{"title":"John Waters","description":"\u003cp\u003eFilmmaker. Writer. Artist. Cultural saboteur.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Pope of Trash needs little introduction, but let’s give him one anyway. For over half a century, Baltimore’s finest has pushed, poked and proudly annihilated the boundaries of taste with a wicked smile and a camera lens (or Sharpie, or microphone, or moustache comb).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the gloriously grotty glory days of \u003cem\u003ePink Flamingos \u003c\/em\u003eto the pop-slick subversion of \u003cem\u003eHairspray\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eWaters\u003c\/strong\u003e’ films are a masterclass in weaponising kitsch. A true outsider’s outsider, his work celebrates the grotesque, the divine, and everything in between. Divine, indeed — his longtime muse and collaborator whose legacy looms as large as Waters’ own.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"liarmouth-a-feel-bad-romance","title":"Liarmouth: A feel-bad romance","description":"\u003cp\u003eA hilariously filthy tale of sex, crime, and family dysfunction from the brilliantly twisted mind of John Waters, the legendary filmmaker and bestselling author of Mr. Know-It-All.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarsha Sprinkle: Suitcase thief. Scammer. Master of disguise. Dogs and children hate her. Her own family wants her dead. She's smart, she's desperate, she's disturbed, and she's on the run with a big chip on her shoulder. They call her \"Liarmouth\" - until one insane man makes her tell the truth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Waters's first novel, Liarmouth, is a perfectly perverted \"feel-bad romance,\" and the reader will thrill to hop aboard this delirious road trip of riotous revenge.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"corsair","offers":[{"title":"Hardback - 1152785","offer_id":50452604911947,"sku":"1152785","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50452605141323,"sku":"1152784","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bae7b5cd-5c84-427f-b3bd-4114e6e87d0b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727157861"},{"product_id":"mr-know-it-all-the-tarnished-wisdom-of-a-filth-elder-signed-copies","title":"Mr Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder - SIGNED COPIES","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/rghtrd.co\/boty19ukblog\"\u003eRough Trade Books of the Year 2019 No. 9\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo one knows more about everything - especially everything rude, clever, and offensively compelling - than John Waters. The man in the pencil-thin mustache, auteur of the transgressive movie classics \u003ci\u003ePink Flamingos\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePolyester\u003c\/i\u003e, the original \u003ci\u003eHairspray\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCry-Baby\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eA Dirty Shame\u003c\/i\u003e, is one of the world's great sophisticates, and in \u003ci\u003eMr. Know-It-All\u003c\/i\u003e he serves it up raw: how to fail upward in Hollywood; how to develop musical taste from Nervous Norvus to Maria Callas; how to build a home so ugly and trendy that no one but you would dare live in it; more important, how to tell someone you love them without emotional risk; and yes, how to cheat death itself. Through it all, Waters swears by one undeniable truth: \"Whatever you might have heard, there is absolutely no downside to being famous. None at all.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStudded with cameos of Waters's stars, from Divine and Mink Stole to Johnny Depp, Kathleen Turner, Patricia Hearst, and Tracey Ullman, and illustrated with unseen photos from Waters's personal collection, \u003ci\u003eMr. Know-It-All\u003c\/i\u003e is Waters's most hypnotically readable, upsetting, revelatory book - another instant Waters classic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Waters doesn't kowtow to the received wisdom, he flips it the bird . . . [Waters] has the ability to show humanity at its most ridiculous and make that funny rather than repellent' \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'\u003ci\u003eCarsick\u003c\/i\u003e becomes a portrait not just of America's desolate freeway nodes - though they're brilliantly evoked - but of American fame itself' \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"corsair","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50453352743243,"sku":"1074248","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/563999f8-5915-4fbd-b4f3-4422d1e3dcef_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727170995"},{"product_id":"its-in-the-book","title":"It's In The Book","description":"\u003cp\u003e“It’s In The Book” is Waters’ attempt to portray, in Waters’ words, Standley’s “persnickety, droll, intellectually superior comic monologue,” a part song, part exhortation on the subject of Little Bo-Peep in the manner of a revivalist preacher. The original version of “It’s In the Book” was a huge, surprise hit upon its release in 1952, rising to #1 on the Billboard chart and selling over 1-million copies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIts follow-up, the nursery rhyme gone-wrong, comedy routine, “Proud New Father” (released the following year in 1953), would not fare as well– perhaps due to its gory details. Waters recounts, “It may be the first sick joke I heard as a child.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs in the original versions, the two Standley homages include gratuitous laugh tracks. Produced by Grammy-winner, Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, The Good Ones [Rwanda], poet Raymond Antrobus, Zomba Prison Project), Brennan states, “That recordings of dead people prompt living people to laugh is one of the more surreal aspects of recorded medium. That often identical canned laughter tracks have been used redundantly on countless albums and sitcoms for decades is all the eerier.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis single follows the release of Waters’ “Prayer to Pasolini,” his tribute to the legendarily controversial Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, that was recorded by Waters and Brennan at Pasolini’s murder site on the outskirts of Rome. That single was released as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 6 series on Waters’ 75th birthday, April 22nd, 2021.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWaters jokes that he chose to press the new single on gold vinyl so that he can at last be able to claim, “I’ve made a ‘Gold Record’.”sound\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"7\"","offer_id":50466103296331,"sku":"2005008","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Its_In_The_Book_-_Single_33478f8e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727304799"},{"product_id":"john-waters-set-of-3-pin-badges","title":"Set of 3 Pin Badges","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet of 3 pin badges featuring the pope of trash \u003cstrong\u003eJohn Waters\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eDivine\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eEdie the Egg Lady\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gazoo","offers":[{"title":"Top Trumps","offer_id":50820151050571,"sku":"2146374","price":7.