In 1957 a poor twenty-something graduate student met a forgotten silent-movie star who was almost twice his age. They began a lengthy correspondence that was printed in Jan Wahl’s book Dear Stinkpot: Letters from Louise Brooks. In 1978 a twenty-something British actor met a glamorous Hollywood star who was almost twice his age. They developed an intimate relationship that lasted until her death in 1981, as chronicled in Peter Turner’s book Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool. The star, Gloria Grahame, expresses a sentiment close to CHEAPs heart: ‘I can’t stand the sight of Ronnie Reagan,’ she said. ‘I’d like to stick my Oscar up his ass!’ In August 2018, CHEAP gathered their stinky, wet bodies together in the sultry Berlin apartment of their fearless leader and reflected on the world around them, their daily lives and the music on their mind. CHEAP Stinkpot. It wouldn’t smell the same without Cobra Killer, Puff, Sparks, Peter Lorre and Josef von Sternberg. In fact, Lorre and Sternberg’s 1935 version of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment motivates a particularly moving section of CHEAP Stinkpot. But it was emotional as well because of beloved Ingrid Caven’s recent 80th birthday. Emotions were also running high because of the continued hateful and racist decisions of the radical right-wing Israeli government. That’s why we turned to Berlin-based conductor Daniel Barenboim who, on July 23, 2018, published a statement in The Guardian entitled, “This racist law makes me ashamed to be an Israeli.” A Yiddish song from the Barry Sisters reminds us that there’s more to Jewish culture than staatsbildende Zionismus. Bei CHEAP bisti sheyn. On November 27, 1937 the great Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents died in a prison hospital. In December 1967 the soul singer Wendy Rene decided at the last minute not to fly to a concert with her friend Otis Redding and thus she didn’t die in a plane crash. Dawn does not break in the west. After laughter comes tears. CHEAP Stinkpot unites the unexpected. Gina D’Orio and Susanne Sachsse edited texts from the magazine Film Culture, including a poem by Naomi Levine, and performed live with PUFF on July 5, 2018 at Edit Film Culture! where Anton Garber recited Ondine’s short rant on Jack Smith and Maria Montez. CHEAP Stinkpot features a few nebbish-offs and swishy-offs with José Esteban Muñoz, Tony Bennett, Bill Evans, Kiss, Jackie Shayne and Joan Jett. As if that wasn’t enough, CHEAP’s own house band Ruth Fischer rounds off the evening with a live recording of “I’m a Communist.” CHEAP Stinkpot. You never know what turns up in a stinkende Topf.