A blog about television by TIME’s TV critic James Poniewozik.

The Jimi Hendrix Sexperience

Is it because I'm too busy digging through a week's worth of mail, in order to see my office floor again, to write an original post? Is it the irrestistable lure of getting Tuned In to show up on Google searches for "Jimi Hendrix sex tape"? Is it part of my business plan to diversify Tuned In into the lucrative Internet porn market? Decide for yourself, but I must refer you to the story that porn giant Vivid is marketing what it contends to be a nearly four-decade old sex-flick starring Jimi Hendrix.

It's bizarre and fascinating. Who exactly is the audience for this video, authentic or not? Will people buy it out of purely rock-historical curiosity, or does an ancient, grainy, apparently low-quality film suddenly become sexy when it stars someone who at least looks like the guy who played The Star-Spangled Banner?

And what treasure troves of celebrity erotic videos are still out there to be found? Will we find the lost sex nickelodeons of Rudolph Valentino? The wax-cylinder sex audiorecordings of Thomas Edison? The secret sex woodcuts of William Shakespeare?

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