Month: November 2023 (Page 2 of 6)

Now combined into one show, this is the 2008 Radio Free Charleston Horror Theater Halloween Specials! Episodes 54 and 55 of Radio Free Charleston were an ambitious attempt at recreating the cheesy horror movie-host vibe, only with short films and music videos instead of actual movies. Host segments were shot at the late, lamented LiveMix Studio.

This remastered version combines them both into one 37-minute show. The sequel episode from the following April Fool’s Day will be posted in the order it was first released in a few weeks.

Part one of RADIO FREE CHARLESTON HORROR THEATER features music from Doctor Senator and The Hellblinki Sextet, plus a short film about Jack The Ripper, vintage animation from Wladislaw Starewicz, excerpts from a film by Spike Nesmith, and loads and loads of extra-creepy-coolness.

Part Two of RADIO FREE CHARLESTON HORROR THEATER continues our tribute to old-time-TV horror movie hosts. We’ve got music videos from Under The Radar and Go Van Gogh, a short ghost film by Rich Allen, scary-freaky animation from Wladislaw Starewicz, plus a studio full of Zombies.

What you see below is an exercise in guerrilla film-making.  This mini-episode of Radio Free Charleston (number 55.5, for those of you scoring at home) was assembled in less than four hours.  We’re dropping it here to keep these clips coming in order. This quickie show was put together using footage shot October 25 at the RFC Halloween Party at the La Belle Theater. A few years later I would adopt this format for the RFC MINI SHOW.

Today in The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide we are going to switch things up a bit. Instead of waiting until Saturday to do our Flashback Picks, we’re doing them Friday.

Saturday we’ll have more Merchants of Cool.  Today being Black Friday, means our readership is going to be down anyway, and your PopCulteer got out for a bit today to enjoy some Record Store Day and Holiday Season festivities, and it just seems easier to run the Flashback picks a day early.

So here are some book recommendations that you may remember from previous years.

It’s okay, they’re still good books, and you might find them even cheaper now.

Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome
by Garth Marenghi
Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781529399400
$21.58

If you know of Garth Marenghi, then you’re excited that this book is out. Allegedly the alter-ego of Matthew Holness, Marenghi has unleashed his dark imagination onto the printed page. Let’s look at the publisher’s synopsis…

Dare you crack open the TerrorTome? (Mind the spine)

When horror writer Nick Steen gets sucked into a cursed typewriter by the terrifying Type-Face, Dark Lord of the Prolix, the hellish visions inside his head are unleashed for real. Forced to fight his escaping imagination – now leaking out of his own brain – Nick must defend the town of Stalkford from his own fictional horrors, including avascular-necrosis-obsessed serial killer Nelson Strain and Nick’s dreaded throppleganger, the Dark Third.

Can he and Roz, his frequently incorrect female editor, hunt down these incarnate denizens of Nick’s rampaging imaginata before they destroy Stalkford, outer Stalkford and possibly slightly further?

From the twisted genius of horror master Garth Marenghi – Frighternerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage (plus Man-Shee) – come three dark tales from his long-lost multi-volume epic: TerrorTome.

Can a brain leak?
(Yes, it can)

Recommended for fans of horror infused with a healthy dose of absurd humor, and also for fans of Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place. Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome can most easily be ordered in the United States from Amazon.

Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created “Sunday in the Park with George”
by James Lapine
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374200091
$40 (heavily discounted at many online retailers, including Amazon)

Stephen Sondheim fans will want a gift like this to remember the legendary Broadway composer that we lost two years ago. With his final musical now running in New York City, it’s cool to go back and revisit one of his most beloved works.

By all accounts this is a spectacular book, a fascinating insight into the creation of one of the most memorable musicals of the 1980s.  There were some issues with early printings, but reportedly those have been resolved.

This is an important book about an important work of theatre, written by Sondheim’s collaborator, James Lapine. Let’s go to the publisher’s blurb…

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the iconic musical Sunday in the Park with George

Putting It Together chronicles the two-year odyssey of creating the iconic Broadway musical Sunday in the Park with George. In 1982, James Lapine, at the beginning of his career as a playwright and director, met Stephen Sondheim, nineteen years his senior and already a legendary Broadway composer and lyricist. Shortly thereafter, the two decided to write a musical inspired by Georges Seurat’s nineteenth-century painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

Through conversations between Lapine and Sondheim, as well as most of the production team, and with a treasure trove of personal photographs, sketches, script notes, and sheet music, the two Broadway icons lift the curtain on their beloved musical. Putting It Together is a deeply personal remembrance of their collaboration and friend – ship and the highs and lows of that journey, one that resulted in the beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning classic.

