Wednesday, December 26, 2018

I JUST REMEMBERED


I hadn't posted a photo of hot babes in Santa's Little Helper dresses this Christmas. That always upsets Ozarkers.

Monday, December 24, 2018

THE MOST MALIGNED CHRISTMAS MOVIE EVER MAY HAVE BEEN AHEAD OF ITS TIME


I guess I'm the only person whose favorite Christmas movie is Santa Claus Conquers The Martians from 1964. Just admitting this has caused violent reactions from people and some of those people are proud to say their favorite Christmas movie is Die Hard. It's like saying you like to watch the Fat Albert Christmas Special while listening to "Baby It's Cold Outside." People frequently point out that it always appears on list of worst movies ever made. However, I believe it is time to reexamine this film and see if, possibly, the films message may be more relevant today than it was in past decades.

The movie begins with the king of the Martians, Kimar, upset that his son, Bomar, and his daughter, Gimar, watch "silly Earth programs" on television. He ask the advise of the ancient wise man of Mars, Chochem, who deduces that it is Christmas time on Earth and the children of Mars are wanting the same kind of joy that children on Earth have, which is given by Santa Claus. "We have no children on Mars. They have children's bodies, but with adult's minds." Chochem tells Kimar, and the Counsel Chiefs of Mars, that children on Mars are conditioned, to be adults, from infancy. "The children must be allowed to be children again. They must learn to play. They must learn what it means to have fun. We need a Santa Claus on Mars."

Kimar comes up with a wrong-headed way of following Chochem's advise. He decides that there should be an expedition to Earth to kidnap Santa Claus.

Voldar

The villain of this movie is Voldar. I included him in my list of great Christmas movie villains. He is against this idea, not because kidnapping is wrong, but he is against kids having fun. He seems to hate kids and Chochem, who he calls an "old fool." Voldar, at one point, sneers, "All this trouble for a fat, little man in a red suit." Later, when the other Martians start liking Santa Claus, Voldar gripes that Santa Claus is making Martians "soft." "We used to be the great warriors of the galaxy!" Voldar wants to make Mars great again. Voldar is the type of guy, who used the word "snowflake" and complains about kids getting participation awards.

It should be noted that this was the first movie to show, Mrs. Santa Claus. The Martians use their freeze ray on her. Later, a TV newscaster announces that "Mrs. Santa Claus positively identified her husband's kidnappers as Martians."

While kidnapping Santa Claus on Earth, the Martians take two kids, Billy & Betty, hostage. Voldar tries to kill the kids and Santa Claus. Kimar places Voldar under arrest for attempted murder.

Kimar takes the kids and Santa Claus to meet his children and his hot, smokin wife, Momar. When Billy offers to shake Bomar's hand, Bomar inspects his hand and says, "There's nothing in it. What are you giving me?' The next day, Kimar sets up a toy factory for Santa.

Meanwhile, Voldar and his thugs kidnap Kimar's goofy servant, Dropo, who was dressed up as Santa Claus. He attempts to kill Santa Claus, but he is thwarted by the kids, armed with toys.

Santa Claus appoints Dropo to be the Santa Claus on Mars. He and Billy and Betty return to Earth. The End!

The movie is unfairly maligned. First off, it was made for children, not an adult audience expecting Oscar winning material. I'm sure the kids, who saw this in the theaters back in the 1960's, probably enjoyed it. They probably got in the theater with a canned food item, that was donated to a local charity. While in the theater, their parents finished Christmas shopping. It serves a good purpose. Of course, I've showed to my great-nephews and they enjoyed.

One of the first books to trash this movie was a book written by notorious, talk radio host Michael Medved. This "let children be children" & "children are smarter than adults" message of this film doesn't sit well the the talk radio morons like him. Trust me, I have, unfortunately, been forced against my will to with that kind of riff-raff for the past 18 years.


Another thing that has caused this movie to be derided for no reason, because of one of the stars. The role of Gimar was played by a young Pia Zadora (pictured above). In the 80s, Zadora was in the films The Lonely Lady and Butterfly. She won a Golden Globe award for Butterfly, which some felt was a questionable. She also made records and had songs hit the pop, country and adult contemporary charts. Because of the questions surrounding her Golden Globe award, she became a joke and favorite punchline of late night comedians. Somewhere along the line, someone discovered that she was in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and that was added to the things that was wrong with movie.

