PopCult

The PopCulteer
July 26, 2024

Before we get into today’s photo essay, I have some bad news.  One of our cameras, the main one we used to record this event, gave up the ghost early last Saturday morning. I didn’t realize it until I went to edit the files, and 60% of them were unreadable. We will have a music video for you on Sunday, but all the footage is from the Friday night preview.

There will be one more video, an interview we shot Friday night, but another, longer interview that we shot Saturday will have to be redone when we meet up with Greg Autore again at JoeLanta at the end of September. Sorry, Greg.

This is the first time that one of our Kodak Zi8s has failed us. The fact that we’ve been using them for almost fifteen years means it’s probably long past time we replenished our camera arsenal. Apologies to our readers who were looking forward to more video, and to Mel, who worked her butt off Saturday not knowing that the camera was only pretending to work.

We had a great time at the 2024 Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo, and this is just the first photo essay. I’m selecting 20 photos to run before Mel and I head to Chicago for an early anniversary trip. There will be more when we get back. Expect the next photo essay a week from today.

And Sunday, you can come back to PopCult for our music video, featuring a tune by Sgt. Van & The Highway Dogs.

But for now…pictures!

As of last year, the home of The Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo!

This Aztec Amethysts figure was the final project of beloved JoeLanta pastor, Terry Stair Jr, who passed away just a few weeks ago. He was working on this with Greg Autore, and we will re-interview him about this project at JoeLanta.

One of the cool things about Kentuckiana is that gawking is not only permitted, it’s encouraged.

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After taking a week off for the first time in years, STUFF TO DO has returned to tell you about the hijinks and shenanigans available for your indulgence in and and around Charleston this weekend. Last week, between the Friends of ‘Berto show and Kentuckiana, your humble blogger’s time was crunched, and something had to go, so I skipped our weekly guide of events and…nobody seemed to miss it. To be honest, the Captain Action post I ran last Thursday brought in about ten times the readers. Still, I will stubbornly persevere this week and tell you about STUFF TO DO, while I’m in Chicago.

Again, remember, if you are attending an outdoor event, stay hydrated and please don’t smoke or vape around any humans who might find the associated stank to be offensive.  Let me tell you about plenty of STUFF TO DO in Charleston and all over the Mountain State and beyond as we burn off the last weekend of July.

As I have been copying and pasting of late, this a good time to remind you that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS.  It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments. I won’t be offended if you volunteer to do the work I was too lazy to finish.

This week Mel Larch uses Curtain Call to let four shows that closed in the wake of the Tony Awards apocalypse take a final bow.

Wednesday afternoon’s Curtain Call on The AIR follows an encore of a classic edition of Beatles Blast (which airs at 2PM).

Every year one of the sadder aftermaths of the annual Tony Awards is the onslaught of show closing announcements as the non-winners rush to cut their losses when they realize they won’t be getting that big “Tony bump.”  This week Mel brings you a mixtape of shows that recently closed, or announced their final dates, in the Summer of 2024. To be fair, one of them threw in the towel before before the nominations were even announced.

Some of these shows are going out on tour, others have reached the end of their Broadway runs, and some just got lost in the glut of new musicals that opened earlier this year.

Mel lets  them take one final bow this week on Curtain Call. During the hour you will hear selections from the Neil Diamond musical,  A Beautiful Noise; the revival of  The Wiz; The Huey Lewis musical, The Heart of Rock and Roll and the biographical show,Lempicka.

Here’s the playlist…

From Lempicka: “Our Time,” “Paris,” and “Speed”
From A Beautiful Noise: “A Beautiful Noise,” “I’m A Believer,” “Sweet Caroline,” and “Brooklyn Roads/America”
From The Wiz: “The Tornado,” “Ease On Down The Road,” “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News,” “Everybody Rejoice/Brand New Day,” and “Believe In Yourself”
From The Heart of Rock and Roll: “Hip To Be Square,” “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” “I Want A New Drug,” “The Power of Love”

Wednesday at 3 PM, Curtain Call will let you hear what you missed.  You can tune in at the website, or you could just stay right here and  listen to the convenient embedded radio player lurking elsewhere on this page.

