Anorak

Anorak News - Pop culture, media, sport and weirdness

6th, March 2014 Flashback

Three Chick Discs: Disco Era Threesomes For Your Listening Pleasures

IN the disco era there began a phenomenon of immense historical insignificance: the emergence of all female musical trios. Sure, there had been The Supremes, and there were various disco/soul trios that genuinely kicked ass (etc. The Three Degrees, Labelle), but these bands were different. This new breed was basically talentless, and exuded an overt sexuality (i.e. they couldn’t sing, but at least they were hot). Every song in their entire catalog (with 0.00 exceptions) was about sex, and every performance and music video operated unflinchingly to the “sex sells” approach... More »

6th, March 2014 Strange But True

Man In Homemade Armoured Underpants Arrested For Bank Robbery

TO Portland, Oregon, where Mark Fischer has been arrested for attempting to break into an ATM machine... More »

6th, March 2014 Film 3

The World in My Window: A Select Filmography of the Space Shuttle

ALTHOUGH Alfonso Cuaron’s blockbuster film Gravity (2013) earned a whopping seven Academy Awards last Sunday night, one crucial supporting player didn’t pick up the Honorary Oscar it so clearly deserved: NASA’s space shuttle... More »

5th, March 2014 Money

The Idiots In LA Are Banning Vaping And E-Cigarettes Now

I think we're all also aware that vaping, or using electronic cigarettes, is an alternative to smoking. Gives people the nicotine hit but without that cloud of toxic carcinogens to go with it. So, all other things being equal we'd probably think it's a good idea for people to switch, from one to the other. To stop smoking, or at least smoke fewer, cigarettes and to suck on some steam containing nicotine instead... More »

5th, March 2014 Music

Iggy Pop Wants A Kettle, Bob Hope And Fat People From Miami: The Tour Rider In Full

IGGY Pop, star of one of the greatest rock photos of all time, the man who faked Lou Reed's death, Richard Wilson look alike, ToTP teddy molester, performer of the most revered failed stage dive, the man for whom the show did not always go on, has created one of the most memorable tour riders for his shows... More »

5th, March 2014 Key Posts

In Praise Of Cartoon Music!

THERE are a lot of people who will go on and on and on about the amazing theme songs of '80s and '90s cartoons. While they have a point (who can resist the Willie Fogg theme or indeed, M.A.S.K. and Thundercats?), they pale in comparison to those cartoons brave enough to get a full orchestra on the go... More »

5th, March 2014 TV & Radio

RIP BBC 3: We Will Never Forget Your Finest Moment - One Direction: The Doctor Who After Party Live

Lest we forget the best of BBC three... More »

5th, March 2014 Reviews 1

A Few Home Truths About Richard Littlejohn's Daily Mail Column That's Made In The USA

While Littlejohn rarely, if ever, refers to his American residency, it’s frequently evident in his column that he doesn’t know obvious things about modern Britain. Witness this week’s confusion over Frankie & Benny’s, a restaurant that utterly baffles poor old Dick and leads him to pen an encomium to the greasy spoon: “And whatever happened to greasy spoons? Once, you could find decent transport caffs at regular intervals along all major trunk roads.”... More »

5th, March 2014 Key Posts

Listen To All Parts Of Robert Ashley's Perfect Lives - The Televised American Opera

In 1975, there were no operas in America. I was interested in opera and it seemed to me that the only possible theatre for contemporary opera would be television. So I started working towards a kind of television kind of opera. I started designed the work so that it would be usable on television. I think it's still true... More »

5th, March 2014 Flashback

Janet Street-Porter Presents The Clash And The Sex Pistol's First TV Show To Londoners In 1976

IN 1976, The London Weekend Show, introduced by Janet Street-Porter, took punk to the masses... More »

5th, March 2014 Celebrities 1

The Stars That Come Out To Support BBC Three Are The Reason It Should Close

You have to say that, for a lot of people, if killing BBC Three meant less of Jack Whitehall on our TVs, then it is absolutely paramount will stick a pickaxe through its heart... More »

5th, March 2014 Film

16 Wonderful Bootleg Video Posters From Ghana

IN the 1980s, Ghana's video renters hired artists to create posters for all the latest films. Predictably, these posters are fabulous. Free of Hollywood's global marketing departments, the posters could reflect local tastes... More »

5th, March 2014 Reviews

Remembering Mike Parker Creator Of The Helvetica

He began his career with the Mergenthaler Linotype Company in 1959 and ended with the Font Bureau. You've seen his work... More »

5th, March 2014 Books 2

15 Things Mad Magazine Gave The World

MAD Magazine is an American institution. It's been going since 1952 and is still funny, but it's given the world more than just gags... More »

5th, March 2014 Books

1970s Irish Text Book: 'Draw A Circle Around The One God Loves Most'

THIS photo is from an actual Irish school textbook in the 70s. Readers are invited to identify God's pecking order... More »

5th, March 2014 In Pictures

16 Classic Photos From March 1953

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5th, March 2014 Flashback

Classic Photo: April 29th 1962 - Norwich City Celebrate Winning The Second Division Championship

Paper plates and cigarettes... More »

5th, March 2014 Strange But True

Dorset Police Issue Great CCTV Image Of Wanted West Moors Robber

Do you know this balaclava..? More »

5th, March 2014 Sports

Newcastle United Balls: Pardew Delighted Europe League Will Be 'Massive Problem' For Magpies

Alan Pardew is speaking... More »

5th, March 2014 In Pictures

Local News Special: 12 Headlines Prove It's All Kicking Off In Kent

12 signs you're in Kent... More »

5th, March 2014 In Pictures

Vietnam's Children Of Agent Orange: Photos Of A Lives Undone By A Poisonous War

IN 2007, David Guttenfelder recorded the legacy of the US Army's use of the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam... More »

5th, March 2014 Film 7

The Top 15 Scariest Dolls of Cinema and Television

THERE is just something inherently creepy about a doll coming to life. I think it falls into the same category as clowns, kids and the elderly. Because they are supposed to be so benign or innocent, it becomes all the more warped and vulgar when they take a bloodthirsty bent.... More »

4th, March 2014 Flashback

In 1942 The Nazis Trained Malaria Carrying Mosquitoes At Dachau To Attack The Enemy

IN Jan 1942, the Nazis opened an entomological laboratory in the Dachau concentration camp... More »

4th, March 2014 Money

Surprise! Men In Pubs Target The Drunk Women! And Shirley Temple Smoked!

DEAR God this is one hell of a surprise, isn't it? The more drunk a woman looks in a bar, the more likely she is to be targeted by predatory men, a study has claimed... More »

4th, March 2014 Reviews

Clinton Inhales: Washington DC Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession

BILL Clinton never inhaled. But now a few politicos in DC who did make a sharp intake of breath, can finally exhale... More »