Requiem For Pepperland’s Designer
July 30, 2009 by Rudy PanucciThe PopCulteer
July 31, 2009
RIP: Heinz Edelmann
Here at PopCult we were saddened to learn of the passing last week of Heinz Edelmann, the Czech artist best known as the designer of the classic animated Beatles movie, “The Yellow Submarine.” Edelmann died in Stuttgart, Germany of heart and kidney disease. He was 75.
As a hugely successful advertising and editorial illustrator in post-war Europe, Edelmann developed a distinct graphic style that influenced a generation of artists around the world. In the 1960s he was experimenting with a stylized, neo-Art Nouveau manner, which caught the eye of Al Brodax, producer of a successful animated Beatles television cartoon series for children. He chose Edelmann to be the chief designer of the feature-length animated film, “Yellow Submarine,” built around the classic 1966 song by The Beatles.
Despite the huge success and influence of “Yellow Submarine,” Edelmann admitted that he could never quite connect with the 1960s aesthetic. Once the film was complete, he altered his approach to avoid being pigeonholed as a psychedelic artist.
Born in 1934 in the former Czechoslovakia,Edelmann studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf, one of the most progressive institutions in postwar Germany. After graduating in the late 1950s, he began working as a freelance designer, illustrator, animator and teacher. He created posters for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk radio station in Germany, book covers for the Klett-Cotta publishing house in Stuttgart and editorial illustrations for a smartly designed magazine for teenagers, Twen, whose art director was the adventuresome designer Willy Fleckhaus. He also illustrated the first German edition of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.”
After “Yellow Submarine” Edelmann went on to design the mascot for Expo ’92, in Seville, Spain. he also created a series of illustrated essays for the Sunday magazine of the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which addressed cultural and political themes in humorous or dramatic ways.
Friends of B. J. Berkhouse are staging a benefit, a night of music in his honor on Saturday, August 8, 2009 at The Empty Glass. B.J. is still recovering from a notorious accident last year, and all proceeds from this show will go to assist B.J. Berkhouse with his soaring medical expenses.
One night last summer while walking in downtown Charleston, B.J. was struck by a drunk driver who jumped the curb and careened up the sidewalk on Capitol Street. His injuries were catastrophic. The driver of the car had no insurance. Additionally, B.J. had no health insurance through his job. He continues to require rehabilitation for the traumatic brain injury he sustained.
Scheduled to appear at the show are Radio Free Charleston guests Spurgie Hankins, The Scrap Iron Pickers, T.J. King (of Electric 102.7) and Friends, Mark & Steve Beckner (recently of Nashville’s Hitchcock Circus), Duo Divertido, Tofujitsu, Diablo Blues Band, and Alan Griffith. The RFC cameras will be also be on hand to document some of the evening’s music. This is a great chance to hear some of the area’s best musicians live, plus help out a person who’s been put through the ringer.
The music kicks off at 6 PM. You must be 21.A required donation of $5 gets you in the door, but you’re always free to make a larger donation, if you’re able.
PopCulteer Photos
A couple of fun photos from a great week.
Dan Jordan entertained the crowd inside Tricky Fish last Wednesday, due to the rain keeping folks off the deck. Dan is seen here with his son, Sam, doing a quick duet.
This week saw the arrival of a new Rudymobile, replacing the beloved Cutlass what went in circles into a wall last December. Nifty, eh? If I might be a little self-indulgent, I’d like to thank Tony Ferris at C&O Motors for helping make this happen.
The Weekend In Cool
Our old friends at LiveMix Studio are swinging their doors open for “August, Shmaugust.” a midsummer’s night of music and fun. Admission is $5, and accommodations are BYOB. Four bands will be blowing off the roof, “Cousin Larry,” “Velvet Bros.,” “King Fish Five,” and “ElectroBiscuit.” The night kicks off at 8:30. This is your chance to check out one of Charleston’s coolest venues. You’ll find it on the fifth floor at 1033 Quarrier Street.
Also this week are two great theater events. The Light Opera Guild’s production of the musical “Rent” opens tonight and runs for the next two weekends, and you still have a chance to catch the Contemporary Youth Arts Company’s original production, “The Shadowman,” which I reviewed here last week.
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York’s Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of AIDS. Starring in this production are Ryan Hardiman (the winner of Symphony Idol and a friend of PopCult), Chris Conard, Beth Winkler, D’laontie Lewis, Mara Stewart, Nakelia Killing, Michael Barnes and Nathan Mohebbi.
Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased at the Civic Center Little Theatre Box Office or by calling 304.343.2287. Performances are tonight at 8:00 PM, Saturday, 8:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM. Also August 6, 7 and 8 at 8:00 PM.
Hey guys. I can understand if nobody made it to the end of last week’s novel-length PopCulteer, but I’m still looking for feedback. Do you like The PopCulteer the way it is, with one big lump of unrelated items piled together into one big Mongolian Clustercolumn, or would you prefer it if I break it up into individual posts throughout the week? How about a little guidance here?
Next week check PopCult for our Sunday Evening Videos, Monday Morning Art, plus the first episode of RFC that will be hosted on the MySpace servers and embedded here. It won’t be a big change, but you’ll be able to see the shows here for more than a week before they go away. I’ll also begin bringing back our more recent episodes in a regular weekly “flashback” until we have all of our shows on line.