Curtain Call can be heard on The AIR Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM, Saturday at 8 PM, Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 2 PM. A marathon of classic episodes can be heard Sunday morning beginning at 9 AM, and an all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight.

Tonight at 10 PM we have assembled a new hour-long episode of The Comedy Vault filled with the brilliant stand-up comedy of Bob Newhart who left us last week. You can hear this replayed Saturday at 6 PM and next Monday at 8 PM.

Like last week, we have a cool new episode of RFC to help you deal with the hot weather Tuesday on The AIR.   Radio Free Charleston, is one-third new/two-third classic RFC this week.  To listen to The AIR, you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here, and  listen to the cool embedded player found elsewhere on this page.  

You can hear Radio Free Charleston Tuesdays at 10 AM and 10 PM, with tons of replays throughout the week.

This week we open with a new hour of our usual free-format mix of local, indepedent and whatever else I might feel like playing. Then, for no reason other than living the cliché, we bring you CHRISTMAS IN JULY! I dug out the 2016 RFC Christmas special and dropped it into this week’s second and third hours because…why not?

Our first hour opens with the title track from Frenchy & The Punk’s new album, Midnight Garden, and offers up new music from Clownhole, Messer Chups, Tucker Rigglean & The Cheap Dates, Sierra Ferrell and The Settlement. We also bring you some oldies from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Our Christmassy second hour is mostly a collection of local holiday music from our video archives. Hour three is mostly a distillation of our 1989 Christmas show, which was broadcast on WVNS back during the original incarnation of RFC.

I gotta be honest…I was planning to do this last year but I forgot about it until I was working on the first show in August. I almost forgot this year, too.

Links in the artist’s names in the first hour of our playlist below will take you to a website where you can find our more about them and maybe buy their music(where possible). Check out the playlist…

RFC V5 186

hour one
Frenchy & The Punk “Midnight Garden”
Clownhole “Washed Up Has Been”
Messer Chups “Hard Times For Dracula”
Novo Comb “Tattoo”
Tucker Riggleman & The Cheap Dates “Paradise”
Sierra Ferrell “Money Train”
The Hooterville Honeys “Wheeling, West Virginia”
The Settlement “Boogie/Days Go By”
Transvision Vamp “Velveteen”
Ian McLagen “La De La”

hour two
Melanie Larch/Diablo Blues Band “Please Come Home For Christmas”
Marium Bria “Naughty Christmas”
Frenchy and The Punk “All I Want For Christmas Is A Time Machine”
The Laser Beams “Up On The Rooftop”
The Bob Thompson Unit “Festival”
Charleston Gay Men’s Chorale “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
The Renfields “Merry Christmas To All”
Clownhole “Deck The Halls”
Prank Monkey “The Chipmunk Song”
Joseph Hale “Let’s Put The X in Xmas”
2012 Cast of “Mary” “Lord of Mercy”
Rowan Maher “Child, My Child”
Pepper Fandango and Lee Harrah “Baby It’s Cold Outside”
Todd Burge with Joseph Hale “Merry Methmas”