People claim the acting is bad, but most of the acting in the film very good because they were Broadway performers. Pia Zadora was not the only star, who had a career after the film. Voldar was also a villain in episodes of Man from UNCLE, Batman, Get Smart and The Monkees. Santa Claus was in The Anderson Tapes and Dropo played Uncle Wally on Sesame Street and was in Steel Magnolias. Momar was a regular on the soap opera The Doctors. The TV reporter Andy Henderson got a job as the doorman at the "deluxe apartment" where George & Louise Jefferson lived.

I believe that Santa Claus Conquers the Martians should be considered a Christmas classic, as much as It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. It is a fun, family film and the slander of it needs to stop.

Of course, opinions, like this one, is why I am considered SUPER-VILLAIN OF THE OZARKS!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!







Sunday, December 23, 2018

BETTER HOMES & GARDENS CHRISTMAS 1975


These photos are from a Better Homes & Gardens issue from December of 1975. The theme was to show how Christmas was being celebrated 200 years after America was founded. One thing you will notice is the trend is for folksy, homemade stuff in an effort to "go back to the good ole days." This was the era of The Waltons & Little House on the Prairie. I hated that, but I survived.  As always, click on the photo to enlarge it.

At a large church in a major city

A crap craft bazaar attended by the kind of women that would have deep discussions, in TV commercials of that era, about "occasional irregularity."

This is nice but let me add that the captions didn't give locations.


Some generic football players visit kids in a hospital somewhere.




Nice tree

A 1975 MILF decorates her Christmas tree.


The lost art of Tiffany glass decorations


Patchwork wreaths


Remember, if you live out in the country, you have to decorate your tree in barnyard animals.


More of the farm motive for decorations. Nothing says Christmas like a pig, duck, goat, hen, cow, & cranky old couple.


Country folk also decorate with big quilts on their wall.

Now this is what I like. I remember the white tree trend. That was cool.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

BREAKING DOWN CHRISTMAS SONG TYPES


Christmas music has been with us for many years. It has seen a boom thanks to radio stations going "All Christmas" in the past seventeen years. I recently saw a post on Tumblr about types of Christmas songs. The post was by a Millennial and very funny. I had thought several times about doing a post about different sub-genres of Christmas music. The Millennial kept his simple (about 5 types), but I had thought of some others. Some are obvious.

* JESUS IS BORN: "Joy To The World," "Away In the Manger," "Silent Night," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Do You Hear What I Hear?" & "What Child Is This." One of the more recent songs of this sub-genre is "Mary Do You Know."

* SANTA CLAUS IS COMING: "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "Here Comes Santa Claus," "Up On the House Top."

* THE LITTLE MISFIT WHO SAVES CHRISTMAS: Well, hands down the biggest one here is "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer." Second, would be "Little Drummer Boy." There was also "The Bell Who Couldn't Jingle," "Little Sandy Sleighfoot," and "Ding A-Ling the Christmas Bell."

* WE LOVE WINTER & SNOW: Hands down the biggie here would be "Jingle Bells." Then comes, "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "Marshmallow World," "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm," "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow."

* ALONE & DEPRESSED AT CHRISTMAS: Most of these came out of World War 2. With that said, I find most of depressing. "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Blue Christmas," & "White Christmas." More recently Wham gave us "Last Christmas."

* CHRISTMAS AMERICANA: The best example would be "No Place Like Home For The Holidays," however, I would count "The Christmas Song" & "Silver Bells" in this group. They are bigger songs. Another example of this is a song called "Christmas In My Home Town."

* BRITISH ROCKERS CHANNELING CHARLES DICKENS: For some reason, this is my favorite sub-genre, because it has only four songs in it and all are from the 70s.  Jethro Tull's "Christmas Song," Emerson Lake & Palmer's "I Still Believe in Father Christmas," The Kinks "Father Christmas," and, of course, "Happy Xmas (the War Is Over)" by John Lennon.

