Month: April 2017 (Page 3 of 5)

Our internet radio station, The AIR, perseveres on its march through April with fresh shows and a tweaked schedule.  You can tune in at The AIR Website, or just hit the virtual button right here on this embedded radio player…

After a morning and afternoon of new music and encore presentations, the fun starts at 3 PM with a brand-new episode of Prognosis. Herman Linte is back with a special show that pays tribute to the late Chris Squire by bringing you his solo album, “Fish Out Of Water,” and also presents great progressive rock by Pallas, Magenta, IQ, Greg Lake and Keith Emerson and more. See the playlist below.

At 5 PM we bring you a classic episode of Harrah’s Hard & Heavy. In a couple of weeks we’ll have new shows from this series, but until then, you can rock out with your encore out.

At 6 PM it’s another installment the New Music Show. This is exactly what the title says. It’s new music, a mix of local and non-local, presented in a rotation so that you can see the artist and song title displayed. You’ll get to hear some of the best tracks that we play on our specialty shows here every weekday at 6 PM.

At 6:30 PM it’s The (censored) Crazy Show. Now daily, by popular demand.

7 PM sees a classic episode of That Conversation with Patrick Felton. This week it’s Mike Mudoch and Toby Poole, talking about the state of creativity in West Virginia in 2012.

9 PM brings us a much-requested episode of The Best of The Real with Mark Wolfe. This time Mark talks to your PopCulteer, Rudy Panucci.

10 PM revives a lost episode of Six Degrees of Separation. This talk show, hosted at The Empty Glass, presents the world according to Johnny Compton.

At midnight, settle in for an all-night marathon of classic episodes of Radio Coolsville, featuring DJ Betty Rock.

Here is your playlist for Prognosis, heard Monday at 3 PM, Tuesday at 7 AM and Wednesday at 8 PM…

Prognosis 014

Pallas  “The Alien Messiah”

Chris Squire  “Fish Out of Water”
“Hold Out Your Hand”
“You by My Side”
“Silently Falling”
“Lucky Seven”
“Safe”

Magenta  “Guernica”
IQ  “Stronger Than Friction”
Marillion  “Quartz”
Renaissance  “At The Harbor”
Steve Morse Band  “Unnamed Sources”
Steven Wilson  “Drive Home”
Greg Lake and Keith Emerson  “Tarkus”
Tony Banks  “Forever Morning”

Monochrome Month continues with a digital painting that, like last week, composites two previous works into a new one. This time it’s a busy abstract from a few months ago, knocked down to greyscale, combined with a silhouette of Kitty Killton from an old edition of Dr. Sketchy’s. I tossed in a few chisel effects and come up with something that manages to be psychedelic without the use of color.

At least, I think so. Click to see it bigger.

On Easter, some of us think of bunnies. Bunnies make some of us think of Playboy. Therefore, our Easter Day video is a compilation of two episodes of Playboy After Dark, a late-night variety show that was cutting edge in 1969, and is tame enough to be aired on Nick Jr. today.

In these episodes of the show, hosted by Playboy’s founder, Hugh Hefner, you will see Patty Duke, Louis Nye, Ike and Tina Turner, Sammy Davis Jr., The Checkmates LTD., Rex Reed, Anthony Newly and just to make things a little more creepy in retrospect, Bill Cosby.

The odd thing is that this is actually a talk show where people talk. They aren’t doing shtick or promoting anything. It’s a bizarre artifact of a time when television was more real. It seems corny, tame and even tasteful today, but at the time this was as shocking as television got. Sure it’s dated and a bit sexist and exploitive, but it has a certain charm, if you don’t take it too seriously.

Playboy After Dark only ran one season in syndication. It was a color, Los Angeles version of the show Playboy’s Penthouse, which was produced in Chicago ten years earlier. I don’t have any childhood memories of this show because no TV station in West Virginia had enough guts to carry it at the time. Reportedly, that had more to do with the racially-integrated guest list than any concern of the connection to Playboy Magazine.

From June, 2008 we have Radio Free Charleston’s forty-fifth episode, “Hot Wheels Shirt.” This show promoted the then-upcoming Derick Kirk Memorial Stage Show at Davis Park in Charleston.  We featured Doctor Senator, performing at said park, and we had a touching song by T.J. King, about his friend, the late Derick Kirk.  We even shot the host segments around the park.

