ROCK Sex: "Electric Ladyland" - Peggy Moffitt > Janelle Monae

J a n e l l e ➤ P e g g y

Janelle Monae's new album, THE ELECTRIC LADY, expands her Sci-Fi opus about an android sent to save humanity. Besides continuing themes from the classic silent film Metropolis (1927), the title alludes to the album "Electric Ladyland" (1968) by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The cover art is a direct homage to a scene from the French film, "Who Are You, Polly Magoo?" (1966). This satirical film by esteemed photographer William Klein was a mock documentary about the fashion world which ridiculed its excesses, our voyeurism that empowers it, and the loss of real identity in an exploitative media.

In the scene above, supermodel 'Polly' (Dorothy McGowan, third from left) is lost in a sea of clones of real-life model Peggy Moffitt (far left).

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P E G G Y
M O F F I T T

Peggy Moffitt is the most radical fashion model of all time.

In the Mod '60s, she created an andryogyne character in futurist kabuki makeup who, wearing the abstract designs of Rudi Gernreich, came to us from a world and timeline all her own.

Working with her husband, photographer William Claxton, Peggy approached the fashion shoot as a forum of conceptual art, challenging the viewers' preconceptions about gender, identity, consumerism, and modernity.

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P E G G Y
M O F F I T T :
Her Influence On Rock'n'Roll Style
It's a safe bet that her influence on Rock'n'Roll is incalculable.

From David Bowie and Siouxsie Sioux and Soo Catwoman, to Grace Jones and Annie Lennox and Boy George and Robert Smith (The Cure), to Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Chicks On Speed and Janelle Monae, her revolutionary influence continues today.

1) David Bowie, 1972.
2) Lou Reed, 1974; Split Enz, 1976.
3) Siouxsie Sioux.
4) Adam Ant and Jordan, 1977;
Soo Catwoman, 1976 (Ray Stevenson).

Annie Lennox; Grace Jones; Boy George; Robert Smith.

Marilyn Manson; Peaches; Karen O;
Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

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And here's a video I made about her:

ENNIO MORRICONE / EDDA DELL'ORSO
-"Ma Non Troppo Erotico" (1971)



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• Peggy Moffitt on TUMBLR

• Peggy Moffitt on PINTEREST

• Mod Color: Peggy Moffitt

• "Cultural Touchstone: Peggy Moffitt", LA TIMES


• Rene Magritte > THE EXORCIST > THE POSSESSION

• MAGRITTE = The Beatles > Jeff Beck > THE EXORCIST > Jackson Browne > Styx > TWIN PEAKS

• Astounding Science Fiction > Queen

• PLANET STORIES - Whip It Good!

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