This book is a no-brainer gift idea for any fan of Sondheim or musical theatre.

All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business
by Mel Brooks
Ballantine Books
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593159118
$29.99 (heavily discounted at Amazon, and available in Paperback and Audio versions)

Despite the comedic debacle that was “History of the World Part Two,” this is still a great book and a worthwhile read for any student of comedy.

It’s Mel Brook’s autobiography, telling his entire life story including his amazing career writing for Sid Ceasar, co-creating the TV show Get Smart, and his incredible run as a movie director of comedy classics like The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, and so many more. We also get details on his side gig producing serious movies like David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, The Fly and Frances, and then find out about his Broadway Musicals that adapted his hit movies.

Let’s check out the publisher’s blurb…

For anyone who loves American comedy, the long wait is over. Here are the never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and remembrances from a master storyteller, filmmaker, and creator of all things funny.

All About Me! charts Mel Brooks’s meteoric rise from a Depression-era kid in Brooklyn to the recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Whether serving in the United States Army in World War II, or during his burgeoning career as a teenage comedian in the Catskills, Mel was always mining his experiences for material, always looking for the perfect joke. His iconic career began with Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows, where he was part of the greatest writers’ room in history, which included Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, and Larry Gelbart. After co-creating both the mega-hit 2000 Year Old Man comedy albums and the classic television series Get Smart, Brooks’s stellar film career took off. He would go on to write, direct, and star in The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, and Spaceballs, as well as produce groundbreaking and eclectic films, including The Elephant Man, The Fly, and My Favorite Year. Brooks then went on to conquer Broadway with his record-breaking, Tony-winning musical, The Producers.

All About Me! offers fans insight into the inspiration behind the ideas for his outstanding collection of boundary-breaking work, and offers details about the many close friendships and collaborations Brooks had, including those with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Gene Wilder, Madeleine Kahn, Alfred Hitchcock, and the great love of his life, Anne Bancroft.

Filled with tales of struggle, achievement, and camaraderie (and dozens of photographs), readers will gain a more personal and deeper understanding of the incredible body of work behind one of the most accomplished and beloved entertainers in history.

This book is obviously recommended for any fan of Brooks’ work, and should be required reading for anyone with an interest in comedy. Available from any bookseller, but discounted at Amazon.

The PopCulteer
November 24, 2023

We have four hours of new radio premiering on Black Friday, as we bring you a new Christmas Special version of Radio Free Charleston, along with new episodes of MIRRORBALL and Sydney’s Big Electric Cat.

The AIR is in early Holiday Mode today and it’s all thanks to a special treat that we gave you a gander at Wednesday night.   CLOWNHOLE has reunited and they have recorded a studio version of their take of the holiday classic, “Deck The Halls.”  You can hear it open our Christmas Special at 10 AM, 1 PM and 8 PM on Friday, with replays all weekend and the rest of the holiday season. This one-hour special will also be incorporated into next Tuesday’s regular episode of Radio Free Charleston Volume Five.

Last year we opened our Christmas Special with a bootleg-quality live version of CLOWNHOLE performing this track from 1989. It was an absolute honor to be allowed to debut the studio recording here in PopCult and on this special.

The show debuting Friday is an all-new one-hour show where, like in previous years, your host, Rudy Panucci, and his wife, Mel Larch, banter and play holiday music from lots of cool artists. We even stick in a nod or two to other shows we host on The AIR.

I suppose you want to see a playlist, right?

