Back in Print: Zoo Station (formerly Christiane F.)

The much lamented house flood that took with it most of my paperback book collection several years ago, claimed several rare, pricey items including the U.S. mass market paperback version of Christiane F.: Autobiography of a Girl of the Streets and Heroin Addict, published by Bantam in '82.

Happily, I've just learned that a newly translated English-language version has just hit the U.S. market for the first time in 30+ years.  Though I would really like my old copy back for its retro, nostalgic qualities and rarity, it's good that this book will finally be available again to English-speaking readers, particularly the young adult audience this scary cautionary tale was intended for.  There's a really interesting look behind the scenes of how this new edition came to be and what went into its re-translation...I hope this means the story's rough edges and graphic content won't be softened to satisfy the inevitable zealots.  As effective as this story is--and true--I think it's safe to assume this will not be welcomed with open arms in all U.S. high school curricula, sadly.

Give the Gift of Music: Some Dynamite LPs on Film

In both Taxi Driver and Christiane F. a woman is given an LP by a man, an LP we will later find out she already owns.

Whilst jogging yesterday, the iPhone shuffled to Kristofferson's "Jody and the Kid" from The Silver Tongued Devil and I, which got me thinking about the date scenes with De Niro and Shepard in Taxi Driver, in which she expresses shock at his ignorance of Kristofferson and pop music on the whole.  And, then, today, on his birthday no less, Bowie released his first single in a decade or so.  So there you have it...the trivial bits and coincidences that made this post come together and actually have a bit of relevancy.

And, not for nothin', Taxi Driver and American Gigolo are both penned by Paul Schrader and feature record store scenes, as illustrated above.

Chirashi Files: Christiane F.

I used to have to have the riveting book upon which the film was based, but it was sadly lost in an apartment flood several years back. Unfortunately, the U.S. edition of the book is long out of print. The film has never been treated very well in this country, either. The VHS release from Media was dubbed into English and the only DVD released in Region 1 was Image's dubbed, non-anamorphic disc. The non-anamorphic British disc from Second Sight features the original German soundtrack with English subtitles, in addition to production notes and lobby cards; this is the version I own.



I have this LP, but no turntable to play it, or any of my hundreds of others records, at the moment. I like what I hear from these two clips, but then I'd have a soft spot for anything with a vaguely disco - Post-Punk beat and female German vocals laid over it. Both songs are reminiscent of some of my favorite Post-Punk acts: the Au Pairs, the Raincoats, Delta 5, Gang of Four, PiL, Kleenex / Liliput, the Slits, the Pop Group, Essential Logic, and others of that ilk.