to be trusted.“ — Mary Woronov, “Swimming Underground: My Years In the Warhol Factory.”

[sntg]

[ylove-bandaesthetics]

Bands/Artists & Monsters! ☠️🤘🏼

Jill Janus + Witch! 🌙

“The magic she held in her soul was much bigger than the magic she held in her hands.”

[record-of-the-day]

TODAYS RECORD: CHELSEA GIRL BY NICO (1967)

This is the debut solo record of German singer Nico. It was recorded after a handful of singles and her involvement on The Velvet Undergrounds first record.

The title of the album refers to the Andy Warhol film of the same name, in which Nico starred in.

No songs or instruments on the record were done by Nico herself, with members of The Velvet Underground along with Jackson Browne and Bob Dylan writing songs and playing instruments on the record.

[lisamarie-vee]

[pazzesco]

Nico, born Christa Paffgen, was a German singer, songwriter, actress & model. She had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) & Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966). Reviewer Richard Goldstein describes Nico as "half goddess, half icicle" and writes that her distinctive voice "sounds something like a cello getting up in the morning".

Nico became an icon of Berlin fashion thanks to Herbert Tobias. When she was 16 years old, Herbert took her to Paris. There, she met Coco Chanel. who offered her a job as a model. By then, she was already known as Nico, renamed by Tobias, in honor of her lover Nikos Papatakis. She posed for magazines such as Vogue, Elle & Tempo. Despite her success, Nico got tired of the superficiality of fashion & sought new artistic horizons. She left Chanel & Herbert & crossed the pond to NYC to study acting at the Lee Strasberg school, where she met Marylin Monroe, among others...

Nico at Berlín shot by Herbet Tobias

She also met Bob Dylan, who gave her a song "I'll Keep It with Mine." Jimmy Page produced & played guitar along with her boyfriend Brian Jones, who played 12 string. Another new friend, Jim Morrison, helped her with her poetry & songwriting. She met Andy Warhol, became his muse & queen of "The Factory." She was forced upon the Velvet Underground, the band Warhol was managing, where she sang on 3 songs on the band's debut album. Cale became her arranger & while producing The Stooges, introduced her to David Bowie & Iggy Pop, who became her boyfriend following Cale & Morrison. Quite a run of good luck for someone looking to expand their artistic horizons…

[weirdlookindog]

Nico - Chelsea Girls

[chaoticdesertdweller]

Nico in Chelsea Girls, 1966.

Dir. Andy Warhol

[miametropolis]

The darkest part of my house was the stairs. You had to come down so the day could begin.

Eileen Myles, Chelsea Girls

[blisterpixie]

Eileen Myles, February 13th, 1982

From my copy of Chelsea Girls

[moratoirenoir]