BlackBook Magazine

Kim and Kelley Deal know a bit about road-trip songs. They wrote one of the best (see headline).

KELLEY DEAL:
1. I would have to have my Bill Monroe box set transferred to cassette ’cause Kim doesn’t have a stupid CD player in the car.

2. And maybe the newest Sue Grafton audio cassette book.  Is it on the letter “T” now?  That’s worth a good 22 hours.

While the rest of America continues to inflate, there’s a tiny new sheriff scooting onto its roads. Mercedes’ Smart Fortwo (for two) has been navigating the narrow streets of Paris and Rome for almost ten years, and now, measuring 8.8 feet and weighing 1,800 pounds (vs. the empty Hummer H2’s 6,600), this Lilliputian roadster is poised to purge the United States of its SUV sins. 

By Jared Paul Stern

It’s a melodious month in music-oriented manuscripts, filled with photographic evidence that there was life before boy bands and Britney Spears. To kick off, see where it all began with a cacophonous cornucopia of posters, album artwork, memorabilia, film stills, and photographs in Rock’n’Roll ’39-’59 by Charlie Gillett, et al. (Steidl, $80), with accompanying text by the likes of David Halberstam and Greil Marcus. Everything Elvis Presley ripped off is revealed.

From Né-net’s ‘08-’09 Autumn/Winter Collection.

Last week, Tokyo welcomed fur lovers from across the world to Japan Fashion Week 2008, hoping to put the heretofore overlooked runway mecca on the map. “In the past, Tokyo Collections have had difficulty in attracting both domestic and foreign media and buyers because the program was very long,” reads the (funny, despite itself, no?) introduction to the week’s program. As such, officials cranked it up, cut it down, and cornered the market on altogether batshit couture (see Bonnie Darko, left). Click here for photos. —N.H.

Photo courtesy Fashion Strategy Forum.

The April issue of BlackBook is showing up early on newsstands nationwide, though it’s guaranteed to find its way to your favorite locale by March 25. In the meantime, if you’re jonesing for more Jackson—Janet Jackson that is, as depicted on our April cover—then here’s a temporary fix. We have a gallery of behind-the-scenes pics from the infamous chrome & chains photo shoot, complete with extra shots of the cage and provocative headpiece.

Click here for full gallery!

Stas wears jeans by Girbaud, Rosanne wears jeans by Prada, earrings by John Hardy.

Nothing comes between our models and their Calvins, Pradas, Diesels, and Levi’s in this ode to classic denim, in BlackBook’s April Music Issue, on newsstands everywhere March 25th.

From Dolce to Gaultier, summer’s hues show their stuff in BlackBook’s April Music Issue, on newsstands everywhere March 25th.

Janet Jackson’s on the cover of BlackBook for April, which just happens to be our Music Issue. Also inside: The Kills, Malcolm McLaren, Moon Rats, The Breeders, and of course, Moby—among many others. Watch this space for more Janet and other highlights from our April issue.

In the April issue of BlackBook, Janet Jackson talks about her latest album, Discipline, and shows us her caged heat on the cover and the photo shoot inside. On newsstands by March 25.

Actor Anton Yelchin wants to be like Vincent Gallo when he grows up. Ain’t that a kick in the head?

By James Servin

“I feel like John Wayne,” says 18-year-old actor Anton Yelchin, after wolfing down a rack of ribs, a large fries, and a super-sized root beer at Rib Ranch, his favorite local restaurant in dune-buggy Topanga, California.

He’s got a right to swagger a bit these days. At age 11, he co-starred alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins in Hearts In Atlantis. He played a young version of David Duchovny in House of D. And he stepped into the skin of 15-year-old kidnapping-murder victim Nicholas Markowitz in Alpha Dog, giving Justin Timberlake a run for his Benjamins. (He also bears a slight resemblance to the young Frank Sinatra).