inktober52: taurus

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In late December 1968 and the summer of 1969, up-and-coming British blues-rockers Led Zeppelin appeared at a handful of multi-band music festivals with the American psychedelic band Spirit. Spirit was riding high on the success of their self-titled debut album and its breakout track, the Jay Ferguson-penned “Fresh Garbage.” (Yes, the same Jay Ferguson who had a pop hit with “Thunder Island” in 1978 and wrote the theme to the American version of the TV sitcom The Office.) During those shows, Spirit performed a number of songs from the album, including a two-and-a-half minute instrumental entitled “Taurus,” written by guitarist Randy Wolfe, using the unforgettable stage name “Randy California.” The song is an atmospheric mixture of ethereal strings and keyboards with a series of notes picked out on an acoustic guitar as its centerpiece. As the riff winds its way thorough the tune, the sound of wind and cellos play eerily in the background. It’s a pretty epic composition, considering its short run time. Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant likely paid very, very close attention to the song during the four times they shared the stage with Spirit.

In late 1971, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album. The album was technically untitled but is commonly referred to as “Led Zeppelin IV” or “Zoso” based on four symbols that appear on the record’s label. The tracklist featured eight songs — four per side — each of which would go on to Classic Rock immortality. The jewel-in-the-crown of the album was “Stairway to Heaven,” the eight-minute, three section, progressive rock tour-de force that has topped numerous “greatest of all time” lists compiled by a faction of society that have been collecting Social Security for a couple of years now. The song begins with a finger-picked acoustic guitar riff that Randy California thought hit a little too close to home.

In the following years, Randy California and rock music lovers worldwide informally discussed the similarities between Spirit’s song “Taurus” and Led Zeppelin’s song “Stairway to Heaven.” Randy California even wrote  in the liner notes of a 1996 reissue of Spirit’s debut album:

People always ask me why “Stairway to Heaven” sounds exactly like “Taurus,” which was released two years earlier. I know Led Zeppelin also played “Fresh Garbage” in their live set. They opened up for us on their first American tour.

Well, Led Zeppelin didn’t really open for Spirit and “Stairway to Heaven” doesn’t sound exactly like “Taurus.,” but I get his point… and his frustration.

Randy California passed away in 1997, but the story doesn’t end there. As a matter of fact, it sort of picks up speed. In 2014, Randy ‘s family filed a copyright infringement lawsuit on the late guitarist’s behalf. The lawsuit sought a posthumous co-writing credit on “Stairway to Heaven” for Randy California. The trial began on June 14, 2016 and lasted ten days, during which the jury heard hours of testimony from “Stairway to Heaven” co-writer, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. His testimony included his declaration that he had never heard the song “Taurus” until 2014. On June 23, after just one hour of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of “no guilty.” An appeal was filed in 2018 and, after a long and drawn-out series of complaints and claims of errors in the original case, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of the original verdict.

It was also brought up that the guitar riff in question bears a similarity to the opening of Johnny Rivers’s 1967 song “Summer Rain” …but that’s a story for another time.

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DCS: susan tyrrell

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Susan Tyrrell was born of the fringe of show business. Through her father’s connections as a talent agent for the mighty William Morris Agency, young Susan was able to land auditions and roles in Broadway and off-Broadway productions. She appeared in a wide range of plays from broad comedy to Shakespeare to period pieces to brooding drama. She dabbled in television, nabbing guest roles on both sitcoms and dramas.

She made her motion picture debut in the 1971 Western Shoot Out opposite Gregory Peck. Just a year later saw her role in John Huston’s Fat City give her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Susan opted for grittier roles, often portraying psychotics, prostitutes, and various other unsavory characters. Her most notable (and notorious) role was that of wild “Queen Doris” in Richard Elfman’s indie cult classic Forbidden Zone. Along the way, Susan did some voice acting and even co-starred in a short-lived sitcom called Open All Night that lasted all of ten episodes.

Susan was closely associated with Andy Warhol and his entourage. She had a short relationship with Warhol disciple Candy Darling before diving into a two-year relationship with actor Hervé Villechaize. After two short failed marriages, Susan had her tubes tied to ensure, as she put it, “no actors come out of me.” Susan was diagnosed with a rare chronic blood disease and underwent two, below-the-knee amputations in 2000. Actor Johnny Depp, a self-professed fan of Susan’s work, organized a benefit to help with Susan’s medical expenses.