* CHRISTMAS GOES HAWAIIAN: This one has even less songs than the British rocker/Dickens sub-genre. It is also the one I understand the least. My guess it is an off-shoot of the exotic trend of the late 40s & 50s. There are only two songs, but they surprisingly get played on "all Christmas" radio. They are "Christmas Island" & "Mele Kalikimaka."

* PRETTY DECORATIONS:"Deck The Halls," "O Christmas Tree," "It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas" and "We Need a Little Christmas."

* CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS: "Frosty The Snowman," "I Want a Hippopatamous for Christmas," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "Nuttin For Christmas," & "The Chipmunk Song."

* CHRISTMAS PARTY CELEBRATION: "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Happy Holidays," "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree." I would also count "12 Days of Christmas," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," & "Here We Come A-Caroling."

* THE XMASTIZED VERSION OF THE BIG HIT: These rarely get played. Bobby Boris Picket's "Monster's Holiday," James Brown's "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag." My favorite is Mickey Gilley's "The Girls All Get Prettier at Christmas Time" and my least favorite is "Santa Claus is Coming In a Boogie Woogie Choo-Choo Train" by The Tractors.

Yes, this is just typical geeky blogger over analyzing, but also something fun. Feel free to share this with your friends.



   



Saturday, October 27, 2018

HORROR MOVIE MUSIC IPOD PLAYLIST


I'm going to start off this post by telling you something that the snobby "timeless love song/Great American Songbook" crowd doesn't want you to know. One of their favorite "standard" songs, that was a favorite of our grandparents and parents, was introduced in a HORROR FILM.

The song, "Stella By Starlight," first appeared in the 1944 film The Uninvited, about a woman named Stella, who is possessed by a ghost. In the movie, Ray Milland plays a composer, who tries to woo Stella by composing the song for her on a piano, while she stands by an open window.  The song has been recorded by many artist since it was first introduced, but most of those familiar with the song would probably never guess it was from a horror film. The Uninvited was also groundbreaking in that it portray ghost and the paranormal as serious, instead of a criminal gimmick or for comedy purposes.

I brought up ghost and comedy, because one of the biggest songs of the 80s, was from a comedy about ghost and demons. Of course, that was Ghostbusters. That song dominated radio in the summer of 1984, but some would say Ghostbusters is a comedy not a horror film.

That is why this is a Ipod playlist, because 1)) doing a really educational "countdown-of-the-greatest-ever" post would lead to hairsplitting and Internet bickering about what I should consider a "real" horror film or horror comedy or a mystery thriller or science fiction movie or an original composition for a horror film or using a previously recorded song. So, I'll just give a playlist with the movie the song was featured in and you can decide for yourself what category it belongs in, 2) I haven't done one in a while, and 3) it's quick and easy.

I have left out orchestral scores, in favor of pop & rock songs, featured in the film. Some were hits before the film came out or "oldies" used to memorable effect in the film. I tried to give the name of the original version or version in the film, if I use a substitute, I'll mention why.

