Filed under: Film, Politics + Current Affairs | Tags: accordion, Braddock, crashdance, jumpin jack flash, larry evans, millhunk herald, Pittsburgh, steel, steve pellegrino, tony buba, tony novosel, unions
As steel + industry collapsed in the Pittsburgh area during the 1980s, a group of young union organizers, steelworkers, soccer players, artists, writers, and assorted others came together to form The Millhunk Herald. It was a publication that concerned the life of workers and travelled all over the world, including across the Iron Curtain and into royal palaces.
Along with the publication came a whole series of events, the Millhunk Funk, the Millhunk Defunkt, and some excellent performance-art-music-videos. Two have been made available online, taken from a video documentary about the Millhunk Herald Days.
First, ‘Flashdance’ meets the real Pittsburgh of 1983, complete with a steelworker (Tony Novosel) realizing his exotic dancing dream atop a bar.
Then, accordionist Steve Pellegrino leads a barful of Pittsburghers, and a marching band, through the town of Braddock to an uncorked Jumpin Jack Flash.