RFC 2023 Black Friday Christmas Special

Clownhole “Fa La La La La, Deck The Halls”
Mediogres “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
Brian Diller “Christmas Time of Year”
Audrey Smiley “Peppermint and Innocence”
Speedsuit “Winter”
The Dollyrots “Christmas Time With You”
Jay Parade “Wonderful Christmastime”
Earth Wind and Fire “Everyday Is Christmas Day”
Sierra Ferrell “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree/Jingle Bell Rock”
Captain Catfeesh “Chistmas In Prison”
Nixon Black “Winter In Kashmir”
The Aquabats “Santa Claus’ Party”
The Cast of Something Rotten “12 Days of a Something Rotten Christmas”
The Beatles “1968 Christmas Greeting”
IDKHOW “Christmas Drag”
Kate Fagan “Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney”

This special will run as both a stand-alone show, and also as part of next week’s RFC, which will include two additional hours of cool local, independent and nifty music.

Or if you want,  you can listen to it right here…

That’s not all the new programming that you’re going to get on The AIR today.

At 2 PM, Mel Larch uncorks a new MIRRORBALL! The AIR’s showcase of classic Disco music presents a delightfully random selection of dancefloor classics from the golden era of Disco Music.

With tracks that were hits in Europe, dance club classics from the US and even a Disco foray from Elton John, Mel continues to dazzle listeners with a diverse and exhaustive playlist of primo Disco Music from the 1970s and early 80s.

Check out the playlist…

MIRRORBALL 086

Space “Magic Fly”
Voyage “Souvenirs”
The Real Thing “Can You Feel The Force”
Sheila B & Devotion “Singin’ In The Rain”
Boney M “Ma Baker”
Viola Willis “Gonna Get Along Without You”
The Dooleys “Wanted”
The Three Degrees “The Runner”
Marshall Hain “Dancing In The City”
Tina Charles “Dance Little Lady, Dance”
Odyssey “Going Back To My Roots”
The Trammps “Save A Place”
Van McCoy & The Soul City Orchestra “Do The Hustle”
Elton John “Are You Ready For Love”

You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays throughout the following week Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 1 PM and a mini-marathon Saturday nights at 9 PM

At 3 PM, on Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, Sydney Fileen graces us with a mixape of live recordings of The Cure, with the bulk of them coming from the soundtrack to their 1987 concert film, The Cure in Orange. Since the film runs a little less than two hours, Sydney added a couple of tracks from later shows to fill up the full two hours.

Here’s the full playlist for what you’ll hear on this week’s show…

BEC 110

The Cure: Live In Concert

“Shake Dog Shake”
“Piggy in the Mirror”
“Play for Today”
“A Strange Day”
“Primary”
“Kyoto Song”
“Charlotte Sometimes”
“In Between Days”
“The Walk”
“A Night Like This”
“Push”
“One Hundred Years”
“A Forest”
“Sinking”
“Close to Me”
“Let’s Go to Bed”
“Six Different Ways”
“Three Imaginary Boys”
“Boys Don’t Cry”
“Faith”
“Give Me It”
“10:15 Saturday Night”
“Killing an Arab”
“Just Like Heaven”
“Pictures Of You”

Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Saturday afternoon,  Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR.

That’s what’s new on The AIR Friday, and that is this week’s PopCulteer, but not our final post today. Because I decided to extend The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide, you can expect new entries every day until next Thursday, and then next Friday we’ll post The Master List in this space. Friday’s post may not hit until late in the afternoon, but it’ll show up.

Today is Turkey Day, and that means…well…hardly anybody is reading this blog or The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide right now.

So to honor the holiday and also so we don’t squander any good gift suggestions, today we’re going to offer up our own style of Turkey–god-awful gifts that could be gag gifts, or white elephant gifts, or even gifts that might gag a white elephant.

These gifts are either amusing or disturbing, and you might want to think long and hard before actually wrapping any of these and putting them under the tree. Either make sure that the recipient has a great sense of humor, or is at least somebody you won’t mind antagonizing. Some are annoying. Some are disgusting. Some are edible but still gross.

My descriptions will be short and brutally honest. Also, there are five picks today. I didn’t want to put enough time into this to whittle it down to three.

All of our awful gifts can be found at Amazon, who has no standards for taste, so under each headline there will also be a link to the land of monopolistic evil billionaires who want to conquor the universe.

Happy Turkey Day, everybody. Maybe be thankful that you don’t get any gifts like this.

Bofa Deez Nutz-Candle
6-oz. candle $15.99
Make sure you really want to order this from Amazon.

This is a scented candle that will burn up to 40 hours.

The scent is a combination of Banana Nut Bread and Hazelnut Vanilla, which is a relief because they could’ve made it smell like male crotch stank.

