Yes. These two. Still.
Regular readers of this blog know of our long quest to identify some super-obscure film and TV (and “other”) stills that we found in a collection here at the Library of Congress. (For those who would like a recap, please see the links at the bottom of this post.)
Our crowd-sourcing via this and other LC blogs has proved to be a spectacular success. We started with well over 200 “unknowns” and, now, we have only 18 we don’t know! Thank you all!
At this point in our long journey, it’s quite possible that these final 18 identities will never be solved; these people are just too obscure. Along with blasting them all over the internet and Facebook and getting them in front of as many eyes as possible, we have also employed all the internet “reverse image search” programs out there and sent them all through some amazing (and slightly Orwellian) facial recognition software. And, yet, with our last 18, we’ve still come up empty.
Nevertheless, having worked on this project for so long, these faces still tend to dance through my head. It’s difficult, during bouts of insomnia, not to lay awake and wonder: So who are they? And, specifically, who are these two at the top of this page?
This photo has befuddled us for so long. How much has it stymied us? Well, we can’t even agree if, in a strictly binary sense, these are two men or two women or one of each!
It does seem to be a professional shot. (The photographer and camera set up can be seen in the reflection of the glasses on one of the subjects.) We assume that these two are some sort of New Wave duo. But, unfortunately, they look like every New Wave duo of the New Wave era!
So far we do know that it is NOT any of the following:
Alannah Myles, Book of Love, David Johansen, Dogs d’Amore, Dweezil Zappa, Dwight Twilly Band, Edn-Ozn, Eve Moon, Face to Face, Faster Pussycat, Frances McDormand, Hangmen, Haysi Fantasi, Heart, Ian Hunter, Indigo Girls, Izzy Stradlin, Jacobites, Joan Jett, Karla Bonoff, Kings of the Sun, LA Guns, Love & Rockets, the Main Street Preachers, Marc Bolan, Michael Des Barres, Mickey Thomas, Motels, Paul Hardcastle, Peaches, Paul Westerberg, Randyandy, Richard Hell, Robert Hazard, Rough Trade, Scarlet Fantastic, Slits, Sparks, Strawberry Switchblade, Suicide, Suzi Quatro, The Cut, The Neon Judgement, The Throbs, Tik and Tok, Tom Keifer, T-Rex,the Waitresses, and, no, not Wendy and Lisa. (All of the above have been approached, shown the picture and told us, “Not me.”)
Other guesses that have, so far, not been verified or denied are: 39 Clocks, Balaam and the Angel, Fashion, Lady Wreckless, and Thrill for Kills.
Surely the Library of Congress does not possess the ONLY copy of this photo in existence. Surely it appeared somewhere else–on an album, CD or something? Surely it got posted on a wall or printed in a newspaper. Didn’t it?
But, granted, solving this this great mystery will not be easy. Since their likeness does not pop up seemingly anywhere else on the internet (at least not that we’ve found so far), we are now pretty much looking for someone who might have seen them perform or someone who knows them personally or even the subjects themselves.
Solving this particular photo—in fact, our final 18—now is not so much a media mystery as a missing persons case.
The Trail and Trial of the Mystery Movie Photos
Hard-Won Victories: Solving the Mystery of Some Mystery Photos
Comments (105)
Is this Axe Frehley and Paul Stanley of KISS?
Ten Years After?
Sisters of Mercy?
The Indigo Girls…?
John Waite and Joan Jett (?)
As a survivor of that era, they really don’t look New Wave to me. This style is more reminiscent of the rockers in that time period, imo.
Not sure about the person on the right, but the one on the left looks like Linda Fiorentino.
This is Andrew Eldritch and Patricia Morrison of ‘The Sisters of Mercy’.
Scarlett & Black?
Lou Reed + Rachel (Tommy) or Patti Smith?
Don’t ask me why, it may be the gaunt cheeks and black eyeshadow, and those big manly hands… but I could swear the person on the left is Lou Reed early 70’s
https://dangerousminds.net/comments/rachel_lou_reeds_transsexual_muse
I’m agreeing with Guntztuffer.
One of them looks like Paul Stanley from KISS.
The mouth area looks similar.
Comparison.
https://mobile.twitter.com/PaulStanleyLive/photo
The person on the right looks a lot like a young Grace Slick.
Bob Dylan?
As a fan of music of that era…I said Sisters of Mercy right off. I see Rachel (talk about a mystery, the author of this blog, and LOC should try to solve the mystery of her. After all, she a transgender woman who was Lou Reed ‘gurl’ at his peak) I see her, not so much Lou. Other than some similar lips….sorry I dont see KISS or any member of otherwise.
Rozz Williams?
Rozz Williams?
Nena?
Boy meets Girl?
I don’t think it is Andrew Eldritch, though it is close… but Eldritch has a very strong, square and distinctive chin or jaw-line, and I don’t see that on this gentleman.
Sisters of Mercy or more likely, Rosetta Stone.