Stella By Starlight - Andre Previn (This is a piano instrumental, as in the movie) - The Uninvited - 1944
The Blob - The Five Blobs - The Blob 1958
The Web - Abie Baker - The Brain That Wouldn't Die 1959
Bird Is the Word - The Rivingtons - The Crawling Hand 1963
Look For a Star - Gary Miles - Circus of Horror 1960
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte - Al Martino - Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte 1964
My Son, The Vampire - Alan Sherman - Vampire Over London 1952/My Son The Vampire 1964
That's The Way It's Got To Be - The Poets - Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster 1966
That's All That I Need You For - The Birds - The Deadly Bees 1966
Shadows - The Electric Prunes - The Name of the Game Is Kill 1968
Green Slime - The Green Slime - The Green Slime 1968 (The title of the song, movie and the band are all Green Slime)
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack - Play Misty For Me 1971
Season of the Witch - Donovan - Season of the Witch 1972/Dark Shadows 2012
Ben - Michael Jackson - Ben 1972
Tubular Bells  - Mike Oldfield - The Exorcist 1973
Popcorn - Hot Butter - Shriek of the Mutilated 1974
Daybreak - Harry Nilsson - Son of Dracula 1974
Science Fiction/Double Feature - Richard O'Brien - Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975
Time Warp - Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn & Cast - Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975
Sweet Transvestite - Tim Curry - Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975
Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult - Halloween 1978
I Love The Nightlife - Alicia Bridges - Love At First Bite - 1979
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival - American Werewolf in London -1981
Moondance - Van Morrison - American Werewolf in London - 1981
Blue Moon - The Marcels - American Werewolf in London - 1981
Cat People (Putting Out the Fire) - David Bowie - Cat People - 1982
Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus - The Hunger - 1983
Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Junior - Ghostbusters - 1984
Weird Science - Oingo Boingo - Weird Science - 1985
Wanted Man - Ratt - Weird Science - 1985
Tesla Girls - Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark - Weird Science - 1985
Pretty Woman - Van Halen - Weird Science - 1985
Blue Kiss - Jane Wiedlin - Night of the Creeps - 1986
The Stroll - The Diamonds - Night of the Creeps - 1986
Teen Beat - Sandy Nelson - Night of the Creeps - 1986
Good Times - Inxs with Jimmy Barnes - Lost Boys - 1987
People Are Strange - Echo & The Bunnymen - Lost Boys - 1987
Who Made Who - AC/DC - Maximum Overdrive -1986
For Those About To Rock - AC/DC - Maximum Overdrive - 1986
Dream Warriors - Dokken - Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - 1987
Into the Fire - Dokken - Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - 1987
Youth of America - Birdbrain - Scream - 1996
Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Scream - 1996
Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass? - Buck Owens - House of 1000 Corpses - 2003
Turn Around, Look At Me - The Lettermen - Final Destination 3 - 2006
Nights In White Satin - Moody Blues - Dark Shadows - 2012
I'm Sick of You - Iggy & the Stooges - Dark Shadows - 2012
Ballad of Dwight Frye - Alice Cooper - Dark Shadows - 2012



Sunday, October 21, 2018

MONSTERS - 70s VINYL RECORD MYSTERY



A well-meaning co-worker gave this to me. I can’t find any information on who these guys really are. All I know is Hugo & Luigi we’re executive producers. It is not very good. Some of the original songs are mediocre at best. The covers are horrible. Especially the version of “Monster Mash”. Below is one of the original numbers entitled "Transylvania Disco Hustle." The whole LP is on You Tube.


Thursday, October 11, 2018

KXVO "PUMPKIN DANCE"




This appeared during a Halloween newscast on CW affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska over 10 years ago. It was on the TV stations You Tube channel and sort of forgotten, until someone found it. If you wonder who is behind the mask, it is the "floating head" guy at the end of this video. Why can't we have anything cool like this on the TV news in Springfield, MO.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS GIF

Because you need this! Can't wait to watch this movie again this year.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

ELEVEN FUTURE MUSIC STARS IN 65-66




I may make people sick with the post pertaining to 1965 - 1966, but that is where my mind is at right now, due to the research I'm doing for a novel I'm writing, which takes place in early 1966. With that said, one of the plot lines of this novel has to do with a character working at a Top 40 radio station.

I've been going through old radio station hit surveys on ARSA and some that have turned up on Pinterest and Tumblr, and I found that Top 40 radio was a cornucopia of various styles and genres.

The main reason was there were not individual formats for every genre or style, just Top 40, country & easy listening/adult contemporary (which was the new kid on the block in 1966). Smaller markets had, what was known as, block programming, which meant they were all three formats for certain portions of the day.

The other reason was every radio station had its own program director or music director, who based the playlist on sales and request. Unlike today, when large corporate radio stations all sort of play the same songs in every market based on what the corporate office says should be played. Another thing to remember was Top 40 was aimed at an audience that was, for the most part, under 30 years old and mainly between ages 12 to 20. You find individual radio station played a myriad of soul artist, British invasion groups, girl groups, and regional garage bands. They would play it and see if anyone liked it, without "testing" it first, like the corporate giants of today do.