hour three
“Jam theme”-a special rendition of the Radio Free Charleston theme song, recorded at The Charleston Playhouse and featuring most of the Charleston Playhouse Quartet, with the addition of Stephen Beckner, who provides a wintery spoken interlude.
A 1989 commercial for Budget Tapes & Records where your PopCulteer provides all three voices, including the ghost of Bing Crosby.
Go Van Gogh “Santa Claus Is Back In Town”
Stephen Beckner and John and Tim Rock from Go van Gogh, live interview in the studio.
Go Van Gogh attempts at Christmas carols
Three Bodies (Kris Cormany, Brian Young, Brian Lucas) live interview in the studio
Three Bodies “Three Bodies”
“Why Do We Have To Work Skit”
Clownhole (Sham Voodoo, Flair) Christmas message with the accapella punk “Deck The Halls”
Charleston Playhouse Jam Session “Jingle Bells”
Plugs for “The Last Ride,” the final concert by Brian Diller and the Ride, which happened one week after this show first aired.
Mad Scientist Club “I Saw Santa Claus”
Gary Price Christmas wishes from The Swivels
Charleston Playhouse Jam Session interview with John McIntyre leading into “Heaven and Mud/Train Wreck The Halls/Will The Circle Be Unbroken”
Gary Price from The Swivels, pre-taped interview in the production studio
Clownhole in the studio, rambling semi-interview
Go Van Gogh in the studio, going off the rails a bit.
Go Van Gogh “Big Bottom (accapella)”–this was considered appropriate for the holiday for some reason
Melanie Larch “Ave Maria”
Melanie Larch and Mark Scarpelli “Christmas Time Is Here”

You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM,  Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight,  Sunday at 8 PM and  Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different classic episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.

I’m also going to  embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.

After RFC, stick around for encores of last week’s episodes of  MIRRORBALL at 1 PM and Curtain Call at 2 PM.

At 3 PM we give you an encore of two classic episodes of The Swing Shift. New episodes will return in a week or two.

 You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM and 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.

This week’s art is a tiny acrylic painting of Kate Bush, dressed up and acting like a bat.

I was inspired by one of the photos of Kate Bush taken for (if I recall correctly) the inside gatefold sleeve of her Never For Ever album in 1980. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago when I accidently drew Kate’s face on a figure in a pencil drawing, if I were trying to do that, I would’ve failed.

To be fair, this painting is a whopping two-inches square. I did it on a sample of kitchen tile that I found in my basement. My dad used to design kitchens, so finding tile samples is not unusual in this house. Because I was working so small, the end result is a bit low-res. I did this using spent watercolor brushes dipped in acrylics. Then it took a week to dry before I could scan it (which, ironically, I had to do at a very high resolution to make up for its tinyness) and you see the end result above.

To see it bigger try clicking HERE.

Over in radioland, Monday at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you encores of a classic episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM a recent edition of Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis.  You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page.

Psychedelic Shack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM.

At 8 PM you can hear an hour of stand up comedy from Steven Wright on a recent episode of The Comedy Vault.

Tonight at 9 PM for the Monday Marathon We bring you ten hours of Prognosis featuring Herman Linte as he presents five shows that start off with and feature some unusual permutations of the band, YES.

Above you see the latest PopCult Video,  a five-minute video recap of last weekend’s “Friends of ‘Berto” toy show at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling.

This was a quickly assembled toy show that came together in a matter of just a few weeks to pay tribute to a fallen toy collector.

You can read about this show and ‘Berto himself, Roberto Ligotti, HERE.

The video shows the people and toys and moves around a bit. Our photos today focus on the custom figures you’ll see in the video, so you can get a better look.  The guy at right is a classic Scooby Doo villain.

Below you’ll see more photos (sans captions) of the cool custom figures on display at the event…

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From January, 2010, this is “Oingo Boingo Shirt,” a video episode of Radio Free Charleston. Our music this time was by Joseph Hale, The Diablo Blues Band and the Blues Girls from the CYAC production of “The Blob.” We also have a Plant Ro Duction Mini Movie and a serious message from Ann Magnuson on behalf of Covenant House.

Host segments were shot in the parking lot at The Kanawha Mall. There was no particular reason for this,other than it was sunny and that’s where we ended up.

Original production notes can be found HERE.

The PopCulteer
July 19, 2024

Before we get into today’s photo essay PopCulteer, I need to mention something.  We had one of those weeks where life happens and something had to give. This week that something was our regular STUFF TO DO column.  Between internet, car and power issues and with a trip to Louisville for Kentuckiana this weekend looming, I had to skip our weekly guide to Charleston-centric events this week. Rest assured, there’s a bunch of stuff you can do in and around Charleston this week. Google is your friend. 

