David Worth's Punk Rock Cartoons L.A. Exhibition and The International Swingers Punk Super-Group

International Swingers & Artist David Worth - Photo copyright Dawn Laureen

David Worth, the artist responsible for the excellent Punk Rock Cartoons filed this report on the opening of his exhibition in Los Angeles. "I first went to Los Angeles in January 2012 to exhibit my cartoons. The show was organised by Tequila Mockingbird, who is well-known on the LA scene and has been involved in putting events on for many years. I have kept in touch with her over the years and she has had my cartoons on display in Los Angeles consistently in various locations since my first visit. They were on permanent display at The Cat and Fiddle pub on Sunset Boulevard until its closure in December 2014. There is a photo posted by Russell Brand of himself, Noel Gallagher and Morrissey sat in the pub with my Lemmy cartoon on the chimney breast behind them. As you walked into the pub there was a cartoon of Morrissey. I don't know what he would have made of it.

The International Swingers - Cartoon copyright David Worth

I was due to be in LA to display my artwork on 15th January 2015 and just after Christmas it was looking uncertain where the location for the exhibition would be. Tequila had mentioned this to Gary Twinn (He was a member of the Australian group, Supernaut in the 1970s , then in Twenty Flight Rockers in the 80s, and now a member of The International Swingers) and he suggested having them on display at E.B's Beer and Wine Bar at The Farmers Market. With only a few weeks notice the show was put together and Gary said he would put a punk rock karaoke on the night of my show and the following night get The International to play as part of event. The band is a Punk super-group featuring Clem Burke of Blondie, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, James Stevenson of Chelsea, Gen X, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Alarm, The Cult, etc and Gary Twinn.

The International Swingers - Photo copyright David Worth

I arrived in LA on the Thursday 15th January in the afternoon. After checking into my hotel and unpacking I then met up with Tequila and Debbie, who was driving us around and we went to the legendary Rainbow Bar and Grill for a few drinks, then next door to see Headcat, the band featuring Lemmy, Slim Jim Phantom and Danny Harvey. I was a bit spaced out as I had been awake since 2.30am the previous day, along with an hour taxi ride to Manchester Airport, a three hour check-in, a shuttle flight to London, an 10 and a half hour flight and an eight hour time difference and no sleep in between. The following day we went to the Farmer's Market and met up with Gary at E.B's Beer and Wine Bar. The area the pictures would be hung was next to the bar in a very prominent position. The afternoon was spent sorting out which pictures to hang and Gary hammering the nails in the wall and hanging them. The event was very well publicised by Gary and he had large vinyl posters on stands all over the vast Farmer's Market and also had postcards printed up. There was also a feature in the Beverley Gazette, a free paper that was distributed in the area. The event kicked off with karaoke which had quite a few punk songs thrown in for good measure. There was a constant stream of people wanting to get up and sing. This was very well attended. It was a fantastic night and I met some really great people.

Some of David's Punk Rock Cartoons on display - Photo copyright David Worth

The following night it was back to the E.B's Bar. When we arrived the stage was set up ready for the band to play. Gary, Clem Burke and James Stevenson were there already. Glen Matlock wasn't there and bass playing  was down to Steve Fishman. The band played a set of some of their original songs, plus some by Blondie, Sex Pistols, Eddie Cochrane and The Monkees. The place was packed and it was a great atmosphere. At the show I also met Mick Rossi of Slaughter and the Dogs, Ian McCallum of Stiff Little Fingers and Dennis Morris, the photographer who took iconic photographs of Bob Marley. He also photographed the Sex Pistols and early PiL, including the first album cover and designed Metal Box. He had had an exhibition of Sex Pistols photographs on display in LA  a few weeks before. Whilst in LA I also met Rodney Bingenheimer, the legendary DJ. The cartoons are still on display at E.B's Beer and Wine Bar, West Patio, The Farmer's Market, 3rd & Fairfax, Los Angeles. If you are in the area, nip in and buy a pint from the friendly bar staff, have a look at the cartoons, which are also on sale and buy yourself some food from the many food outlets there. The International Swingers have just achieved 100% of their Pledge Music campaign to release their debut album. Details can be found at this link. There is also an animated video I did for one of their songs, F.B.I." - David Worth

David would like to thank Gary Twinn and Tequila Mockingbird for putting the whole thing together. James Stevenson, Clem Burke and Steve Fishman for playing and Dawn Laureen for the photograph. I'd like to say thanks to David for submitting the feature and would recommend checking out his Punk Rock Toons web-site to see his excellent artwork. David's drew his first ever caricature back in April 2010, it was of Public Image Limited and was actually published on both the official John Lydon and PiL web-sites. Things got even better when one of his cartoons was published as a full page picture in John Lydon's "Mr. Rotten's Scrapbook".  Since then David has drawn various bands and people from the world of Punk Rock and other genres such as The Clash, The Damned, Ramones, Garbage, Morrissey, Kate Bush, Iron Maiden and Motorhead amongst many others. He has also branched out in Movie and TV characters.