Susan moved to Austin, Texas in 2008, to live with a niece, her only family. Four years later, she passed away, writing in a personal journal: “I demand my death be joyful and I never return again.” Susan was 67 years old.

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DCS: miho nakayama

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A talent scout discovered 15-year-old Miho Nakayama in Harajuku, Tokyo’s well-known center for youth culture. She released her debut single “C” and was given a starring role in the film Be-Bop High School, based on the manga series of the same name. It was the beginning of a successful career that produced 22 albums and eight Number One singles, as determined by the Oricon charts (the Japanese equivalent to Billboard).

As an actress, Miho was universally praised for her film and television work. She was nominated for Best Actress by the Japanese Film Academy and appeared numerous television shows, including the popular Love Story TV series.

In 2002, Miho married Japanese musician Hitonari Tsuji. Miho gave birth to a son a year later, but the marriage ended in divorce after 12 years. Tsuji moved to Paris and maintained custody of their child.

In December 2024, Miho canceled an appearance on a Christmas show, citing poor health. She was found dead in her home by staff later in the day. Miho was 54 years old. An investigation revealed she had died from “an accident” while bathing, but no further details were released.

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DCS: jim feezel

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Jim Feezel joined the US Army in 1944 and became a tech sergeant in the 12th Armored Division. He was given the assignment of driver, operating a Sherman tank for the division. One year into his service, on April 29, 1945, Jim’s division pulled up to the front gate of Dachau, the notorious Nazi concentration camp located in southern Germany. Jim’s commanding officer gave the order and Jim drove his tank right though the front gate of the camp, thus initiating its liberation. At the time, there were 30,000 prisoners inside. Jim recalled marveling with disbelief at the stacks of bodies piled up like firewood. He remembered a malnourished man staggering towards his tank and finally sitting down in the dirt, overcome by weakness.

After the war, Jim worked as an engineer for the Amoco Oil Company. In a newspaper interview in 2015, Jim reminisced: “I often reckon with the very fact that I was such a small pebble in a large stream of thousands and thousands of men who went to fight this war.”

Jim passed away on October 15, 2020 at the age of 95. He was haunted his entire life by what he saw in 1945.

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inktober52: viking

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Jim Souder was my illustration teacher in my senior year of art school. In my four years of art school, he was arguably the best teacher I had. (And this statement comes from someone who hates to rank and rate things. Let’s just say every other teacher I had was tied for second place.)

When Mr. Souder finished his stint in the United States Navy, he enrolled in the Hussian School of Art. After he graduated, he taught at the school for the next 51 years. I was lucky enough — no, make that privleged enough — to have him as an instructor.

Before Mr. Souder (as I can still only refer to him) was my teacher, I heard horror stories about his class. I heard that he was tough and angry and ruthless and a number of other fearsome and intimidating descriptors. However, on day one of his class, I found him to be informative, capable, knowledgeable and, most of all, very endearing. I learned a lot from Mr, Souder and what I learned, I feel, greatly improved my own illustrations.

He taught about backgrounds, citing of all things, the backgrounds on The Flintstones cartoon. He told his class to take special notice of the delicate and painterly aspect of the backgrounds of The Flintstones. When the statement elicited some giggles from members of the class, he frowned and repeated his assertion, demanding that we (as 20 year-olds) revisit the cartoon and see what he was talking about. Guess what, he was right. The backgrounds on The Flintstones are beautiful. No kidding.

Mr. Souder pushed his class to draw. And draw and draw and draw. Each week (I had his class once a week), he would give a different assignment to enhance our drawing ability. He would request that each student gather “scrap” to bring to class. “Scrap” is artist talk for “reference material.” Mr. Souder was adamant about drawing from reference. He dismissed drawing from imagination without a base in something real. He would tell his students: “You don’t really know what anything looks like without a reference. Studying something real will make your drawings better.” Once again, he was right.

Mr. Souder, I should note, was a typical, old school, “man’s man.” He was a gruff guy with a surprisingly kind disposition, but he was a stereotypical “man” and he liked manly things. When he asked students to bring in “scrap” for a drawing exercise, he would ask for pictures of cowboys and football players and Vikings and other manly examples. No flowers for this guy! No sir! It was always things like boxers or lumberjacks. It was cute and only added to Mr. Souder’s unique persona.

