I'm actually a day behind with this, but it is something that has always intrigued me - The Mercury Theater version of War of the Worlds. Here is an article from the New York Daily News. Did this really panic the East Coast or was this blown out of proportion by newspapers competing against radio? Was it Nelson Eddy singing on the Chase & Sandborn Hour that caused people to change the station and miss the opening disclaimer? Why do some people condemn Orson Welles for this, yet think talk radio is a great thing?
WHY STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, WHEN YOU CAN SIT AND BE HIP!
Link to new blog
CHECK OUT THE NEW ADVENTURES OF DESDINOVA THE SUPER VILLAIN OF THE OZARKS!!! It is a new blog is a retro pop culture blog. Click here to see it.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Halloween Movie Ideas
Many people who are too old to trick or treat (or go on a pub crawl) like to rent or purchase horror movies to watch. Granted many popular websites and magazines have "Scariest of All-Time" list, but most of those are films made during the last four decades. Some lazy people give you films made only since 2000. I'm going to give you different choices.
Traditional: The Universal monsters are always good for Halloween. That includes these set featuring Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman. Add to that the Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection, which included Bela Lugosi and a proto-Goth Chick in Mark of the Vampire, Boris Karloff as politically incorrect villain Fu Manchu, the early color film Doctor X and it's boring sequel staring Humphrey Bogart, Mad Love with Peter Lorre as a Stewie Griffin prototype and Devil Doll with Lionel Barrymore as a Mrs. Doubtfire prototype. Also try out Frederic March's version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
A Ton of Fun for a Good Price: Check out Mill Creek's Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack. Some great stuff and a few clinkers, but for under $20 bucks in most stores.
For kids: Try to find Mad Monster Party featuring the voices of Boris Karloff, Phyllis Diller and Gale Garnett. There is also the 70's Saturday morning cartoon the Groovie Ghoulies.
Ultimate pick: It's a DVD (pic above) put out a few year ago by Something Weird called Monsters Crash the Pajama Party (Spook Show Spectacular). The title movie is a hokey beach party thing with guys in gorilla suits running around, however if you can maneuver the tricky menu on this you will find several things including Bert I. Gordon's Tormented (a psychological ghost thriller), an anti-cable TV ad using art work from Famous Monsters magazine, monsters movies made by kids from the 20's and 30's (seriously these are good), monstrous musical numbers from the Big Band era (one features a dancing skeleton puppet) and a goofy 50s educational film called Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (the sequel was called Don't Wet the Bed).
Bad Cinema at It's Finest: Andy Milligan's 1970 Vampire film the Body Beneath. Filmed in Highgate Cemetery (fooled some Brits who thought vampires were in Highgate) with red-headed-green vampire women in prom dresses, a hippie hunchback is set on fire and nailed to a church door, a maid has her eyes poked out with knitting needles and the fat ghost of Queen Victoria spouts anti-American sentiments. Here is the trailer to get you interested.
HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE HALLOWEEN!
Labels:
Baby Boomers,
cartoons,
childhood,
Cranky adults,
Entertainment,
Gen X,
Holidays,
horror films,
movies,
TV,
weird stuff
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Git Yer Punkin at the Studio & Flags Should Be At Half Staff for Damiano
This is from an October 1978 Springfield News Leader. Another ad for the Studio. This holiday classic stars John "Wadd" Holmes.
I also think the flags should be at half staff for Gerard Damiano, the pioneering adult film director of Deep Throat, who died this week at age 80. If it wasn't for him Mark Felt couldn't have brought down Tricky Dicky. CNN has Damiano's obit.
I also think the flags should be at half staff for Gerard Damiano, the pioneering adult film director of Deep Throat, who died this week at age 80. If it wasn't for him Mark Felt couldn't have brought down Tricky Dicky. CNN has Damiano's obit.
Labels:
Entertainment,
Holidays,
movies,
Naughty Springfield,
pop culture
Monday, October 27, 2008
FIVE DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN
Yes, five days until Halloween, my favorite holliday. Of course, none of the radio stations in Springfield are playing wall-to-wall Halloween music like I have suggested they should. Watch - next week one of the stations will start playing wall-to-wall Christmas music just to irritate me. YOU SHOULDN'T PLAY CHRISTMAS MUSIC UNTIL DECEMBER!
Last Halloween, I posted a list of my Top 50 favorite songs for Halloween. I have had more hits on that post than any other. I've decided to post that list of songs again.
These songs are not in order:
Last Halloween, I posted a list of my Top 50 favorite songs for Halloween. I have had more hits on that post than any other. I've decided to post that list of songs again.