Here’s what they say about it:

COME FOR THE LAUGHS BUT STAY FOR THE SCENTS – Give a great gift sure to get a laugh… and then constant use! Our small batch candles are both hysterical and practical!
40 HOUR BURN TIME – Give a gift that will last longer than a day! Our domestically made candles are more than a funny gesture – they’re a gift that they’ll love everyday!
2 GREAT SCENTS – A perfect mix of Banana Nut Bread and Hazelnut for a great nutty aroma.
A GREAT GIFT FOR ANY OCCASION – Birthdays, Graduations, Anniversaries, and Valentine’s Day all make great occassions to gift a great candle!

I will offer up a warning: DO NOT GIVE THIS AS A VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT.

No loving partner will find it romantic if she asks what you got her for Valentine’s Day, and you answer “Bofa Deez Nuts!”

CHOCOLATE STORYBOOK Pickle Gourmet Flavored Cotton Candy
1.2 oz tub $8.36
Order this abomination before the Lord at Amazon

Even if you like pickles, this is just wrong.

This company makes dozens of flavors of cotton candy. Apparently they decided on a number they wanted to hit, and ran out of good ideas, so somebody said, “Let’s make cotton candy in pickle flavor!”

In addition to being a flavor that many people despise, this is also not really good for you.  One serving has 60% of your daily recommended amount of sugar, and 34 grams of carbohydrate…and no other nutritional value. There’s no fiber, protein, fat or vitamins. On the plus side, there’s no salt, either.

This is the perfect gift to give if you want somebody to throat-punch you until your eyes bleed.

Fake Poop Soap-Turd-Bar
by Nope It’s Soap – Handcrafted Artisanal Soap for Men
4.16 oz. bar $18.99
If you really want to give somebody this crap, hit up Amazon.

I…don’t quite know where to start with this one.

First of all, why do they specify that this soap is “for Men?”  And if it is, why do the photos show women rubbing it all over their face?

Second, what the hell?

Third, if you’re going to pay nineteen bucks for a bar of soap, do you really want it to look like a turd?

According to the description, this is a “Funny Realistic Poop Gag Gift, Harmless Prank for Kids and Adults, Vanilla Scent.”

Is it funny? Well, butts are funny, and poop comes out of your butt, so yes.  Is it harmless for kids and adults?  That’s debateable. Thank God for small favors that it’s not poop-scented, at least.

I think the real prank is charging nineteen dollars for a bar of soap, but then I don’t even use bar soap. If it can’t be dispensed out of a bottle, it’s not for me.

Still, it might be a good gift for the aficianado of Gonzo German Scat Porn on your shopping list. Chances are you can figure out which eccentric, single uncle that is.

Screaming Goat Button
$17,99 (batteries included)
If you really think your life needs more shrieking, get this at Amazon.

This is a large button, that when pushed, emits the sound of a screaming goat.

If you’re wondering what that sounds like, click on this…

…so, if you want to hear that a lot, or think the person you’ll be giving it to will enjoy it, then knock yourself out.

It’s a great gift for someone who likes to punctuate the relaxing quiet with hideous and shrill screams.

12-Pack Flying Rubber Poo Sling Shot Toys
by Jishi Toy Company
12 feces pieces $9.99
This probably sticks to the wall at Amazon.

What parent doesn’t want to teach their kids to play with poop?

Let me make clear that no actual poop was harmed in the production of this toy.

These are gooey, slimy rubber slingshot toys. They actually have a photo to show the proper form for launching them.

They look like turds with faces, which may remind people of the former president’s legal team.

It’s basically fake poop that you can throw at each other.

So, you could invite a dozen friends over and reinact the Republican Presidential Debates with them.  Or you can invent games or smuggle them into high-society dinners so that hi-jinks may ensue.

Or…you can wrap them, hand them to someboy and say, “Hey, I got you some crap for Christmas.”

There are four styles of faces on the turds, if you’re into fecal tribalism or anything like that.

At least it’s cheaper than soap.  Might be a cruel gift for somebody who’s constipated, so please take that into consideration.

Today in The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide we are going to recommend three collections (one of them a series) of excellent basic Superhero comics.

You’ll get one from DC, one from Marvel and one that predates both of those companies.