Looking at these charts, I noticed that 1965 - 66 saw the first appearances of some major music acts of the 70s & 80s. Granted some took off within a short time (Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton, The Who), some appeared and then disappeared (Edwin Starr, The O'Jays, Statler Brothers), and some were known by other names (David Bowie, Warren Zevon) or part of a group (Don Williams, Joe Stampley, Delbert McClinton).


THE WHO - They are considered the third most influential band of the British Invasion, but in 1965-66, The Who were struggling to make an impact in the United States. They were the hot new band in their homeland, but in this country they had distribution problems, bouncing back and forth between Decca, Brunswick and Atco. They also seemed like they were too young. They also seemed odd, with their use of distortion and archaic endings to their songs. In some radio markets, "I Can't Explain" was a big hit, but not "My Generation," in another market, "My Generation" was the hit, but not "I Can't Explain."  There was also confusion caused by an earlier record, by an unknown studio group, called The You Know Who Group, followed by a goofy, annoying, nostalgia, novelty project by the Four Season masquerading as The Wonder Who, and a Canadian group, Chad Allan & the Expressions, began using the name The Guess Who. However, after their appearance at the Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967, everyone knew who The Who was.


NEIL DIAMOND - In late 1965, Diamond had his first taste of success as a Brill Building songwriter, when Jay & The Americans had a hit with his composition, "Sunday and Me." The next year, Diamond signed to the Bang label and released the single "Solitary Man."  It was not a big hit, but his next singles, "Cherry Cherry" and "Kentucky Woman," were bigger hits. By the end of the year, three of his songs were used on a new TV sitcom, The Monkees. One of those songs, "I'm a Believer" became a number one hit.


DOLLY PARTON - Many people don't know this but in 1965-66, Dolly was being marketed by Monument Records as the next Leslie Gore-Brenda Lee-Skeeter Davis. During that time period she released three singles, which received airplay in many Southern markets, but didn't seem to sell very good. The only one to make the Billboard chart, was a remake of the 50s hit, "Happy Happy Birthday Baby." The other two were a Phil Spector-ish "Don't Drop Out" and the Joe Meek-ish "Busy Signal." However, someone at Monument figured out that her popularity in the South might signal that she should be a country singer. Her next hits, "Dumb Blonde" and "Something Fishy," were country hits and the next year, she joined The Porter Wagoner Show. Once people saw what Dolly looked like, they fell in love with her.


EDWIN STARR - Maybe not a major hit maker, but he certainly gave us one of the big hits of the 70s, "War," as well as the hits "25 Miles," "Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y Radio." In 1965, Starr was on a small label called Ric Tic. His first single, "Agent Double O-Soul," about a hipster-secret agent went Top 30. Another single, in early 1966, "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S)" only made it to number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100. Like Neil Diamond, Starr's songwriting paid off, when one of his compositions, "Oh How Happy" became a huge hit for a white vocal group named The Shades of Blue. Later, Ric Tic was bought out by Motown, which is where Starr had his biggest hits.


THE O'JAYS - In the 70s, The O'Jays were a three man soul group, who had seven Top 40 ("Love Train" & "Back Stabbers" were two of them). In 1965- 66, they were FIVE guys from Ohio, who had been recording since 1963. They had their highest charting hit of the 60s with "Lipstick Traces." It only made it to number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was a top 20 hit in Canada. It also got the group some radio and TV exposure, but still they were struggling to make it big. In the early 70s, two of the original members left. The other three were signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International record label, where they became one of the best remembered soul acts of the 70s.


THE STATLER BROTHERS -  In 1964, The Statler Brothers joined the Johnny Cash Road Show as both his backup singers and opening act, mixing gospel with country. Their first two single for Columbia failed to chart, but their third single, "Flowers On the Wall". went to number 2 on the country chart and number 4 on the Hot 100 in January of 1966. After that, The Statlers never had another Top 40 pop hit and only had two Top 10 country hits. They did become more familiar to people in the later part of the 60s, thanks to their weekly appearances on Johnny Cash's TV show. When that show ended, they parted amicably with Cash, signed with Mercury Records and began churning out one hit country song after another. "Flowers On the Wall" would later turn up in the movie Pulp Fiction.


