THE LIST FEATURE 200th ISSUE
OIO MOMENTS
8 The List 7—20 May l‘)‘)3
t was 1985, electricity had just been invented, ration coupons were being phased out and Clint Eastwood had started to make a name for himself. Out burst The List to introduce the world to the concept of popular culture. Seven- and-a-bit years on, the chroniclers of a generation recall some of the most memorable events.
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Mlchael Clark: outrageous style and campery
AS FAR as Scottish dance goes. Michael Clark is it. He's a dancer with a cause. a rebel with talent and on the international scale. the one man in dance frotn this country who‘s the tops. I am Curious ()range — a pop art view of that most protestant of monarchs. King William — said it all. Part of 1988's Edinburgh lntemational Festival programme and staged at the comfy King's Theatre. the Orange odyssey mixed the contents of an historic lucky bag with outrageous style and campery throwing football. Westminster and 60s hallucination into Clark‘s spicy choreographic sauce. With a finale which included a giant Oldenburg-style hamburger and flying chips. Clark‘s curtain came down as ever with the audience left with something hefty to chew on. Orange is not his most enduring piece of work. but was a rite of passage marking Clark at his most questionineg youthful. brash best.
Alice Baln. one of the team that launched The List. An Editor for issues l—93. Editor for issues 94—] l 1. now dance critic for Seat/and on Sunday.
THUNOEBBALL '
PREDATING ACID'S democratisation of the dancefioor by several years. Thunderball was encouraging people to smile and wave their arms in the air long before ‘88‘s Summer Of Love put the E in Edinburgh. Thriving on their own energy and the help ofa million friends. DJs Fred and Amanda took over art galleries. swimming pools. ice rinks and. most memorably. Stirling Castle in their quest for the perfect party. In a move away from fashion elitism. everyone was welcome whether they wore lilac tracky bottoms or Michiko, and the music was a relentlessly uplifting fusion of shameless disco retrospection and forward funk. They had wet walls and minimal oxygen. treasure hunts. bouncy castles and loads of happy punters and happy plastic . . . until escalating casual violence brought all the fun to a standstill. But while it lasted it was most excellent. AVl'Il Malt, former Clubs Editor. now Assistant Editor of i-D Magazine.
MICHAEL POWELL
TOUGH ONE this. but my most treasured memory from the past seven or so years has to be meeting the venerable British director Michael Powell when he visited Edinburgh to promote his autobiography A Life in Movies. A true hero of the screen. a man who made. loved and lived movies. he remains among the
: most gifted and passionate film talents these islands
have ever produced. Restored prints of his wonderful 40s pictures. including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and Black Mur‘issus. brought him revived adulation from a new generation of cinema goers — myself included — and it was a joy to see him in person. beaming and still sprightly in the spotlight. He‘s gone now. ofcourse. but he's left us the films. the two volumes of memoirs and. for me personally. the recollection of a splendid evening at Filmhouse. answering questions after a screening of (lane to Earth. Oh yes. and he signed a poster from Peeping 'linn just for tne. My most treasured possession. Thank you. Mr Powell. 1 should say. but then everyone seems to think of him as just Michael. Trevor Johnston. one of the team that launched The List. sometime Film Editor. freelance contributor and
now also a film critic on Time Out.
Two Men with a Carriage Boyale to Catch a Queen Bee by Steven Campbell.
THE VIGOROUS IMAGINATION
IT WAS this 1988 Edinburgh Festival exhibition that launched the careers of the new generation of Scottish artists whose work is now to be found in major collections throughout the world. The bold choice of title for the show acknowledged the extraordinary confidence that distinguished so much of the work emerging frotn Scotland‘s art colleges and studios. There was only space for a few exhibits by each artist. but the strength of their individual visions along with the remarkable breadth of new talent combined to make a strikingly powerful impression. Paintings by the group which has since become known as the Glasgow Boys ~- Ken Currie. Stephen Conroy. Peter llowson. Adrian Wiszniewski. Steven Campbell — may have received most of the column inches. but as important were works by Gwen Hardie and June Redfcrn. sculptures by David Mach. installations and photography. Looking back after five years. it is disappointing to note how little the National Gallery has done to follow up its success. Contemporary Scottish an still barely features in its exhibition programme and is little in evidence in the way the purchasing budget is allocated. We are fortunate that Glasgow City Council has shown tnuch tnore vision by providing funds to purchase contemporary art and is now constructing a gallery to house the collection. Robin Hodge. co-founder and Publisher of The List. Editor since issue 141.
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