These are good gift ideas for the younger reader who maybe doesn’t have nearly sixty years of reading comic books in his or her past, so these will be new and exciting for them.

Older fans will also get a kick out of these classics.

These are pure comic book superheroics, in their original form, without all the bells and whistles of giant budgets, state-of-the-art special effects or big name actors.

This is the primordial soup from which Superheroes sprang. These books can be found in, or ordered from comic book shops and booksellers. For one of them, I’ll point you to the publisher’s website.

Superman For All Seasons
words by Jeff Loeb, Art by Tim Sale
DC Comics
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1779523877
$19.99

This is a new edition of a modern-day classic. Superman For All Seasons is recognized as one of the great Superman tales ever told.

One of the many high-quality collaborations between writer, Jeff Loeb, and the late artist, Tim Sale, this story was originally serialized over four issues of a mini-series twenty-five years ago. It brought a fresh take of the all-American origins of Clark Kent and Superman and was overdue for a new collected edition.

The blurb….

What turns a country boy into the world’s greatest hero?

Told through the course of four seasons in the Man of Steel’s adolescent life, this collection illustrates that it is the person, not the powers, that makes Superman a hero.

The catalyst for the “Smallville” television program, SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS is emotional and insightful, humanizing the alien from another planet so that he is not only realistic but also relatable. It also features in-depth characterizations of Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane and the Kents.

Superman For All Seasons collects the entirety of Superman for All Seasons #1-4.

Jeph Loeb is the author of Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, Catwoman: When in Rome, Challengers of the Unknown Must Die!, Spider-Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow and Hulk: Gray–all of which were collaborations with artist Tim Sale. He has also written Superman/Batman, Supergirl, The Witching Hour, Cable, X-Man, X-Force, The Ultimates 3 and various other books. His TV and movie credits include Teen Wolf, Heroes, Commando, Buffy: The Animated Series and Smallville.

Tim Sale, who passed away last year, was an American comics artist best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Batman and Superman and for influencing depictions of the Caped Crusader in numerous films.  He is primarily known for his collaborations with  Loeb, which included both comics work and artwork for the TV series Heroes.

Superman For All Seasons is the kind of super hero book you want to cozy up to on an overcast day when you want superhero action, but also want to feel warm and fuzzy inside.

MIGHTY MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 1 – THE WORLD’S GREATEST HEROES
by Jack Kirby with Stan Lee
Outreach/New Reader
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1302929794
$15.99

This collection is part of a series of books that collects the origins of the Marvel Universe in inexpensive and attractive volumes that will let you catch up to sixty years’ worth of convuluted continuity from the beginning, by assembling the classic original tales. This volume begins their collection of The Fantastic Four, Marvel’s flagship title in the 1960s, and the one comic of theirs that has never successfully be translated into a major motion picture.

Created and drawn by Jack Kirby, with input from his editor, Stan Lee, The Fantastic Four set the tone for the Marvel Universe, introducing concepts and characters which are still being adapted for the big screen today.

This handy book lets readers get in on the ground floor with the first ten issues of the series, dating back to 1961.

If you’re not familiar with the story, while testing an experimental spacecraft, scientist Reed Richards, pilot Ben Grimm and siblings Sue and Johnny Storm were bombarded by mysterious cosmic rays. Upon their return to Earth, they found that they’d gained fantastic new abilities.

From the boundless imagination of Jack Kirby, witness Mister Fantastic, the Thing, the Invisible Girl and the Human Torch overcome their differences and band together as the Fantastic Four – and thrill to their first battles with the Mole Man, the Skrulls, the Puppet Master, the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom.

Discover why they call it “the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”

The cool thing about this is that the series has contined. The books are slightly smaller than a modern comic book, perfect bound, and very nicely colored on bright white paper. The third volme has just been published and a fourth is planned for next year. Other Marvel books in this series include Steve Ditko’s Spider-man and Doctor Strange; Kirby’s Hulk, The Mighty Thor, Captain America and Black Panther and other Marvel titles like Daredevil, The Avengers, The X Men, Sub-Mariner, Silver Surfer and others.

This is a great way to witness the stories that made Marvel what it is today.

THE COMPLETE DON NEWTON CHARLTON PHANTOM
written by Joe Gill, drawn by Don Newton
Hermes Press
Available directly from the publisher
$50.00

This lovely hardback collects the stories of The Phantom drawn by legendary artist, Don Newton for Charlton Comics back in the 1970s.

