
RIP Richard
Hot damn! Little Richard in the Frank Tashlin kitsch classic The Girl Can’t Help It is pretty much the birth of modern rock ‘n’ roll and the start of everything. Wild, pretty and outrageous with his pencil tache and pompadour hair, he was androgyny itself- an influence on everyone from John Waters to Prince to Ezra Furman, who wrote Teddy, I’m Ready a few years ago.
Gospel, sex and rock collided thanks to the original “king -and queen-of rock and roll” and this brilliant clip from the 1956 film encapsulates his timeless, wild sound.
Nothing was ever the same again. Whooooooohhh!
RIP, Richard Penniman.