“Soul Charmettes” Air Freshener

Allee

The only thing prettier than The Fist is not one but two Soul Charmettes. This thing really slays me. I was given my first one in 1991 by my late great friend, Stanley DeSantis. It always puzzled me how the Soul Charmettes text jammed in vertically could have been an artistic choice until the big 1994 California earthquake when this joined hundreds of other pieces of memorabilia clunked in a heaving 2 foot deep pile on my basement floor. The individual packets were all turned the wrong way to reveal the card under them and there it was – “Soul Charmettes” written and well placed esthetically. Which means the artist designed the card never taking into consideration the reality of the individual deodorized gals being stapled over it. In those days reducing text was no small expense. So they photostated it and stuck it in the only place it could fit. Reminds me of when Bruce Roberts and I produced the first Richard Simmons album in 1981. We did all these pop songs with great singers on every track, never dealing with the reality that every 4 bars there was going to be a “shoulder round!” or “leg up!” in the turnarounds. All of which comes down to if you’re hired for a gig, don’t pretend that something ugly can’t happen cuz you ain’t callin the shots.

Bubbles

Kudos to this brave artist who found a way to make the Charmettes even more charming by turning a tragic oversight into a distinctive design.