And what’s next? Music

Another long-lost photo saved from obscurity!

This is New Order’s Bernard Sumner after their show at the Greek Theater in Berkeley on September 19, 1987. See more photos from this day here!

Bernard Sumner - New Order

Sorry about the quality — or lack thereof. I don’t know where the negative went, but was lucky to even find a cropped version of this pic.

Surprisingly, I’ve had more requests for more Cutting Crew photos than for any other band on this site. So here are some more, starting with some live pictures.

I think these shots were taken in Florida… though I do know that these were taken at a couple different venues late in the summer of 1987. (My, how time flies.)

In this one, there are a couple of camera guys on the stage, too:

Cutting Crew onstage in 1987

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Here are some more photos from this Big Audio Dynamite concert in NYC. This is in response to one guy who wrote me — he got his knickers all in a twist, saying that the backstage BAD at Irving Plaza photo (With David Bowie et al) was not only not mine — but it was his, and I stole it.

Um, no. If I stole one picture from him (which would be lame) how would I have these other get the other photos from that night? (Besides — last time I checked, the camera on my time machine was short one flux capacitor.)

Big Audio Dynamite & co in NYC

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One more shot of Mr Robert Smith of The Cure from this day in 1985. He was reading an article in my magazine about Go West, the band who were staying at a nearby hotel that same day.

Someone who saw my “Me & 80s bands” video compilation thingy on youtube wrote me an enigmatic email, saying, “You have quite advanced technicial skills, and I think you know what I mean. Unfortunately you gave yourself away in a couple of the shots near the end of your clip.”

With a the help of a couple friends, I realized she was suggesting that I was a sneaky little bugger and had photoshopped myself into these band shots. [Insert doubletake emoticon here.] The very thought is a little astonishing, a little amusing — and, admittedly, a little teensy bit annoying. It took me months to find all of these photos and to get them scanned and posted — but if I’d had to create sets of matching doctored photographs… well, anyone who knows my graphic design ability would be truly on the floor, laughing. I managed only the basics: resizing, cropping, sharpening filter and smudging out the dust spots.

Here’s an example of an unfixed pic (cropped only) — me with Ali Campbell of UB40 — which is also one of the last shots in my video montage. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

This is a blurry shot (bad camera) of me and Ali outside the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. As you can see, our pallid skin tone is a perfect match. I was a little heavy on the blusher that day; and my multi-colored eyeshadow was, of course, carefully crafted to complement my shirt.

You just can’t fake that kind of detail — or, at least, I sure can’t. And if I could, I would have given myself a subtle makeover in the process. ;-)