J.E.Moores reads Frank’s Depression to 5 year old daughter.
NEW YORK DOLL
Look into the broken eyes of a whore,
watch the ghetto inside her soul
offer you a bullet
for asking her name.
Spend some time in her arms,
listen to her voice filled with talk of
death, drugs and distant dreams.Give her $20.
Then send her back into the city street.
Frank’s Depression - Poetry
Frank and I made a bunch of tee shirts and stickers with the help of Beth Blood’s silk screening expertise. He’d sell them along with the ‘zines and cassette tapes of his depression poetry. Check out Frank’s tee shirt designs, just click banner above.
8 Plays
Societies Clone as read by Frank Hobbs, 1990. Frank wanted me to video tape him reading his poetry at Monument Square, Portland Maine. I’m hoping Fly still has a video of this, as I only have the audio. My video was destroyed in a flood.
Frank’s Depression - Video: “Window Watcher” (1990) 12 minutes. Frank Hobbs, Eve Gilbert. A Video by J.E.Moores, Wankin’ Woo Woo Productions.
I met Frank Hobbs and Eve Gilbert in Portland Maine in 1990. Frank and I became good friends, and I helped work on many of his projects. I had a 4-track and a giant clunky VHS camcorder so he and I recorded Frank reading his Depression Poetry. He wanted weird sound effects in the background, so we worked on that too. Then we thought it would be fun to make a short video. I’d run the video camera, while he and Eve perform some of Frank’s writing. The video “Window Watcher” was edited by Jordan Kratz and myself on two VCR decks at Jordan’s house. My copy of the video was lost to a flood, so I’m glad Jordan still had his copy.
Frank's Depression Poetry
This web site is dedicated to the memory of Frank Hobbs, better known as Frank’s Depression. I met Frank in Portland Maine where he, Eve Gilbert and I made the video Window Watcher based on Frank’s Depression Poetry. Later on when I moved to the Bay Area of California, Frank and Eve would often crash on my couch and leave me their hand made ‘zines as gifts.
I thought I had lost the Window Watcher video years ago in a basement flood, but my good buddy Jordan Kratz had a copy in his archives, so this rare footage of Frank and Eve is great to see again years later. The original video was made in 1990, and now has been digitally remastered and put into QuickTime format for everyone to enjoy. Just click the video link above to start the video.
Eve Gilbert has an illustrated book about her travels with “FH” titled: Tits Ass & Real Estate. It can be found at Amazon.com so be sure to check it out. Eve’s cartoons are so delightfully bizarre, it’s an amazing story. Underground cartoonist legend Robert Crumb writes the Foreword to her book, so be sure to get a copy for your underground comic collection. You’ll be glad you did.
Frank was everything that’s great about punk rock. He lived his art, and was up front and honest. He would say what was on his mind, and had a great sense of humor. I found his energy to be very inspirational, because he was the real thing, all the way to the core. Together he and Eve created a strange gypsy pair roaming from city to city selling their xeroxed magazines of comics and poetry. I was lucky to have the chance to record Frank’s poetry, and make this video together with Frank and Eve.
If you would like to hear Frank reading his depression poetry, check out the Super Fantastic Ultra Show podcast to hear free broadcasts of Frank’s Depression Poetry.
Keeping the depression alive, J.E.Moores