After toiling as a fan artist for years, Newton broke through drawing The Phantom before making the leap to DC Comics where he became a star artist with his work on Batman, Aquaman, Detective Comics, Shazam and other titles before he passed away at the age of 49 in 1984.

The Phantom is a prototypical superheor, first published in his own comic strip by King Features Syndicate in 1936, two years before Superman exploded on the scene in Action Comics #1. King Features licensed several different publishers to produce comic books featuring “The Ghost Who Walks” over the decades, and in the 1960s and 1970s it was Charlton’s turn. After losing Jim Aparo to DC Comics, Charlton tried several other artists on the book before settling on Newton.

Newton’s artwork is exquisite, combining the realism of Neal Adams with the smooth inking of Bernie Wrightson and his own artistic sensibility, honed by years of doing fan art. Muc of his work at DC Comics is still in print.

This tribute to artist Don Newton collects his complete output of Phantom comic book stories created for Charlton Comics between 1975 -1977.  This volume features the Charlton Phantom stories from issues #67, 68, 70, 71, and 74.  Also presented is an exhaustive biographical essay on the artist’s career with representative examples of his art for fanzines, comics, and illustration as well as numerous examples of his original art spanning his entire career.

This book also includes a never-before-seen interview with Newton’s son, Tony, about his experiences with his father.

Additionally on display in a special section of the book are over fifty examples of original artwork from these Phantom stories.

This book would be a great gift for any fan of The Phantom or any fan of Don Newton’s work.

Above you have something to indeed be thankful for this holiday season. It’s an early gift for you.  After more than 30 years of dormancy, the band, Clownhole, have emerged from their…well, clown hole…to once again grace us with some of the heavenly and divine manic punk music. As a teaser for a new EP coming in a few weeks, they have released a studio recording of their live holiday classic, “Fa-La-La-La…Deck The Halls.”

Some of you may remember a bootleg-quality video of a 1989 performance of this song from the very first RFC Christmas Video episode back in 2006.  It’s an honor to premiere this new recording here, and to feature it as the first song on Friday’s RFC Black Friday Christmas Special on The AIR.  I’m going to turn it over to Clownhole’s official press release for the rest of this post…

From a small town in the heart of Appalachia, the band Clownhole rocked West Virginia’s coalfields throughout the late ‘80’s.

Was it grunge before grunge hit Seattle? Is it punk-rock-meets-performance-art? Perhaps it was all a big, musical joke on the audience – what other band would start a show with a fog machine erupting from a giant clown’s ass?

Either way, their unorthodox but upbeat jams had fans throughout Appalachia jumping on stage (and diving off, naturally). An eclectic mix of power-driven tunes with original lyrics, combined with theme-songs from vintage TV – this was Clownhole in 1988 Charleston.

When a lost videotape of a live performance recently resurfaced, all original band members (each having moved across the U.S. following the band’s separation in the ‘90’s) reunited to bring you the ultimate jest – a Christmas album just in time for the holidays.

Santa’s come early this year – Clownhole’s “Fa-La-La-La…Deck The Halls” begins streaming Wednesday, November 22nd on Spotify, iTunes, BandCamp, and other platforms. Your parents might not have approved, but their kids will love it – don’t forget your ear-plugs.”

Today The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide looks at books about The Beatles.

In the wake of the release of “Now and Then,” which is proclaimed to be the last Beatles song, the fab four are once again topping the charts, and interest in the band is at a new peak.

Today we have two brand-new books, and one new edition of a previous Gift Guide entry that has bonus material in it now.

For the best gifts for the Beatles fan in your life, read the news today and in the end you’ll take a magical mystery tour to some cool gift ideas…

Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans
by Kenneth Womack
Dey Street Books
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063248526
$50 (discounted at Amazon)

I have been wanting to read a book like this since I first found out who Mal Evans was, over forty years ago. Living The Beatles Legend is the first full-length biography of Mal Evans, the Beatles’ beloved friend, confidant, and roadie.

