Today’s “Monday Muse” stars the one‑and‑only filmmaker, writer, and cultural provocateur John Waters.
He goes strolling, merrily along, record‑shopping his way through Amoeba San Francisco, calling it “one of the greatest record stores in the world” as he gleefully darts through the aisles. Waters jokes that the sheer volume of treasures makes him feel like he’s on Supermarket Sweep, grabbing everything he can before the buzzer.
From there, the episode becomes a perfect snapshot of Waters’ taste — mischievous, punk‑rooted, queer‑coded, and culturally encyclopedic. He pulls a book on The Shangri‑Las, his favorite “bad girl” group, reminiscing about meeting Mary Weiss and praising her late‑career solo album. He champions The Donnas, hoping they’ll reunite for his Mosswood Meltdown festival, recalling how he knew them as teenagers “when they were bad babysitters.”
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Then comes one of our favorite moments: Waters lighting up over Deborah Harry’s solo album “Def, Dumb & Blonde.” He calls her a dear friend, praises her range — from jazz to punk to pop — and reminds us she even appeared in Hairspray. A true Debbie gem.
His haul continues with a swoon over emotional crooner Johnny Ray, a chaotic memory of meeting Nico (who immediately asked him for heroin and then offered to sing at his funeral), and a punk compilation featuring The Dead Boys and Jane County, whom he calls “the fiercest trans punk ever.”
Waters even detours into his Chucky universe, proudly noting he played Chucky’s father and still finds the doll “kind of cute.” He rounds things out with cult films, rockabilly records, and VHS oddities — including a Bunuel classic that once enraged the Catholic Church.
By the end, he calls himself a “lucky shopper,” recalling a past Amoeba signing where one fan waited in line completely nude just to take a photo for his mother. Only in a John Waters universe.
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Drop a comment. Which John Waters pick from this gloriously chaotic haul is your favorite?