Despite his vast knowledge of drawing and technique, Mr. Souder was not without his quirks. He was a fountain of malapropisms. He would often talk about the artwork that would appear in the Sunday newspaper, specifically the “Sunday subligant.” There was a guy in our class whose name was Bob Eckert. Mr. Souder only referred to him as “Eggbert.” Bob never corrected him. He called every student “artist.” This was either a term of respect or, more likely, because Mr. Souder was terrible at remembering names. One day, Mr. Souder informed my class that a directive came from the office to have students create an illustration based on a reading assignment. (My art school did not offer any academic classes. That was the main reason I chose to enroll there.) He said, “The so-called ‘powers that be’ don’t think you people know how to read.” Then he glanced around the room and added, “You do know how to read, right?”

After I graduated, I ran into Mr. Souder a few times while visiting my art school for alumni events. Each time, I had to explain to him who I was. He always appeared to be happy to see me, even if he didn’t remember exactly who I was. And I always called him “Mr. Souder.”

Mr. Souder passed away in 2017 at the age of 91. I read in his online obituary that he was married for 61 years. He had three children, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild. He loved to draw and paint. He loved to travel. He loved to play handball, drink coffee and root for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mr. Souder was a great teacher, a talented artist and a good guy.

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DCS: flick colby

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Pennsylvania-born Felicity Colby enrolled in ballet and other dance classes as a child. She had dreams of becoming a professional dancer. She was lucky enough to be cast in several musicals before trying her hand at dancing on the London scene in the 1960s.

In late 1966, Felicity — now going by “Flick” — founded Pan’s People, a modern dance troupe comprised of five women around her own age. The group made appearances on the BBC on top shows like The Two Ronnies and The Bobbie Gentry Show before becoming a weekly fixture on the wildly popular Top of the Pops. In addition to being a member of the group, Flick served as the main choreographer for the run of the series. She also supervised dance moves for several other dance troupe, as well as choreographing the rock musical Catch My Soul.

After Top of the Pops ended, Flick returned to her home in Clinton, New York and opened a small gift shop. She left her dance career in her distant past.

Flick passed away in 2011 from bronchopneumonia after a diagnosis of breast cancer. She was 65.

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DCS: bambi woods

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Debra DeSanto was born in Pierre, South Dakota in 1955. However, there may never have been a “Debra DeSanto” born in Pierre, South Dakota in 1955.

In 1978, producer-director-entrepreneur Jim Clark (sometimes known as “Jim Buckley”) released the pornographic film Debbie Does Dallas. The film, a loose account of the trials and tribulations of an innocent cheerleader on her way to fame as a member of the “Texas Cowgirls,” a thinly-veiled allusion to the popular Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. The film starred blond-haired, blue-eyed “Bambi Woods,” a name conceived by Clark for his new starlet, based on Disney’s Bambi and that character’s forest habitat. The film proved extremely successful, selling over 50,000 copies in its initial video release and spawning dozens of sequels — both authorized and unauthorized.

Bambi Woods, in reality, was the former Debra DeSanto. As mentioned in an interview, “Bambi” had gotten herself into a financial pickle with an acquaintance. To fulfill her debt, “Bambi” agreed to appear in a pornographic film. The acquaintance was employed in the adult film industry. Jim Clark, the film’s producer, tagged Debra with a new moniker and she — reluctantly — made the movie. However, she was still unable to pay her debt and she saw no choice but to make two more films in the Debbie Does Dallas canon before calling it a career.

Then “Bambi/Debra” disappeared.

A wide variety of stories circulated regarding the former porn star’s whereabouts. One account said that her family found out about her exploits and she was embarrassed. She left the adult film industry for obscurity. An article in an Australian newspaper reported that “Bambi/Debra” was deep into the lurid life of the (then unregulated) porn industry. She allegedly died of a drug overdose in 1986, just after the release of Debbie Does Dallas III. In a 2005 British documentary about the 70s porn industry, producer Jim Clark said that “Bambi/Debra” had married a software developer, moved to Des Moines, Iowa and refuses to discuss or even acknowledge her former career.

None of these scenarios have been confirmed and the fate of “Bambi Woods” or “Debra DeSanto” or whoever she is remains a mystery.

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