These songs are not in order:
- Monster Mash – Bobby B. Pickett
- Dinner With Drac – John Zacherle
- Til The Following Night – Screaming Lord Sutch
- Bark at the Moon – Ozzy Osbourne
- Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
- Bela Lugosi’s Dead - Bauhaus
- Children of the Grave – Black Sabbath
- Creature with The Atom Brain – Roky Erikson
- Season of the Witch – Donavon
- Welcome to My Nightmare - Alice Cooper
- Frankenstein – Edgar Winter Group
- Black Magic Women – Santana
- She’s Fallen In Love with a Monster Man – Screaming Lord Sutch
- She’s My Witch – Kip Tyler
- The Voodoo Walk - Sonny Richard’s Panics (with Cindy and Lindy)
- Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley
- The Midnight Stroll – The Revells
- Vampire Rock and Roll – Fabulous Poodles
- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These) – Marilyn Manson
- Spooky – Atlanta Rhythm Section
- Thriller – Michael Jackson
- Red Right Hand – Nick Cave
- Witch Queen of New Orleans – Redbone
- Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula – the Diamonds
- Boris the Spider – The Who
- Bloodletting - Concrete Blonde
- Frankenstein - New York Dolls
- Nightmare- Artie Shaw
- In the Hall of the Mountain King - Sounds Incorporated
- Casting My Spell - Johnny Otis Show
- Night of Fear - The Move
- You Must Be a Witch - Lollipop Shop
- Charlotte’s Web - the Fuzztones
- The Mummy - Bob Mc Fadden and Dor
- The Blob - the Five Blobs
- Ghost Riders in the Sky - The Ramrods
- Hurry Sundown - The Outlaws
- I Put a Spell on You - Screamin Jay Hawkins
- Sympathy for the Devil - the Rolling Stones
- Godzilla - Blue Oyster Cult
- King Kong - The Kinks
- Rockin in the Graveyard - Jackie Morningstar
- Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
- The Witch - the Sonics
- Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
- Black JuJu - Alice Cooper
- I Walk on Gilded Splinters - Dr. John
- Frankenstein’s Den - The Hollywood Flames
- Screaming Ball at Dracula Hall - the Duponts
- Grimly Fiendish - The Damned
I recently found another Halloween song. This is a German-made early disco song called "Soul Dracula." It was a big hit in Europe in 1975, which many people agree was the begining of the Disco Era. This should have been the nail in disco's coffin or stake in it's heart. I'm giving you this performance from a French TV variety show, because it has a cool looking Count Dracula, sexy dancing girls and a man in the audience with a dog puppet.
Labels:
Entertainment,
Holidays,
horror films,
Hot Babes,
music,
Ozarks Correctness,
pop culture,
radio,
Rock and Roll,
TV
Monday, October 20, 2008
Car Wash Sex in Saginaw Sucks
It is the kind of stuff they make bad teen movies about. WLNS TV in Lansing, Michigan has the story of a poor guy looking for oral sex at the car wash. Sadly, he was arrested.
"Police say a Michigan man has been arrested after "receiving sexual favors from a vacuum" at a car wash." A resident called the police and the man was arrested by a police office who approached on foot. The poor dope couldn't get away because he was being held in place by the suction.
His name was released because people would laugh at him for getting it on with a car wash vacuum. I wonder if he was going spray himself with the scent machine.
"Police say a Michigan man has been arrested after "receiving sexual favors from a vacuum" at a car wash." A resident called the police and the man was arrested by a police office who approached on foot. The poor dope couldn't get away because he was being held in place by the suction.
His name was released because people would laugh at him for getting it on with a car wash vacuum. I wonder if he was going spray himself with the scent machine.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Neal Hefti 1922 - 2008
He was the arranger for such Big Bands as Count Basie, Woody Herman and Harry James. He worked with Frank Sinatra, but he will be remembered for writing one of the greatest TV theme songs of all time. Neal Hefti, who wrote the theme song for the TV show Batman, has died at age 85 (according to AP).
He said it was the hardest writing job he was ever given, although it has the easiest lyrics to remember. It provided Hefti with his only Top 40 hit and was covered by such artist as Harry James, Nelson Riddle (who scored the TV show and 1966 movie), the Who, the Kinks, Jan and Dean, Link Wray, the Ventures and the Jam.
Hefti was also the writer of the Odd Couple theme song.
He said it was the hardest writing job he was ever given, although it has the easiest lyrics to remember. It provided Hefti with his only Top 40 hit and was covered by such artist as Harry James, Nelson Riddle (who scored the TV show and 1966 movie), the Who, the Kinks, Jan and Dean, Link Wray, the Ventures and the Jam.
Hefti was also the writer of the Odd Couple theme song.
Labels:
Baby Boomers,
comics,
Entertainment,
music,
passings,
pop culture,
Rock and Roll,
TV
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Are These The Ugly Ozarks Twins You Are Looking For?
The Feedjit has seem several hits to this website from Great Brittan for "ugly Ozarks twins" or "ugly twins of the Ozarks." I hope this is what you British folks are looking for. These guys were last seen putting up this billboard in West Plains.
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