MSO (Melbourne Shuffle Oldskool): Sharpies

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Sharpies

Electro played a major part of electronic dance music history in the early 80's.

Peter Gabriel's 1983 Sledgehammer vid has some brilliant animation by the Brothers Quay, who were not pupils (correction by Michael Brooke . Thanks Michael. See comments) of the equally brilliant master surrealist animator Jan Svankmajer. According to Michael Brooke, the Quays were asked to imitate Svankmajers style, which they weren't too happy about.

Anyhow, in this vid, Peter does the 1970's Melbourne Sharpie dance expertly.

Melbourne Sharpies of the 70's who did a distinctive sideways elbow move, which developed as a Melbourne style from a similar Ska type move done by UK skinheads. Sharpies were Melbourne versions of skinheads.

Greg Macainsh (From Melbourne rock band Skyhooks) shot this great short film of the Sharps in 1974. While Sharps enjoyed a fight, they insisted you 'look sharp' ie. dress well, while you do it.

Sharps were as fussy about their hair, shoes and melbourne made Conte cardigans, as any female fashionista today.

Proud peacocks one and all, Sharps topped off their display with a distinctive dance style, which is still included in that other distinctive Melbourne dance style of today, the Melbourne Shuffle ;)

Sharpies in Melbourne 1974. By Greg Macainsh

This vid is by Larry Jenkins who had an exhibition of his 70's Sharpie pics in the National Gallery. He was pretty chuffed about it and wrote this track, which has a lot of his pics, and some fantastic period footage - mid 1970's of Sharpies dancing. Ya gotta see it it's great...

Artifact - Larry Jenkins

Sharpie Shuffle

In the pics below you can see Voodoo Phil doing it at Global Village in 1994, and below that Voitek doing it at every Picture Tells A Story 1992. Each with the videos you can catch a glimpse of them in action.

About 3.30 mins in of this 1983 Sledghammer vid you'll see Peter Gabriel doing this Sharpies sideways elbow move, (pic above) really well. He even gets right down in a bent over position, like the experienced dancers did - the 'how low can you go' move. Not sure where Peter got the moves from, but the guy who produced his first single Salisbury Hill was Rob McKenzie from brilliant 1970's Melbourne band McKenzie Theory - yep saw them live in Melbourne. I shall try contacting some people to explore this further.

Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
And just for the sheer brilliance of the animation, here's some Jan Svankmajer vids

Jan Svankmajer Dimensions of Dialogue Part 1

Check out the dancing hat, shirt and pants in Jabberwocky. No body just the clothes, it's great!

Jan Svankmajer - Jabberwocky(Part 1)

And to finish off here's some of the Brothers Quay original films. First saw the absolutely brilliant Street of Crocodiles at a Melbourne animation film festival in the 1980's. Unfortunetly, the only youtube version I can find doesn't have the original film score by Leszek Jankowski. So turn the volume down the music just gets in the way of some brilliant animation. (- Yes I know I've said brilliant a lot but it's deserved)

Brothers Quay - Street of Crocodiles (1986) not original soundtrack

Brothers Quay -1985- The Epic of Gilgamesh

Brothers Quay interview

2 comments:

AnonymousJuly 5, 2007 at 4:06 PM
"the Brothers Quay, who were pupils of the equally brilliant master surrealist animator Jan Svankmajer."

No they weren't. Sorry, but this is a complete myth that has been given far too wide a circulation, based on a fundamental misinterpretation of their 1984 short 'The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer'.

In actual fact, the Quays didn't discover Svankmajer until 1983, by which time their individual style and preoccupations had become well established - they were far more influenced by Polish animators like Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica, whom they discovered at art school in the late 1960s.

In fact, they're not very keen on the 'Sledgehammer' video, because they were asked to imitate Svankmajer, which wasn't their style at all - this is one of the reasons it's not included on their compilation DVD (which I produced). The other was the cost of music rights, but there wasn't much incentive to clear them!

Michael Brooke
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Garry ShepherdJuly 5, 2007 at 4:11 PM
Hey thanks Michael, never knew the real story, just heard it from some (misinformed) film students years back.

Any details on the dvd, title, availibility etc?
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ABOUT: The origins, history, culture of the underground dance style called the Melbourne Shuffle, commonly called 'shuffling'.

> The Shuffle mission : To really give a damn (Scooter. J'adore hardcore)

> This is a Melbourne Australia based blog by Melbourne born and based artist Garry Shepherd

> The Melbourne Shuffle was created in the underground arts community of Melbourne (Australia) in the early 1990's.

> The Melbourne Shuffle has 3 main genre's: Party, Rock and Goth. Each genre has it's own distinctive moves, fashion, art and lifestyles.

> There are no fixed steps in shuffling. It is largely a free form dance tradition. Each shuffler has a set of moves they shuffle around to suit their mood and setting.

> Shuffling skill is judged on the choice, sequence and presentation of the moves. Individual shufflers are encouraged to create their own moves to mix in with established moves.

> Shuffling can be done anywhere at anytime, alone or with others. Original oldskool shufflers broadcast their moves on underground TV in the 1990's. Today, Youtube is the favored medium.

> The Melbourne Shuffle has it's own unique dance pants called, PHATS.

In the time of the ancients, the Melbourne Shuffle was originally called STOMPING

Locals pronounce Melbourne - Mel-BeN

ERA's
Oldskool: 1990-96.
Commercial: 1997-2003
Global: 2006-today

DANCE CONCEPT
The Melbourne Shuffle is a dance concept. It uses all sorts of moves like building blocks, and you shuffle these moves around to suit your mood. The basic moves are easy to learn, but will take years of regular practice to reach pro level.

SHUFFLE MOVES
Stomps, turns, spins, shuffles, back steps, hand moves, lifts, jumps, hops, arm moves, elbow moves, hi-kicks, lo-kicks, glides, running man, kick behind, ...and always adding ;)

SHUFFLE GENRE'S
Oldskool, Hardstyle, Rock, Competition, Freestyle, Group Formation

SHUFFLE TERMS
Style: A collection of shuffle moves.
Sequence: A fixed order of shuffle moves.
Routine: A choreographed combination of shuffle moves.
Meet-Up: A casual gathering of Shufflers usually free in a public place, mall, carpark etc, to meet other shufflers and Shuffle.

Shuffle Vid: A youtube video of someone shuffling.

Shuffle Comp: A shuffle competition for individuals and crews.

Shuffle Crew: A group of friends who are interested in Shuffling.

Shuffle Team: A shuffle crew who perform or compete in Shuffle competitions.

Pro: An experienced and talented Shuffler.

> SHUFFLE CULTURE
Shuffle is 'All about the DANCE'. It's a dance culture, the Shufflers are the focal point. Where as RAVE culture is 'All about the music' it's a DJ culture, where the DJ's are the focal point.

> SHUFFLE RULES
The Shuffle saying 'There are no rules' came from the reality nobody in the oldskool would bother obeying them ;) But here's some general principles we're happy with.

> The Shuffle is based on freedom and mutual respect. Violence, hate, aggression, racism and sexism are not tolerated. The real world has plenty of that, and Shufflers are not interested in them.

> There is no restriction to creative freedom in shuffling. You can Shuffle to Express and Impress.

> The Shuffle can be danced solo or in a group. Both male and female can Shuffle.

> Group Shuffling can be unstructured like at a meet-up or structured in a Crew.

> The Shuffle can be spontaneous freeform or a choreographed style.

> You can Shuffle for fun, fitness, art or comps, or all the above. There are no restrictions.

> There is no limit to where you can Shuffle. In the street, carpark, mall, dance party, at home, outdoors in a forest, a city, a suburb, where ever you want to.

> Individual Shufflers are encouraged to add moves to the artform. Saying the Melbourne Shuffle is just one set of steps, is like saying spinning on your head is the only dance move in hip-hop.

> And who decides which new moves are part of the Melbourne Shuffle? Anybody! It's an inclusive artform. The Shufflers make it what it is.