Remember Colorforms? Following a comprehensive 5-minute search of the Internet I have determined that the Colorforms company, although producing sets specifically for iconic artists like The Beatles, KISS, and Elvis Presley, did not produce a comprehensive set of Colorforms that would have allowed us, as children, to create our own vision of the Ultimate Rock Star. Well, maybe they did, but if they did I’m sure it wasn’t as good as the Colorforms set we’re about to create.
As a service to help soothe yet one more dashed rock ‘n roll dream, Rock Town Hall will be partnering with Colorforms to create the Rock Town Hall Kit, a Colorforms toy. This set will include, from head to toe, the most iconic elements of rock wardrobe and accoutrements for future generations to mix and match onto blank figures in the effort of creating the Ultimate Rock Star.
Now the hard part… Read on!
Options for pieces are limited to the most iconic elements of the possible Ultimate Rock Star. Through discussion and debate, if necessary, we will identify 5 specific pieces of each of the following wardrobe items/rock star acccoutrements:
- Hair
- Facial hair
- Shirt/top
- Pants/bottom
- Belt/sash/suspenders
- Footwear
- Jewelry/eyewear
- Make-up/tattoos
- Vice
- Instrument/representative gear (eg, drumsticks)
- Completely unnecessary (in musical or any other terms) wardrobe item/accoutrement that may be used to cap off one’s Look
- Hanger-on (eg, specific manager, roadie, groupie, “collaborator,” etc)
The specificity of your examples is paramount in helping Colorforms develop the Rock Town Hall Kit the kids deserve. In advance, we thank you for your input!
* Hair
1)the Elvis pompadour
2)the Beatle Shag
3)the dyed red Ziggy Stardust Mullet
4)The Rob Tyner Jewfro
5)Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde stylishly unkempt do.
* Facial hair
1)Ron Mael’s Hitler stash
2)Neil Young’s sideburns
3)The Frank Zappa stash/soul patch combo
4)Robert Wyatt’s Beard (currently worn by Marty Wilson-Piper of The Church)
5)The 70’s Springsteen beard
* Hanger-on (eg, specific manager, roadie, groupie, “collaborator,” etc)
1)Kim Fowley
2)token rock critic of your choosing
3)George Constantine Nichopoulos
4)Cynthia Plaster Caster
5)The Maharishi
Excellent opening suggestions, petesecrutz! Mad props for filling out all 5 choices for the categories you’ve covered. Townspeople should know that even one good suggestion is worth throwing into the discussion. The Colorforms company is counting on us.
For the Vice category, one gimme has to be Keef’s (or Ronnie Van Zandt’s) bottle of Jack.
Codpiece
Bandana to cover balding rock star’s heads.
Another beard type, the really big full-face Grizzly Adams beard that 1970s McCartney, Dennis Wilson, and Garth Hudson sported.
Hair–Sammy Hagar
Facial hair–Peter Gabriel
Shirt/top–The Monkees “John Wayne” button shirts
Pants/bottom–Black trousers
Belt/sash/suspenders–Rick Neilson
Footwear–Doctor Marten’s
Jewelry/eyewear–Eyepatch
Make-up/tattoos–Ace Frehley
Vice–dimebag
Instrument/representative gear (eg, drumsticks)–Les Paul guitar
Completely unnecessary (in musical or any other terms) wardrobe item/accoutrement that may be used to cap off one’s Look–Beret
Hanger-on (eg, specific manager, roadie, groupie, “collaborator,” etc)–Dr. Eugene Landy
TB
I’m going to need a Robby Robertson scarf and a Walter Becker Beard in this thing if I’m going to make my Ultimate Rock Star colorform.
You may also want to consider a piece that has sunglasses connected to a fro a la Jeff Lynne, a Dusty/Billy-style beard and assless chaps like Prince, though they might be hard to represent in 2D coloform style.
PANTS/BOTTOM
Bell bottom jeans
Red and black bondage pants
Skinny black jeans
Velvet trousers
Levis
BELT/SASH/SUSPENDERS
Faux ammo cartridge/metal stud belt
Bejeweled Vegas Elvis belt
Red hardcore skin head suspenders
Big ass rodeo belt buckle
Big Brother and the Holding company style leather belt with two prongs instead on just one.
