Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

Radio Free Charleston: Episode 14

14gvg.pngYou can watch it now! I’m going to spread the production notes over the next several days, so get ready to hear all about the deep dark dirty secrets of how we made the show. 

Today I’m going to tell you about Go Van Gogh.  GVG was one of the top bands that I played back on the old radio version of RFC.  Go Van Gogh was Stephen Beckner (who has been on episodes two and nine of the new RFC), his brother Mark, and Johnny and Tim Rock.  They brought a wild sound to Charleston, with a combination of pure Beatlesque pop married to L.A. punk roots. 

“Shut Up, I Love You” was Go Van Gogh’s “hit single.”  I got so many requests for it that I even played it a few times outside of our late-night timeslot.  A few months ago I ran into Johnny Rock, and he told me about finding a treasure trove of vintage Go Van Gogh material.  I got the tapes from him and transferred them to DVD.  The first gem from this batch of coolness is a lip-synced video for “Shut Up” which was apparently shot in Stephen and Amee’s (now Mrs. Beckner) apartment around 1990.  I think it was directed by Stephen, but I’m willing to be corrected on that. 

Also among the great material on those tapes was the Go Van Gogh performance of “Slowdown” which was posted as the Song and Video of the Week here at PopCult over the weekend.  Be sure to scroll down and check it out. In addition to the cool music, there are also two animated films by Stephen which will show up on future episodes of RFC. 

I had to do a little tweaking and video restoration on the video for “Shut Up, I Love You.”  I also dropped in a very subtle in-joke.  The first person to spot it and tell us what it is here in the comments gets the wonderful prize of self-satisfaction at a job well done. 

Tuesday I’ll give you the lowdown on the Fanatomy Video, “I Hate Your God.”

4 Comments

  1. Longtime Listener

    Damn! You really managed to capture that Night Flight Zeitgeist with this episode. Marvel Jackass is drop-dead funny. Pentagram Flowerbox left me wanting more, and GO FREAKING VAN GOGH? Made me feel like I was a kid with a functioning liver again.

    And that Fanatomy video. Seriously, it looked too good to be local. Why this show isn’t on the front page of the Gazette every morning is beyond me. It’s the best thing to come out of Charleston in years.

  2. Mountain Woman Phd.

    Another fine show. I really liked the Go Van Gogh song, and the Fanatomy song showed the diversity that West Virgina music encompasses. It was a bit strange seeing superheroes cavorting in front of the place where I take my dry cleaning.

    Kudos.

  3. Anonymous

    Why would you include that nasty song, “I Hate Your Dog”? Why would anyone hate my cute little poodle/beagle mix?

    We call him a “Poogle”.

    Oh….”I Hate Your GOD”?

    Thats different. Nevermind.

    Catchy tune. Cool video.

    Just as long as you aren’t picking on my Poogle.

  4. Smythe

    Sounds like a hit that should’ve been. Good stuff. Reminds me of The Shoes.

Leave a Reply

© 2024 PopCult

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