WARREN ZEVON - In 1966, Warren Zevon wasn't Warren Zevon. Instead he was Stephen Lyme of the folk rock duo of lyme & cybelle (Not a typo, they were ahead of their time by using lowercase letters).  Lyme and his female partner, Cybelle (Violet) Santiago had a minor hit with a song called "Follow Me." Their next single was a cover of Bob Dylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now." It was banned from radio stations for being "suggestive" (Maybe they thought it was about going to the bathroom). Zevon recorded a solo album under his real name, in 1969, that flopped. Most people became familiar with Zevon after his 1978 LP Excitable Boy, which contained the hit "Werewolves of London."


DAVID BOWIE - During the early days of the British Invasion, any single by a British band might be picked up for airplay by Top 40 radio stations. A handful of radio stations in the United States picked up a sort of The-Yardbirds-meets-The-Who styled song called "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" by David Jones & the Lower Third in late 1965. The problem was there was another British singer named David Jones, in late 65, with a record out called "What Are We Going To Do."


It shouldn't have been confusing. One record was on Parlaphone, the other was on Colpix. One was dark haired and looked like a child and other was a skinny, blonde guy with an overbite and eyes that were different colored. By the end of the year, one of those David Jones had become Davy Jones and was a member of The Monkees, and the Lower Third released a new single called "Can't Help Thinking About Me," only this time, the lead singer was credited as David Bowie. Few American radio stations picked the new Lower Third single. Bowie would have the same sort of smattering of airplay later in the decade with his original version of "Space Oddity" on Deram. By 1973, most people were not confusing Bowie with Davy Jones.

Don Williams is the middle in this concert announcement.

DON WILLIAMS - Often referred to as the Gentle Giant of Country Music because of his soft, bass-baritone voice and six foot height, Don Williams became a major star in country music in the 70s and 80s with hits like "It Must Be Love," "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend," "Tulsa Time" and "Amanda." In 1965 - 66, Williams was part of a folk trio known as the Pozo-Seco Singers, that was intended to be Columbia Records answer to Peter, Paul & Mary. Their first single, "Time," featured Susan Taylor on the lead vocal. The slow, somber ballad received substantial airplay, but barely missed the Top 40 (Number 47 on Billboard). Their second single became a hit on the easy listening chart, but not on the Top 40. The third single, "I Can Make It With You," featured Don Williams on lead vocal and became their first Top 40 hit. It also received heavy airplay on Top 40 radio stations. Their next single, "Look What You've Done," was a duet of Williams and Taylor. The group disbanded in 1970. Williams began having solo hits on the country charts in 1973 and had one solo Top 40 hit in1980 with "I Believe In You."

Joe Stampley is second from the left.

JOE STAMPLEY -  In the 70s, Joe Stampley became a major country star with hits like "Soul Song," "Roll On, Big Mama," & "Put Your Clothes Back On," and recorded novelty songs with Moe Bandy in the 80s, such as "Just Good Ole Boys," "Holding The Bag," and the rather homophobic "Honky Tonk Queen" and "Where's The Dress." However, in 1965 - 66, people probably heard him and thought he was Mick Jagger. He was lead singer of a group called The Uniques, who were on the Paula record label. They had a minor hit with a song called "You Ain't Tough," which sounded like the Rolling Stones, except for the chorus, where Stampley would go country singer for a few seconds. The Uniques also had hits with "Not Too Long Ago" and "All These Things," which Joe Stampley re-recorded as a solo artist in the mid-70s. It went to Number 1 on the country chart.