Friends of ‘Berto Gathering

In late May, an avid comic book and Beatles fan and MEGO and action figure collector, Roberto Ligotti, passed away suddenly and it shook the collector communities. His fellow MEGO collectors and customizers wanted to do do something in honor of the man who sometimes called himself, “The Blue Meanie.” That ought to explain our feature image.

On very short notice a small gathering of friends was organized at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling, which was the site of the first ten MEGO Meet fan conventions. The “Friends of ‘Berto” gathering was small, intimate, bittersweet, but ultimately fun, helping some fans put aside differences and get together to honor the memory of a fallen comrade. Tables were set up, toys were sold and traded, custom figures were displayed, there were presentations and good toy fellowship and it’s safe to say that ‘Berto would have been pleased. Our impromptu trip to Wheeling came together very quickly and happened last Friday and Saturday.

Chad Gordy was the primary instigator of this fun gathering and he created a 3D-printed Blue Meanie, which was given to attendees in honor of ‘Berto and his love for The Beatles. I can’t thank Chad enough for his work putting this show together. There is talk that this could become an annual action figure show at Kruger Street, in Roberto’s memory.

An added bonus for Mel and I was the chance to take Lee Harrah with us. Lee has been through the ringer over the last few years and he needed a freaking break. It was nice to get him re-connected with his collecting buddies and out of town for a quick trip.

Below you will find photos from the show. I am rushing through this so I can get out of town for the Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo, so most photo will be captionless. Sunday I’ll be running a five-minute video of the show here in PopCult, and maybe a few more photos too.

Tony DiTrapino showing off one of his custom GI Joe: Classified figures, which is sporting a head 3D printed by Chad Gordy

Scott and Austin from Power Comics. I will be telling you a whole lot more about them within the next couple of weeks.

You’ll find out about Green Cougar and BroHawk then, too.

Some of the amazing Customs on display. I think these were largely the work of Chad.

This Scooby Doo villain looked so cool that I would’ve bought it if it had been for sale, and I’m not even a fan of Scooby Doo.

A table filled with cool MEGOish goodness. I bought some.

And that is this week’s PopCulteer, check back for all our regular features and fresh content every day.

The PopCult Toybox

Next week is a big week for fans of Captain Action.  And in case you don’t know who or what Captain Action is, he was the pioneering 12″ superhero action figure, and the first toy I ever mentioned in this blog, way back in 2005. He’s seen two full-fledged revivals in the last twenty-five years, and is poised to make his third comeback, this time with new friends, an animated companion series and new disguises to wear in his efforts to fight evil.

Dr. Evil, that is.

The second time we went to Toy Fair, we even sat down and talked with Ed Catto and Joe Ahearn of Captain Action Enterprises, who have been steering his fates and adventures for the last fifteen years or so.

I’ve written about the collection of his comic book adventures, the big 2012 revival at Toys R Us, the reproduction of his card game, his life as a 4-inch action figure, and some of the teases and hints at previous editions of SDCC (that’s the San Diego Comic Con, by the way). And next week we’ll get actual pre-order info and more details on the new figures, costumes and even a convention-exclusive accessory set.

So that I don’t mess up any of the details, I’m just going to run the press release here:

Captain Action Plans for San Diego Comic-Con
More toy and animation plans to be revealed at panel

Captain Action, The Original Superhero Action Figure™ and Dr. Evil , The Original Evil Action Figure™ known for their transformative abilities, are building on last year’s announcements. LBO, Let’s Be Onyx, a cutting-edge manufacturer of designer collectibles comprised of seasoned industry creatives has been granted the licensing rights by Captain Action Enterprises, LLC to produce groundbreaking and reimagined, high-end 1/6 scale action figures and collectibles for the Captain Action property.

LBO will be exhibiting (booth #2549) the latest designs, including a new character that opens new licensing possibilities. LBO Collective and Atomic Toybox (booth #3921) will be selling Captain Action Merchandise and collectibles, as well as accepting pre-orders for upcoming collectibles.