In addition to that, we had a movie trailer for an indie film out of Huntington, “The Comic Book Lady,” which starred Kathleen Jackson and featured cameos from Harvey Pekar, Genuine Nerd Toby Radloff, and Kitten Natividad.  Plus we offered up animation from Frank Panucci.  It’s all wrapped up in a tight little 16-minute package, for your viewing enjoyment.

The PopCulteer
April 14, 2017

Well, it’s Good Friday for those of you who observe such things, and it’s also the mid-point of Passover, for those of you who observe those things. Today is also the anniversary of the assassination of President Lincoln, and the day that the Titanic found an iceberg the hard way. 90 years ago the first Volvo was spotted in the wild, and 50 years ago the president of Togo was overthrown. John Gielgud, Loretta Lynn and Daniel Clowes were all born on this day. In 2017, your PopCulteer, faced with a blank slate and having put off writing his weekly column until after breakfast the morning of publication, farted out an almanac-style post for the first-time ever, just to fill up space.

Our lead image this week is an artist’s depiction of yesterday’s veto of the state budget bill by our governor, Mr. Haney from Green Acres. I could write further about it, but the best part would still be that image, so I’ll quit while I’m ahead.

To be honest, I have a decent excuse for not having been my prolific self this past week, but I’m saving it up for next week’s Popculteer, so you’ll just have to wait for it. In the meantime, here’s some other stuff to fill this column up…

One More Stuff To Do

I missed this event at Route 60 Music in Barboursville on Saturday when I put together the Stuff To Do post yesterday. Feed people in need and hear great music in return. You can’t find a better deal that this…

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As we plunge headfirst into a big holiday weekend we find ourselves with a lot of stuff to do in town. This is just a sampling. Get out and do stuff, folks.

Thursday

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Radio Free Charleston International puts the randomizer back in action at 3 PM Thursday on The AIR. Tune in at the website, or on this handy embedded radio player…

After another morning and afternoon filled with special encores of Curtain Call and Radio Free Charleston, we make the world safe for eclecticism on Radio Free Charleston International at 3 PM with a show that brings you a ton of great music with no regard to the artificial barriers of genre.

Listeners will be treated to music by The Struts, The Anderson/Ponty Band, John Carpenter with John Michael Jarre, Lemmy, Klaatu and more. It’s one of those big ole batches of music that wakes you up and makes you fall in love with the world…or something.

You can hear Radio Free Charleston International on The AIR Thursday at 3 PM, with replays Friday at 9 AM and 10 PM, Saturday at 11 AM and Sunday at 1 AM and 10 PM.

Following RFC International on Thursday,you can listen to this week’s new Radio Free Charleston, with the Membrane Cell and more, and The New Music Show at 6 PM , The Crazy Show at 6:30 PM, and in prime-time, it’s this week’s episodes of The Swing Shift and Curtain Call, followed at 10 PM by Live From The Empty Glass (this week with  Tyler Childers, Lancaster/Roberts/Browning and Trielement). All night long after that, it’s a marathon of The Swing Shift.

Check out the playlist for this week’s Radio Free Charleston International below the jump.

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It’s another thrilling Wednesday filled with new programming on The AIR as we offer up brand-new episodes of  Life Speaks with Michele Zirkle Marcum and Curtain Call.  You can tune in at The AIR Website, or just flip the switch right here on this embedded radio player…

The Morning kicks off with a replay of this week’s The Swing Shift at 7 AM, followed by a two-hour version of The NEW MUSIC SHOW at 9 AM and a replay of last week’s Curtain Call at noon. All times, EDT, by the way.

At 1 PM we replay last week’s special episode of On The Road with Mel to ToyLanta.

1:30 PM sees Michele Zirkle Marcum talk about a recent writer’s retreat she atteneded before she introduces the second part of her interview with local Bigfoot scholar, Russ Jones on Life Speaks.

The Best of The Real with Mark Wolfe presents Mark’s talk with Jeff Bond at 2 PM.

It’s a new Curtain Call at 3 PM, as Mel Larch brings you an assortment of showtunes grouped into mini-themes during the hour of the best of musical theater.  You’ll find the playlist at the bottom of this post.

At 5 PM Beatles Blast is back, hosted by your humble PopCulteer. New episodes will start soon.

6 PM sees The NEW MUSIC SHOW, followed at 6:30 PM by The now-daily Crazy Show.

At 7 PM we have a replay of Life Speaks with Michele Zirkle Marcum, and then at 7:30 PM Word Association with Lee and Rudy tackles the topic of bad movies.