DELBERT McCLINTON - Even before 1965 - 66, Delbert McClinton was part of rock & roll history. He is the person playing harmonica on the Bruce Channel 1962 Number 1 hit "Hey Baby." That song influenced The Beatles first two hits, "Love Me Do" & "Please Please Me." In 1965, McClinton and singer Ronnie Kelly, recording as The Ron-Dels (Get it) recorded a folkish song "If You Really Want Me To I'll Go." It received minor airplay, but because of being on a small label, it just snuck into the Hot 100 and peaked at Number 97.  McClinton has been a sort of cult artist writing songs for other artist, recording duets with Bonnie Raitt ("Good Man, Good Woman") & Tanya Tucker ("Tell Me About It"), as well as, his two most famous songs, the 80s hit "Giving It Up For Your Love" and "I'm Your Weatherman," featured in the movie Groundhog Day. (Note: There was a band called the Rondells. Most photos are of them, so I used a photo of the 45 at the top of this post)


Honorable Mentions - Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night worked for Hanna-Barbera Records and had a minor hit (Number 73) in 1965 with the song "Roses & Rainbows." Fellow Three Dog Night member, Cory Wells, was in the garage band, The Enemys. They were one of many bands that recorded the song "Hey Joe" before Jimi Hendrix. They also appeared in an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, where they performed the song "Mo-Jo Woman" & "Oh Pretty Woman."



Jimmy Page & Glen Campbell - Jimmy Page, besides joining The Yardbirds and appearing in the film Blow Up with them, he was on several major radio hits of that era, such as "Downtown" by Petual Clark, "As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithful, "Is It True?" by Brenda Lee. He and future Led Zeppelin band mate, John Paul Jones, played on most of Herman's Hermits and Donovan's big hits of 1966.


Glen Campbell was working and, sometimes, touring with The Beach Boys. He is playing on the Pet Sounds LP. Like Page, Campbell was a session guitarist. He worked in Los Angeles with the Wrecking Crew, which meant he was on hits by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Jan & Dean, The Byrds, The Mama & Papas, Sonny & Cher, etc etc.



Friday, August 3, 2018

A NEW PODCAST ABOUT REBOOTS & REMAKES


A new podcast with guest host Jeff & Jamie (and Jamie's sons). They talk pros and cons of reboots, as well as ideas for new reboots of Kidd Video, Ark 2, Scarecrow of the Romney Marsh, Laredo, DC Comics Inferior 5 and even, The Adventures of Hiram Holiday. If you have a suggestion for a topic for Jeff & Jamie, send and e-mail to d4windsbar@yahoo.com or leave a suggestion in the comments section here or on Facebook.

Sunday, July 8, 2018

DESDINOVA'S 20 FAVORITE ELTON JOHN SONGS


I've posted several Ipod playlist dedicated to such artist as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Monkees, The Doors, Chuck Berry and Prince. A few days ago, I thought "I've never made a Ipod playlist for Elton John." Well, now I think is the right time. These are my favorites in order.

  1.  Mama Can't Buy You Love 
  2.  Madman Across the Water (original version)
  3. All The Young Girls Love Alice
  4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
  5. Lady Samantha
  6. Crocodile Rock
  7. Tiny Dancer
  8. Saturday Nights All Right For Fighting
  9. Philadelphia Freedom
  10. Burn Down The Mission
  11. Take Me To the Pilot
  12.  Kiss The Bride
  13. I'm Still Standing
  14. Your Song
  15. Bennie & The Jets
  16. Rocket Man
  17. Warp Her Up
  18. Funeral For a Friend
  19. Candle In the Wind (original version)
  20. Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters


Saturday, July 7, 2018

R. I. P STEVE DITKO


Steve Ditko was one of the first comic book artist whose style I recognized without looking at the credits. Ditko's characters had skinny heads that were flat on the top. I first became aware of his name in a paperback collection of early Spider-Man stories.

Ditko helped create many famous characters for Marvel (Spider-Man & Dr. Strange), Charlton (Captain Atom & The Question) and D.C (The Creeper, Hawk & Dove, Shade the Changing Man). He also helped revived the Blue Beetle in the Silver Age (at Charlton) and even worked on two issues of Dell's Get Smart comic book.



Charlton reprinted this 50s sci-fi anthology after the success of Star Wars

from a Dell Get Smart comic book

As I've gotten older, I have issues with Ditko's Ayn Rand-fueled beliefs and his reclusive nature. Yet his work and contribution to the industry should not be overlooked on this account. He used the same storytelling ability on Max & 99's task of chewing licorice gumballs as he did Spider-Man trying to extricated himself from under a fallen piece of machinery. That is why he will be missed.
 
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