TREND I-SPY

Patti Smith with Robert Mapplethorpe I recently read Just Kids Patti Smith's memoir of her relationship with the late artist/photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and of their life together in the New York of the 1960s and 70s. It was wonderfully evocative of the music and art landscape of that particular time, dominated by the doyennes of Andy Warhol's Factory, Max's Kansas City and the Chelsea Hotel. I thought it was an absolute knock-out and wasn't surprised to learn that it won the National Book Award for nonfiction in November 2010. Before she was a rock star Patti Smith was a poet, inspired by other poets, and apparently not just by their work but also by their style and appearance. Arthur Rimbaud She worshiped the eighteenth century French poet, Arthur Rimbaud , and describes the shopping she did before undertaking a pilgrimage to his birthplace and grave in Charleville, France. On the Bowery I found an unconstructed raincoat of kelly green rubberized silk, a Dior b...

There's no doubt about it, The Rolling Stones plus their wives, ex-wives, girlfriends and children, are having a moment. Recently released, a fascinating documentary called Stones In Exile, about the making of the the band's much-lauded 1972 album, 'Exile On Main Street' . In the spring of 1971 the band reluctantly departed the UK to escape being taxed up to 98% of their income. They took up residence in France. Keith Richards , Anita Pallenberg and their son Marlon settled at a villa called Nellcôte in Villefranche-sur-Mer and this became the venue for the recording of much of the album. In the documentary photographer, Dominique Tarlé, recounts that he went to the villa for the afternoon and ended up being invited to stay on and take photos, which he did, for six months! Speaking to the New York Times, Tarlé recalled, “A carnival of characters paraded through: Terry Southern, Gram Parsons, John Lennon, even a tribal band from Bengal… dope dealers fr...