FOOTWEAR
Chucks
Doc Martin’s
Cowboy boots
Those motorcycle boots with the ring on the side
Giant platform knee high dragon boots
Clarification: The Levis should have some rips in them. And a kilt came in at number 6.
cdm, the specificity you demonstrated on your belt/sash/suspenders suggestions is admirable! The two-prong belt buckle, in particular, was a big hit with the Colorforms folks.
In the “Completely unnecessary (in musical or any other terms) wardrobe item/accoutrement that may be used to cap off one’s Look” category I would like to suggest the following:
– Walking stick, preferably with “voodoo” powers (eg, the guy from Kid Creole and the Coconuts, the singer from The Soundtrack of Our Lives [who also dons a cape])
– Rick Wakeman’s bejeweled cape (narrowly beating out Stephen Stills’ pancho)
– Papa John Phillips’ Eastern European wool cap
– Feathered fedora a la late-70s Bob Dylan
– Ian Anderson’s medieval jockstrap (I’m blanking on what that thing is called)
Thanks Mod.
I was just working on the accoutrement category myself. Here’s what I got:
In addition to the aforementioned silk scarf:
Harmonica bandolero
Cane
Single white glove
Captains hat
MAKE-UP/TATTOOS
Eye liner, preferably runny
Spider web on the elbow tattoo
Star tattoo
Full sleeve of classic tats (40’s pin up girl, dice, dagger, etc)
Bright red lipstick smear
“Completely unnecessary (in musical or any other terms) wardrobe item/accoutrement that may be used to cap off one’s look:”
My entry: Cooler-full of some sort of Light Beer (I believe it was Miller) a-la Mr. Robert Pollard.
Ok, so it’s not a wardrobe item, but certainly counts as an accoutrement.
While I can certainly see the on stage need for the cooler full of something of quality, the fact that Bob’s contained “light” beer makes it completely and utterly useless. I’d rather drink, as I’m sure most of us townsfolk would, a warm, watered-down, possibly roofie-laden Jack and Coke from a loaded fan than that dung.
I see why you’ve added this cooler of Lite (isn’t that a more appropriately wussy way of spelling it?) beer to this category rather than the Vice category. Well played, sonny!
Jonathan Richman’s white leather jacket.
* Hair
Sib Hashian ‘fro
Poison hair metal ‘do
50’s greaser “duck tail”
Robert Plant “crimson shrubbery”
Modern emo “asymmetrical bowl”
Johnny Rotten spikes
Malcolm Young “long n’ greasy”
Isaac Hayes “8-ball”
* Shirt/top
Johnny Cougar wife-beater
Hendrix psychedelic pirate blouse
Grateful Dead smelly tie-dye T-shirt
Leather jacket
… more later, gotta get back to work.
# Shirt/top
1. The Kurt Cobain sweater
2. Paisley Shirt (see Pipers at Gates of Dawn era Pink Floyd)
3. Paul Revere and The Raiders Revolutionary War Jackets.(see also Purple Rain era Prince)
4. Devo jumpsuit (this is a one piece and will serve as bottom too)
5. Gram Parson’s Nudie Suit
# Pants/bottom
1. Angus Young’s schoolboy shorts
2. one tube sock
3. A dress (again worn as both top and bottom…see drunk Replacements and/or The Leaving Trains)
4. biker shorts (Freddie Mercury – Axel Rose)
5. Sequined and feather top (Eno in Roxy Music
Let’s not forget the HEADBAND!
The acid-soaked headband!
petesecrutz, the Colorforms folks are stoked by your latest suggestions!
I can’t believe Freddie Mercury’s moustache hasn’t gotten any love yet.
How about Murry Wilson’s glass eye?
Elton John’s hair plugs?
Moulty’s hook arm?
Gene Vincent’s leg brace?
Robert Wyatt’s or Vic Chesnutt’s wheelchair?
Any of Michael Jackson’s noses?
Wayne/Jayne County’s dismembered member?
one omission that I’m surprised that even TB forgot…
what about Mike “Wool Hat” Nesmith’s wool hat?
it’s just goofy enough to work as a colorform.
Has anyone mentioned some big sideburns a la The King circa 1970s?
TB
if you’re going do the devo jumpsuit, you must include the red, plastic ‘plant pot’ hat.
accoutrements:
steve tyler’s microphone scarves – could also go in the ‘vice’ category
grateful dead’s giant persian rugs (all unmatched and tossed casually over each other)
the ubiquitous “insert band name here” banner, preferably 10×25 and hung crookedly behind the drummer