We maintain our prime-time Wednesday line-up of this week’s Prognosis at 8 PM, followed by The Comedy Vault at 10 PM. Then at midnight we dive into the Radio Free Charleston International archives for some classic episodes from last yearHere’s the  presented as an overnight marathon.

The interruption-free programming continues as The AIR freshens up all week long.

Here’s the playlist for this week’s Curtain Call:

“Magic To Do” from Pippin
“Jackson 5 Medley” from Motown: The Musical
“Ben” from Disaster!
“Y’all Got It” from The Wiz
“Love Revolution” from I Love My Wife
“Woah Mama” from Bright Star
“Vacation/No Holds Barred” from Pump Boys and Dinettes
“Joy of The Lord” from Hands On A Hardbody
“River In The Rain” from Big River
“Song of The King (Seven Fat Cows)” from Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
“Who Loves You” from Jersey Boys
“Pumpin’ Iron” from Starlight Express
“Raise Your Voice” from Sister Act
“Bend and Snap” from Legally Blonde
“Everybody Say Yeah” from Kinky Boots

Our internet radio station, The AIR, is still chugging along with a fresh batch of shows on our newly-refined schedule.  Today, Radio Free Charleston opens with Membrane Cell, recorded live at The Blue Parrot, and The Swing Shift brings you an hour of Ella Fitzgerald.  You can tune in at The AIR Website, or just settle down right here on this embedded radio player…

A t 1o AM and 10 PM Tuesday join us for a new hour of great local music on Radio Free Charleston. This week we open the show with Membrane Cell, the new band featuring David Synn and Kenny Booth, and continue with new music from The Velvet Brothers, Wren Allen Band, Bon Air and Fabuous Head. We dip into the RFC archives for classic tracks from Flare Baroshi, Hasil Adkins, Feast of Stephen, 69 Fingers and more.  Check out the playkist down below the jump. Radio Free Charleston replays at 10 PM Tuesday, 5 PM Thursday, 1o AM and Midnight Saturday and we stick reruns in wherever we can.

At noon we offer up three hours of Radio Free Charleston from February and March, so you can overdose on great local music.

3 PM sees a special new episode of The Swing Shift, with an hour of music by Ella Fitzgerald, commemorating her 100th birthday, which comes up on April 25. You’ll find the playlist for this week’s show below the RFC playlist.

5 PM sees the return of Dexter Checkers and Ska Madness. Dexter is cooking up new hour-long episodes, but in the meantime we’re doubling-up on encores of his half-hour program.

At 6 PM our daily New Music Show continues, while at 6:30 PM, by Popular Demand, it’s The Crazy Show. At 7 PM we offer up a replay of last week’s triumphant return of DJ Betty Rock and Radio Coolsiville, and at 8 PM it’s a replay of last weeks Sydney’s Big Electric Cat.

10 PM is when Radio Free Charleston is heard again, followed by last week’s Radio Free Charleston International, and an all-night marathon of Herman Linte and Prognosis.

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At the right you’ll find a digital painting by your PopCulteer of master dioramist, Mike Gardner. Welcome to part two of our photo essay devoted to his most recent work.

First off, apologies for the lag time between parts one and two of this photo essay. Last year the powers that be upgraded the blogging template and software here at the Gazette-Mail, and while it made a lot of improvements, most notably allowing us a much bigger space for our images, it also came with a few glitches, among them new difficulties captioning photos and running photo essays with much more than a dozen images. Those bugs are stubborn and have been evasive enough to keep from being worked out so far.

Meanwhile, I can pull a few acts of virtual sleight-of-hand to try and trick the blogging software into doing what I want. It’s a bit time-consuming and takes some Voodoo-like digital coaxing to make these things work, so it’s been until now that I could get the second of our photo essays devoted to Mike Gardner’s awesome Avengers Assemble diorama at ToyLanta posted. You can read part one HERE. Part three will be up sooner because the photos in it are not going to require as many captions.

In this batch of photos we see more Mike’s progress building the diorama. You may notice a gap in our coverage. Mike worked through the night on this project, and as mere mortals, we had to excuse ourselves so we could get some sleep. So we missed a lot of Mike’s work. It’s fully evident in the photos of the assembled diorama, which you will see soon.

Here are more photos of the construction of Avengers Assemble, Mike Gardner’s massive diorama at toylanta 2017.

Mike, judging the placement of the crashed helicopter on the set.

Beginning the centerpiece of destruction.

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