05/03/08
Text: Nik Mercer
Most people now know Glenn O'Brein as GQ's Style Guy or, perhaps, the mind behind Downtown 81, the thinly veiled Basquiat biopic, but one of the jack-of-all-trade's most triumphant productions (and certainly one of the strangest), Glenn O'Brien's T.V. Party, is much overlooked.
The New York public access T.V. talk show ran for an impressive four years (1978 - 1982) and featured the likes of David Byrne, Andy Warhol, Blondie, Mick Jones, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, George Clinton, Jean Michel Basquiat, and many, many more as guests. Imagine a sort of drug-induced B&W version of Charlie Rose... with Playboy After Dark mixed into the template for good measure. The thing was so poorly filmed, produced, and edited that Wayne's World would look like Cannes Festival fodder in comparison. That being said, the program is endlessly entertaining, accessible, and, most importantly, enlightening. Rare are the live and up-close looks at the day-to-day lives of the late-1970s and early-1980s artists and musicians, making T.V. Party a priceless artifact of the time.
Pitchfork.tv has Glenn O'Brien's T.V. Party: The Documentary up online now, and we highly recommend you check out at least a few chapters. You will never be the same after seeing this wacky show.
