THESE TWO VIDEOS WERE FILMED IN THE SAME YEAR (1968) /
a great year for color, tassels and shoulder-based choreography
In the midst of a tumultuous year, I keep finding myself inadvertently back at another tumultuous year (yes, 1968), looking neither for link nor understanding, but eventually grasping at both.
The glamour and energy in both these videos couldn't exactly be said to be escapism. So what were the artists of the year providing? It's more than mere societal reflection. Sweet Charity is the story of prostitutes (made "taxi dancers" for a U.S. '60s audience) clinging to hope and in A Quick One (While He's Away), The Who belt out "YOU ARE FORGIVEN" like church bells pealing out for confessional.
I'm working out a new theory (based in somatic therapy) that the body carries the stress of the times. What do the repetitious releases and spontaneous flailings in both the videos indicate about 1968?
Pete Townshend's windmill arm = Fosse loose on Seconal? And if Keith Moon isn't the ultimate glam showgirl of Sweet Charity...