In Praise of Eros, video tribute Part Two episode two

I have seen nearly half a dozen pin-up shots of both Josh and Brandon, yet until recently, I haven’t seen any of their scenes together or with others. And I have to say that in this scene in particular from Lukas in Love, Part One, their chemistry and sexual energy were off the chart, not to mention the fact that they…and I risk hyperbole here, are both gorgeous looking guys. Josh’s demeanor, too reminds me so much of Johan during the early days of Bel Ami, and like Johan, watching Josh perform is a delightful eyeful. And Brandon is an amazing power top. His performances can be described as both animalistic and passionate. Their performance in this scene was such high energy, I knew I had to include it in this tribute, yet trying to find a music piece to match this energy, I found myself in a quandry. Until I began to study the asthetics of the scene and then an idea suddenly came to me. As I was looking at the location, the setting, the overall look and feel of the scene, I immediately thought that this scene could very easily be transplanted into the 1970’s, and at the same time as I approached this idea, the music selection came to me…I had to use something from the Italian progressive band, Goblin. To my knowledge, Goblin’s music has never been heard during a porn scene…well, it has now, and I chose for this scene perhaps one of the most erotic pieces they did: Aquaman from their mid-1970’s album, Roller.

Thanks to my other interest in Italian horror films, I came across Goblin for the first time watching one of Dario Argento’s classic films, Suspiria (1977). I became hooked from the start. I began collecting everything by Goblin I could find. Argento’s films, especially in the early days, would begin to form a genre of Italian horror film called the giallo. These films typically showed scenes of extreme violence in a lot of cases, but at the same time these films were not short on nudity or explicit sex bordering on softcore in many of the films from the seventies and eighties. The giallo would disappear around the late eighties with a resurgence with Argento’s Non Ho Sonno (Sleepless) around the mid-1990’s with Goblin’s music again also making a reappearance. Goblin’s music by way of a description is a fusion of both jazz stylings and rock, forming a sound totally unlike anything of its time. Other bands would become inspired by their music as well as they have taken their influences from King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), and others. Their music has been imitated many times by bands, especially out of Italy, but they have never been duplicated. They have left a legacy of some of the most memorable soundtracks in the history of horror films or even, of film itself. Not sure if this will make history for them again, but I’m going to give it a go anyway.