HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

WHERE I'VE BEEN AND WHO I'VE BEEN WITH

As you've noticed, my post have been sporadic of late. First off, I've had my gall bladder taken out about a month ago. What has taken much of my time has been a writing project, inspired by a story I've written about in a much earlier post here and on the original blog. The story takes place in the early part of 1966, during the hight of Batmania. As I write my story and do research, I've been absorbing the pop culture of that era.

So I've been listening to:

The Beach Boys

The Yardbirds

Simon & Garfunkel

Wilson Picket (that guitar player looks familiar)

Roger Miller

Gary Lewis & the Playboys

The Lovin Spoonful

Sonny & Cher

The Supremes

The Animals

Stevie Wonder

Bob Dylan

James Brown

The Kinks

Sam The Sham & the Pharaohs

The Rolling Stones

Four Tops

The Hollies

The Byrds

Marvin

Herman

Paul Revere & the Raiders

The Who

Smokey

The Mamas & Papas

The Pretty Things

Young Rascals

last but certainly not least, The Beatles

And I've been watching:

Laredo

Wild Wild West

The Addams Family

The Munsters

F Troop

Green Acres

Beverly Hillbillies

Get Smart

Man from UNCLE

and Batman, of course.

I'm both listening and watching:

Dean Martin

Hopefully I can come up with some more post in the future.

LAUREL & YANNI

ARE MR. A-G & CHEEKY CHARLIE THE FOUR SQUARE MAN RELATED?

Hi, this is Jeff, Dedinova's nice "twin brother"! I mentioned on the podcast that I was doing research on a novel that will take place in the Spring of 1966. While looking through the old Springfield Daily News issues on microfilm at the Springfield-Greene County Library Center, I discovered an advertising character called Mr. AG (pictured above). I've been told A-G stands for Associate Grocery, which I believe is now known as Associate Wholesale Grocery.


After seeing this character, I tried to find pictures of him on the Internet, but couldn't remember the company name. I really thought it was Mr. A-P (A & P was in Springfield in 1966). I decided to Google a description of the character. Something like "grocery store - cartoon - advertising - big ears - pencil behind ear."

Low and behold, Google gave me pictures of a doppelganger known as Cheeky Charlie the Four Square Man (above). He has been used by the Four Square Supermarket chain of New Zealand since the 40s. As you notice, they look quite a bit alike. I wonder if they are cousins, clones or was Mr. A-G a rip off that disappeared after a lawsuit from the New Zealanders. Who knows.    

PODCAST TAKES YOU BACK TO THE SPRING OF 1966

The new format for the podcast are a success. Jeff & Jamie's trial run as guest host of the podcast has had more hits than any other podcast on this website.This time Jeff is by himself with a musical montage on memories from the spring of 1966, the height of Batmania. Using the Airheads Radio Survey Archive as a reference, he has mixed the major hits, that have been overplayed on Oldies radio stations for years, with songs that were favorites on Top 40 radio, but have rarely been heard from since 1966.

This was the era of the British Invasion, Motown & Stax soul, folk rock, garage bands, and girl groups. Emerging sounds included psychedelia, easy listening and country pop.

How many songs will you recognize? Enjoy!

NEW PODCAST WITH GUEST HOST

This is a trial run for a new format for the Desdinova Super Villain of the Ozarks podcast. I've turned the hosting duties over to some friends, Jeff & Jamie. They ad libbed a stream of consciousness podcast at the last minute. They will be working out the bugs for next time. Right now give a quick listen (less than 20 minutes) as they discuss cartoonist Syd Hoff, fast food restaurants Mr. Swiss and Del Rancho, the Ripley's Believe It or Not TV shows, the Playskool McDonalds playset, Andy Warhol illustrations in a children's book and a mention of the resent blog post about Laredo. Enjoy!

EASTER STUFF

Richard Scary Calendar

Doris Day's Birthday is April 3rd.

I had the purple one when I was a child.

HAPPY EASTER!!!