Femmes Fatales

May 28 2017

WEST SIDE GIRL

Best ever reason to brave crosstown traffic.

Sultry Puerto Rico born actress Rita Moreno, who many remember from her role as Anita in the 1961 Hollywood adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, is one of the few performers to have won all four major annual American entertainment awards—i.e. the Oscar, the Emmy, the Grammy, and the Tony.

She’s also won a Golden Globe, been awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a National Medal of the Arts, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and been bestowed the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

There are even more honors she’s collected, too numerous to list, and on top of all of them, she was also awarded some awesome genes, because not only is she very beautiful in the top photo from around 1960, but she still looks excellent today at age eighty-five. We should all be so lucky.

Puerto Rico, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Screen Actors Guild, West Side Story, Academy Award, Grammy Award, Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, Rita Moreno, cinema

Musiquarium

March 31 2009

LALO FOR A WHILE

From spy adventure to mystery to horror Lalo Schifrin always set the perfect mood.

Above: assorted album sleeves from Argentine soundtrack maestro Lalo Schifrin, circa 1970s. Schifrin’s name may not be universally known, but he provided the mood music for scores of movies and television shows, from Mission: Impossible to Cool Hand Luke. Over the course of his career, which is ongoing, he’s won five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for for six Academy Awards and four Emmy Awards. If you’ve watched vintage crime or thriller films or television shows, you’ve probably heard him, but he’s especially beloved by record mavens for one major reason—his music tends to stand solidly on its own, without visual accompaniment.

Argentina, Mission: Impossible, Cool Hand Luke, Academy Award, Grammy Award, Emmy Award, Lalo Schifrin, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Shirley Bassey, Rod Taylor, Jill St. John, album covers

Musiquarium

February 27 2009

BLOWN AWAY

Tell them Willie Boy is here.

In addition to being a badass trombone player, salsa legend Willie Colón had a keen sense of drama. His album sleeves played on the Mafia obsession of the 1970s and portrayed him as the gangsta of the NYC salsa scene. The records had titles like El Malo, The Hustler and OG: Original Gangster. But Colón is a renaissance man, not a thug. Besides being one of the most influential salsa performers in history and releasing a giant stack of recordings, he acts, holds an honorary professorship from Yale University, and is one of the few musicians with a lifetime achievement Grammy who doesn’t blow. Well, he does blow, but only on his horn. His trombone, that is. Never mind. More sleeves below.

New York City, Grammy Award, Willie Colón, mafia, album art

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

January 21

1950—Alger Hiss Is Convicted of Perjury

American lawyer Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury in connection with an investigation by the House unAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC), at which he was questioned about being a Soviet spy. Hiss served forty-four months in prison. Hiss maintained his innocence and fought his perjury conviction until his death in 1996 at age 92.

January 21

1977—Carter Pardons War Fugitives

U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all of the country’s Vietnam War draft evaders, many of whom had emigrated to Canada. He had made the pardon pledge during his election campaign, and he fulfilled his promise the day after he took office.

January 19

1915—Claude Patents Neon Tube

French inventor Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube, in which an inert gas is made to glow various colors through the introduction of an electrical current. His invention is immediately seized upon as a way to create eye catching advertising, and the neon sign comes into existence to forever change the visual landscape of cities.

January 19

1937—Hughes Sets Air Record

Millionaire industrialist, film producer and aviator Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles, California to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds. During his life he set multiple world air-speed records, for which he won many awards, including America’s Congressional Gold Medal.

January 18

1967—Boston Strangler Convicted

Albert DeSalvo, the serial killer who became known as the Boston Strangler, is convicted of murder and other crimes and sentenced to life in prison. He serves initially in Bridgewater State Hospital, but he escapes and is recaptured. Afterward he is transferred to federal prison where six years later he is killed by an inmate or inmates unknown.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

Two Spanish covers from Ediciones G.P. for Peter Cheyney's Huracan en las Bahamas, better known as Dark Bahama.

DON GIOVANNI

Giovanni Benvenuti was one of Italy's most prolific paperback cover artists. His unique style is on display in multiple collections within our website.

WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT