In 1987 I
became fascinated with the life and tragic death of Norma Jeane Baker (better
known as actress and iconic sex symbol Marilyn Monroe). I'm not sure what
triggered it. Perhaps it was because of the recent wonderful live recording of
Elton John's Candle in the
Wind playing incessantly on college
radio.
But I devoured
several library books about her. I still remember how affected I was, upon
seeing her post-mortem photos for the first time in one of those books. She
always looked so "put together" and then seeing her like that... *sigh*. It was
a strange feeling.
Anyway at the
time, as a hobbie I would make "mix tapes". Probably most people who grew up in
the eighties remember mix tapes. I would record my favorite tracks (off of vinyl
records usually) and mix in little bits of dialogue from movies. So that each
song and sample worked together to create a theme, or even told a story, for 90
minutes. Then I created my own tape covers from imaginary music groups to go
with it.
And, I guess
because she was of interest to me, I did a series of tapes featuring Marilyn on
the cover. I came across them the other day... and thought I'd explore them
again. These were all created before computers, when dinosaurs still roamed the
Earth. Utilizing copy machines (a nickel a copy), magic markers, colored pencil,
x-acto knives and rubber cement. The rubber cement has now bled through
staining the paper, giving Marilyn a somewhat tarnished look. Perhaps
appropriate, given how I felt after seeing those photos. I still prefer to
remember her as she lived, not as she died.
To quote the song:
And I would have liked to have known you,
And I would have liked to have known you,
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