Any clues in the reflection of the photographer in the person on the right’s glasses? COMPUTER, ENHANCE!
Anthony Keidis and Hillel Slovak?
THANKS FOR ALL THE SUGGESTIONS. I WILL TRACK DOWN ALL THE LEADS AND LET YOU KNOW WHAT I FIND OUT.
The person on the right looks sort of like Sigourney Weaver.
The one on the right looks like Sigourney Weaver.
Well, that’s Sigourney Weaver on the right.
Sure looks like grace slick and jorma kaukonen to me. Post airplane most likely
On the right looks like Sigourney Weaver.
I’d say NY Downtown scene circa 77-8. Maybe theater people or just scenesters. Not in a band IMHO. Mapplethorpe photo?
WE DID CHECK WITH SIGOURNEY WEAVER AND SHE SAID NEITHER PERSON IN THE PHOTO WAS HER.
NOT MISSION UK.
This actually looks a lot like Sue Saad, from Sue Saad and the Next, and possibly one of the members of the band.
Debbie Harry?
Is it Valeria Golino and Peter Del Monte?
I don’t know but I’d ask the Whiskey/Troubadour/Roxy/Rainbow to compare with their old promotional materials because these two look like they’re from the 1980s Sunset strip
Thats an easy one, as other have said it’s Andrew Eldritch and Patricia Morrison “The Sisters of Mercy”
THANKS TO ALL FOR THE SUGGESTIONS HERE AND ON REDDIT. I’M SLOWLY RUNNING THEM DOWN. THIS IS WHAT I KNOW SO FAR. IT IS NOT: Mission UK; Scarlett & Black; Nick Zedd; Ministry; Pat Metheny; Amanda Plummer, Sigourney Weaver; or Linda Fiorentino.
I am waiting to hear back re: many of the others including: The Adverts, Rosetta Stone, The Cramps, Hanoi Rocks and The Modern Lovers, among others.
Sigourney Weaver behind ?
Looks like Kate Jackson with some heavy makeup on the left.
Jorma and Grace from Jefferson Airplane
Whomever mentioned Edn Ozn probably meant Ebn/Ozn, and my guess would be no. But Robert Ozn is on twitter so you could ask, @DadaNadaMusic.
Stiv Bator- Lords of the New Church
Cinderella
I don’t think either is Patricia Morrison because the eyebrows don’t look right. I wonder if one of them, probably the one on the right, could be Wayne Hussey.
Debra Winger & Sigourney Weaver
The mouth, smile, and facial structure on the person on the left remind me of Jamie Lee Curtis. Not sure about the one on the right.
April Wine.
The one on the left looks like Rosanne Cash about 1988.
I absolutely believe that this is a photo of a very young Andrew Eldritch and Patricia Morrison from Sisters of Mercy
100% NOT Hanoi Rocks. Not even close.
It’s definitely not Ebn Ozn (misspelled in your article)
On the left, possibly Terry Bozzio former drummer of Missing Persons and the Mothers of Invention.
Another vote for Paul Stanley (left) but I think the one on the right is Gene Simmons – very early or even pre-Kiss
This is a photo by Henry Ditz of his fellow rock-photographer friend, Mick Rock, and legend (and mutual friend) Lou Reed. Legends!
Well, I think it’s the Robinson brothers of Black Crowes fame.
Any chance someone with awesome software can blow this photo up more and look at the photographer and other person through the sunglass lenses of the person on the right to get more info on who, what where it was taken? Even with my poor computer blow up, I can definitely make out some good features of those taking the photo…
I wonder if they are actors dressed as rockers for a role in a movie or tv show?
Michael Jackson on the left and Julian Lennon on the right
On the left.. a young Adrienne Barbeau.
JUST HEARD BACK: NOT PATTI SMITH.
Hmmmm…looks a bit like Shakespear’s Sister.
Good luck!
My friend Chris McKay said it might be the group
Shakespears Sister.
Person in the back definitely looks like Mick Rock.https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=460167402131698&set=a.219133936235047
I agree with post 54 that the person in the back looks like rock photographer Mick Rock
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=460167402131698&set=a.219133936235047
Unfortunately, he died this last week
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/nov/22/mick-rock-obituary
Other suggestions people asked me to pass on: the McGarrigle sisters or the Runaways.
Chris DeGarmo & Michael Wilton of Queensryche?
Craig Chaquico and Grace Slick from around the time they did the “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” video for the movie, Mannequin.
Michael Jackson on the left and Julian Lennon on the right
Best Regard: https://www.kahootguide.com/
JUST HEARD BACK: NOT SHAKESPEARS SISTER AND NOT LOU REED/MICK ROCK.
BTW, THOUGH I HAVE YET TO HEAR BACK FROM ANY OF THE BAND MEMBERS OF SISTERS OF MERCY (A VERY POPULAR GUESS FOR THIS PHOTO), A BIOGRAPHER OF THE BAND SAID THAT IT WAS NO INCARNATION OF THE GROUP. 🙁
In the early 80’s there was a synthpop duo called Slow Children that were signed to RCA for about a minute. This looks a lot like them.
