Tom Scott recently took on the role of ‘marketing type bloke’ at Oi Polloi. I’m sure there’s a more showy-off title for his job but he’s not the type to shout about it.
Instead he agreed to talk about stuff he’s into for our latest Favourite Five. Here it is.
Music: Soft Cell – ‘Sex Dwarf’
Skating a lot as a teenager, I found out about a lot of music through watching skate videos. If you were really into a particular skater’s video part, finding out what song they were skating to was a big part of the process. I still watch skate videos now and still find new music through them (last artist I found was Mikal Cronin from this Atiba Jefferson profile: http://theberrics.com/shoot-all-skaters/atiba-jefferson.html), but my favourite piece of music I’ve ever found was Soft Cell – ‘Sex Dwarf’.
It was featured in Heroin Skateboards ‘Live From Antarctica’ and was one of the nuttiest things I’d ever heard. Heroin videos always have good music (and Fos from Heroin has a great radio show fosfm.tumblr.com), but this one really blew me and my mate Rod* away when we first watched the video. I guess I was a little naïve to what Soft Cell was really about at that time, hadn’t even heard the Urban Myth about Marc Almond.
“Soft Cell? As in ‘Tainted Love’ Soft Cell? Singing about a Sex Dwarf?!”
*Funny story: at around this time, Rod stayed in my flat while I was away for two months. He was so tight that when he ran out of toilet roll, he used all the tissue paper from my trainer boxes instead. And he took showers with washing-up liquid after he ran out of shower gel.
Art: Duane Hanson – ‘Tourists 2’
I first saw this at the ‘More Than Reality’ retrospective at the Zurich Kunsthaus and as an adult it was one of the first pieces of art that I actually appreciated, rather than doing the zombie walk around an exhibition before buying postcards in the gift shop that you do when you’re on a school trip to an art gallery. Duane Hanson created lifesize realistic sculptures of people depicting scenes from the average American’s life. ‘Tourists 2’ really stuck out to me because it represents everything I like and dislike about the US: it’s creative, impressive and a triumph of determination over adversity. But it’s also big, obnoxious and overbearing. But just like the US, I still really like it.
Film: Overnight
I watched this again for the first time in a while recently. Troy Duffy was a talented guy with the self-belief to succeed and Boondock Saints was a decent film, but if he’d spent as much time working as he did talking about how he was going to simultaneously revolutionise both the film and music industries, he’d be a lot more successful today. It’s good to remind yourself that with all the hype and bravado you see from people and their bold proclamations of success, it’s the quiet ones in the background getting on with the work who will most likely make it in the long run.
Clothing: Stone Island Nylon Metal Bomber
There’s a thread on the Proper Forums about this jacket where it really splits opinion, so I’ve got to go for it. Easily my favourite purchase of the year so far. Best fitting bomber jacket I’ve ever owned and because I live in London, I can wear SI without people asking “Who I’m with”.
Something else: Little John – ‘Clarks Booty’
This was a Record Store Day purchase from earlier this year. Now there’s no doubting that the Little John original is a great record, but look at the disc – it’s shaped like a Clarks Desert Boot! I’ve no shame in admitting I go for a good gimmick and this is one of the best I’ve seen in a while.