“We are excited to invite fans into what we have been developing and how we can build the future of Captain Action together,” said Steve Forde, GoHero / LBO cofounder.

The Captain Action Panel will focus on animation but is expected to reveal new merchandise too.

Translating Toys: From Toys to Animation Just how do toys, or any ideas, make it into the world of animation? Following on the heels of last year’s Captain Action Classic Collection, this year the team, with  special  guests Flint Dille (GI Joe, Transformers), Michael Polis  (Yo  Gabba  Gabba, Captain Action), Steve Forde (Go Hero),  Acori  Honzo  (LBO)  and Joe Ahearn (Captain Action), looks to the future with a major announcement, and offers experiences that can also be used as a primer or template for other IPs looking to launch animation in today’s competitive marketplace.   Moderated by Ed Catto (Captain Action).

This panel will be held Friday, July 26 from 7 to 8 pm in Room 23ABC at the convention center.

“Translating toys into animation is a fascinating journey that combines creativity, strategy, and a deep understanding of both mediums. I’m excited to join this panel and share insights from my experiences with GI Joe and Transformers.”, said Flint Dille.

LBO will also unveil their plans for Captain Action figures, uniform sets and co-licensing. This rebranding will infuse the Captain Action universe with a touch of the unexpected, creating a diverse and captivating world that seamlessly blends tradition with innovation.

So you can see, there’s a lot of cool stuff coming for us aging fans (and new fans) of the first superhero action figure.

What I can tell you ahead of time is that there will be the official unveiling (hopefully with pricing and pre-order info) and the first three new figures, Dr. Evil, Captain Action and Major Action.

There will also be a very limited very cool accessory set…Lady Action’s Action Attaché. This is limited to 30 pieces, half of which were pre-sold to lucky subscribers of the Captain Action Mailing List.

Here’s one that wound up in my office…

There will also be a limited edition Skate Deck featuring Dr. Evil as drawn by Tim Baron…

And it looks like Dr. Evil may not be the only enemy the good Captain has to worry about…

The panel where more details will be revealed happens Friday, July 26, at 7 PM (Pacific Time) in room 23 ABC at SDCC.

Of course, I’ll be telling you more about what we can expect from Captain Action after they spill the beans.

A bonus for comic book fans of a certain age happens Sunday, July 28 at 1 PM as CAE’s Ed Catto moderates a panel devoted to legendary Bronze-age comic book writer, Don McGregor (Black Panther, Killraven, Sabre, Detectives Inc., Nathaniel Dusk, Creepy, Eerie and many, many others). Ed and Don will chat about Don’s half-century of creating cool comics.

Hey, you know how I try to post something every day here in the blog?  Well, today things have sprung up.  The post I’d hoped to have up before noon will have to wait until later today, or possibly tomorrow, so I’m going to resort to a “flashback post” and see what was in PopCult ten years ago today.

And, it’s a book review of a comic book collection. This book is currently out of print, but it’d be a damned good candidate for DC’s new line of full-color trade paperbacks, since this one was in black and white.  Enjoy and maybe I’ll have another new post late this afternoon.

The PopCult Bookshelf

Showcase Presents
The Great Disaster
Featuring The Atomic Knights
Written and drawn by Various
DC Comics
ISBN: 978-1-4012-4290-9
$19.99

This is one of those niche comic book collections that seems amazing in that it was even published. Presented here in glorious black and white are 570 pages of post apocalyptic comic book stories published by DC Comics between 1960 and 1983.

In DC’s self published fan magazine, “The Amazing World of DC Comics,” back in 1976, Paul Levitz (who would go on to become the president and publisher of DC Comics) wrote an article that tied together several threads of DC Comics science fiction stories and showed how the early 1960’s adventures of The Atomic Knights could be tied to then current DC series “Hercules Unbound” and Jack Kirby’s classic, “Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth.” He created a cool chronology of “Earth: After Disaster.” Continue reading