NOT SLOW CHILDREN EITHER, JUST HEARD BACK FROM PAL S.
JUST HEARD BACK, NOT JAMIE LEE CURTIS EITHER.
Marc Bolan (L) and David Bowie (R) (this would be some kind of incognito dress up wig, but have you seen him with his mounds of curly hair?)
NOT END-OZN. 🙁
A young Jamie Gertz and co-star in a publicity still for “The Lost Boys.”
Not Eldritch or Patricia Morrison, no.
I know whoever you talked to said no Sisters, but the one really, really does look like Wayne Hussey. No chance he’s got a brother who was also in a band or something?
My vote is with Maxed Out and others for Sisters of Mercy. It’s a wonderful picture that could be interpreted as a joke. It matches up with the style in 1980s when androgyny was full-on. Either could be a man or a woman.
Andrew Eldritch on right (more clearly, to me), and Patricia Morrison on left, the two founders of the band.
I wish I had better news…like a solution…but I don’t. I can, however, tell you that this photo is NOT any of the following:
Kill for Thrills
Leo Sayer
Jennifer Grey
Cichlids, The
Gilby Clark
Enrique Bunbury
Martha Davis/The Motels
Japan
Edn Ozn
Karla Bonoff
The Adverts
Slow Children
Jamie Lee Curtis
Lords of the New Church
Gargoyle Sox
Times Square (1980 film)
Holly Knight
Lisa Mordente
Kaki Hunter
Rosetta Stone
So you still haven’t heard from Grace Slick? The chin sure seems similar.
https://musicoholics.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/07/JeffersonAirplane12_.jpg
More updates but no solutions. This is NOT a photo of any of the following:
Sylvain Sylvain
39 Clocks
Grace Slick
Modern Lovers (Jerry Harrison)
McGarrigle Sisters
The person on the right looks a LOT like Lea Thompson to me.
Could it be the UK band “Under Neath What?” One-album wonder that supported the Nephilim around ’89 or ’90?
They could almost pass for Robert Smith and Simon Gallup (The Cure) – it’s almost assuredly a pair trying to crib The Cure’s aesthetic, but that look was getting common in that music scene.
Are you guys 100% certain that this isn’t the Canadian band Rough Trade? I see the band name on the rule-out list, but there’s been other bands named Rough Trade, and this really, REALLY looks like them. To ensure there’s no confusion, we’re talking about the Canadian band who had a minor hit in the 1980s in the USA with High School Confidential — Carole Pope and Kevan Staples.
No, not Canada’s Rough Trade. Some years ago, after they were first guessed, I reached out to Carole Pope who was very nice and very certain that neither of these people were her.
How about members from a band called Teeze?
Ann Magneson and Mark Kramer of Bongwater
The woman on the right looks like Sigourney Weaver!
Try Kyle and Myles Mendes, the twins that makes up the band NITE from Dallas, TX. Web site is https://wearethenite.com/
Anne and Nancy Wilson of Heart?
looking at the hand and the faces, I would guess both are men in their 20’s, their lipstick and hair gives them a somewhat feminine appearance.
Lea Thompson and Mary Stuart Masterson? Possibly an aborted publicity still for Some Kind of Wonderful?
No idea about the one in the rear, but they’re both guys and my guess as to the one in the front would be a young Ozzie Osbourne.
The person on the right looks like Sigourney Weaver.
Sean Young on the left?
I thought it could be Janis Ian on the right, but lips not correct.
Wait, it couldn’t actually be Radka Toneff on the left?
The woman on the left could also very well be Mapplethorpe model Lisa Lyon.
No idea about the person on the right. But on the left reminds me quite a bit of Dale Martindale of Images in Vogue. He normally had straight(er) hair but the mouth and nose seem much like him. Worth a check??
The person on the right looks exactly like Jonathan Brandis.
I can confirm that the person on the right is my brother, Preston Hubbard, bass player in the Fabulous Thunderbirds (1984-1994), Roomful of Blues, Nick Curran and the Nightlifes, and many others over a 50 year career.
I don’t know who the person on the left is.
I estimate the photo was taken circa 1990-1996).
Paul Hubbard
Now that it’s been ID’d as Preston Hubbard, there’s a video of him with a singer Lou Ann Barton who has a similar look to the one on the right.
Not a really wild guess would be Andrew Aldridtch and Wayne Hussey of sisters of mercy…probably in Los Angeles, early/mid 80’s.
looks like Jared Leto on the left, but I assume the picture is much too old.
It might be presumptuous of me, but I have to say, as a trans woman myself, I can’t help but think that the person standing in front of this photo is a trans woman. Something about the way they look and hold themselves really make me think this is someone who has transitioned. Maybe try looking in more gay and trans related publications from the time? This might be nothing but my trans-dar is sensing something there.