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/John_Waters_badges_462e3bb4_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1731430576"},{"product_id":"jingle-bells-its-a-punk-rock-christmas-2","title":"Jingle Bells \/ It's a Punk Rock Christmas","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe A-side single features a parody version of The Singing Dogs’ “Jingle Bells’,\" which takes the Christmas classic on a howling turn that should delight (and possibly dismay) dog owners everywhere. Meanwhile, the B-side, “It’s a Punk Rock Christmas,” is a raunchy spoken word yarn about the lack of the punk rock spirit during the anxiety-provoking season.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe new single was produced by Grammy-winner Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, The Good Ones [Rwanda], poet Raymond Antrobus, Parchman Prison Prayer) who produced all of Waters’ previous three singles. Brennan states, \"In producing John’s annual Christmas tour for over twenty years, it seemed almost negligent that he didn't have a Christmas record. Everyone from U2 to Justin Bieber to William Shatner to Bob Dylan does, and John’s wit couldn’t be a more fitting cheer for the annual holiday music canon.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"Grey 7\"","offer_id":50830179172683,"sku":"2229275","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/JohnWaters_TheSingingDogs_3600x3600_4919fb29-1a0c-4502-_0a9884b8_thumbnail.webp?v=1731536129"},{"product_id":"little-cindy-a-pig-latin-visit-from-st-nicholas","title":"Little Cindy \/ A Pig Latin Visit From St. Nicholas","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003eFilmmaker, author, comedian, and cultural icon extraordinaire, John Waters, 79, returns with his second Christmas parody single (and third holiday single with Sub Pop), “John Waters covers ‘Little Cindy,’” produced again by his longtime friend and colleague, Grammy-winner, Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Parchman Prison Project, The Good Ones [Rwanda], Ramblin’ Jack Elliott).  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003eWaters says, “In the tradition of novelty records, which I’ve always loved, this year I pay tribute to one of my favorite hymns that was once included in my ‘John Waters Christmas’ album – sung by the ever-holy child vocalist Little Cindy. I have never been in drag professionally, but with this little sticks-and-stones gift record to bad children everywhere, I channel Little Cindy’s voice and aura, even stumbling over the exact words she did on the original 45rpm version. Little Cindy is beyond saintly in my opinion, a minor miracle, a human spiritual sacrament who brings her devoted sanctity to this psalm of southern sentimentality. For a few vinyl minutes, I hope listeners will agree: John Waters IS Little Cindy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"EN\"\u003e“Side B is beyond the valley of gimmicks, over the top of parody and underneath the mountain of linguistics, recorded in Pig Latin – a secret dialect my mother taught me in the ‘50s. I don’t take easily to learning a new language but this maddeningly ugly way of speaking is a tongue I eventually licked. I even used Pig Latin in ‘Pink Flamingos’ where Divine’s family skipped, happily chanting, 'We Are The Filthiest People Alive.’ What better way to remind my public of this lunatic way of communication (even the Three Stooges spoke it in some of their 1930s movies) than to translate this beloved poem into a consonantly confused vernacular? ‘A Visit from St. Nick?’ As-tway E-thay Ight-nay Efore-bay Istmas-kray! See? I’m speaking in tongues! Want to clear your house of holiday party guests who have overstayed their welcome? Just play the flipside of this record, and they’ll run like they’ve just been teargassed! Ig-pay Atin-lay! Learn it, you little devils!”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"7\" - Christmas Green | Rough Trade Exclusive \/ Signed","offer_id":53427863355723,"sku":"R7883-0129","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"7\" - Opaque Red","offer_id":53438898405707,"sku":"R7883-7578","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/JohnWaters_HBDJesus_1500x1500_9cd9df1a-775d-4664-8899-81374f978370.jpg?v=1758295431"},{"product_id":"hairspray","title":"Hairspray","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter decades of pushing the boundaries of bad taste with his underground provocations, John Waters found surprising mainstream success with this infectiously irreverent rock-and-soul comedy. It’s 1962, and the only things bigger than the bouffant hairdos are the popular dance crazes sweeping the nation. When Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) shoots to stardom on a local TV dance party, her radical self-confidence and support for racial integration launch a movement that takes the city by storm. Costarring the inimitable Divine in a fiercely funny double role, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eHairspray\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e finds Waters marrying his wildly subversive sensibility with a newfound bubblegum sweetness for what may be his most irresistible film.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Criterion Collection","offers":[{"title":"4K+BLU-RAY","offer_id":56814460928331,"sku":"R3945-1245","price":38.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/FFKga1bEckzAQY7FqCpm7lOxKyDVCG_large_b976be24-683c-465b-8614-4a3036a95df4.jpg?v=1773695996"},{"product_id":"desperate-living","title":"Desperate Living","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFollowing the unrepentant outrageousness of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ePink Flamingos\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eFemale Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e director John Waters brought his notorious trash trilogy to a fittingly twisted close with this antifascist fairy tale. After hysterical housewife Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) murders her husband with the help of her fed-up housekeeper (Jean Hill), the newfound “sisters in crime” escape to the bizarro shantytown of Mortville, a depraved penal colony presided over by a despotic queen (Edith Massey) whose tyranny pushes her subjects to shocking revolt. Deviant cops, death by dog food, DIY surgery—Waters unleashes all this and more in an at once relentlessly warped and oddly moral vision of queer rebellion.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Criterion Collection","offers":[{"title":"4K+BLU-RAY","offer_id":56814494941515,"sku":"R5075-1974","price":38.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/4KEZtZ0IiWjS9Nnw7mopdoF5SZSbu6_large_7e25f67f-eabc-4351-a579-0f6499cb3e2a.jpg?v=1773696366"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/JohnWaters.png?v=1758630110","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/john-waters.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}