Malcolm Evans, the Beatles’ long-time roadie, personal assistant, and devoted friend, was an invaluable member of the band’s inner circle. A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Evans loomed large in the Beatles’ story, contributing at times as a performer and sometime lyricist, while struggling mightily to protect his beloved “boys.” He was there for the whole of the group’s remarkable, unparalleled story: from the Shea Stadium triumph through the creation of the timeless cover art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the famous Let It Be rooftop concert.

Leaving a stable job as telecommunications engineer to serve as road manager for this fledgling band, Mal was the odd man out from the start—older, married with children, and without any music business experience. And yet he threw himself headlong into their world, traveling across the globe and making himself indispensable.

In the years after the Beatles’ disbandment, Big Mal continued in their employ as each embarked upon solo careers. By 1974, he was determined to make his name as a songwriter and record producer, setting off for a new life in Los Angeles, where he penned his memoirs. But in January 1976, on the verge of sharing his book with the world, Evans’s story came to a tragic end during a domestic standoff with the LAPD.

For Beatles devotes, Mal’s life and untimely death have always been shrouded in mystery. For decades, his diaries, manuscripts, and vast collection of memorabilia was missing, seemingly lost forever…until now.

Working with full access to Mal’s unpublished archives and having conducted hundreds of new interviews, Beatles’ scholar and author Kenneth Womack affords readers with a full telling of Mal’s unknown story at the heart of the Beatles’ legend. Lavishly illustrated with unseen photos and ephemera from Mal’s archives, Living the Beatles’ Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans is the missing puzzle piece in the Fab Four’s incredible story.

This is a goldmine for Beatles fans. Evans was so important in the lives of The Beatles that, when when Peter Jackson developed the audio “demixing” program that was used on The Beatles Get Back and more recently on “Now and Then,” he named it “Mal,” in Evans’ honor.

This book offers new insight into one of the hidden heroes of The Beatles story.  Available from any bookseller by using the ISBN code.

The Beatles Please Please Me to With The Beatles (Beatles Album Series)
by Bruce Spizer
498 Productions, LLC
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8986319063
$39.98 (discounted at Amazon)

The Beatles Please Please Me to With The Beatles is the latest installment in Bruce Spizer’s Beatles Album Series, covering the first two albums recorded by the Beatles.

I just discovered Spizer’s incredible work a couple of years ago, and I became an instant fan. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to books about The Beatles, and unless it’s a book by Mark Lewisohn I tend to pick up a new Beatles book, flip through it and find a dozen mistakes. That’s not the case with Bruce Spizer, whose books are meticulously researched, and who presents the material like an updated and vastly expanded version of The Beatles, An Illustrated Record, one of the most fun books about The Beatles every written (back in the 70s).

Please Please Me and With The Beatles, along with their associated singles, introduced the Beatles first to England and then to several countries across the world, including Canada and the United States. Although often overlooked due to the excellence of the group’ s later albums, these early albums contain the exciting songs that fueled Beatlemania.

These albums showcased the songwriting talents of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, as well as incredible cover versions of songs from the group’ s stage show. Had the Beatles not evolved and matured, the group would still be well respected for the quality of the recordings on these two albums.

In addition to the usual chapters on the British, American and Canadian perspectives, the book contains chapters on the Decca audition and the EMI artists test session. There are also chapters on the recording sessions and album covers, as well as on the news, music and films of the era to place these albums in their proper context. It is a 9″ x 9″ hardcover book to match the other books in Bruce Spizer’s Beatles Album Series. It is 272 pages long and contains over 290 color and original black and white images.

Honestly, I’m hooked on these books, and I’m hoping that once he completes his series of Beatles albums, that he moves on to cover their solo years. Available from any bookseller by using the ISBN code.

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (Paperback)
by Paul McCartney
Liveright
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1324094098
$30 (discounted at Amazon)

I recommended this book in The 2021 PopCult Gift Guide, and normally wouldn’t bother suggesting it again now that it’s in paperback, but…something new has been added!

Sir Paul has updated the book with the full accounts of the creation of seven additional songs. I guess now that he’s really a “paperback writer” he wanted to give the fans a little extra.

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present celebrates the creative life and the musical genius of Paul McCartney through his most meaningful songs.

From his early Liverpool days, through the historic decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his long solo career, The Lyrics pairs the definitive texts of dozens of Paul McCartney’s songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music. These commentaries reveal how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them: his devoted parents, Mary and Jim; his songwriting partner, John Lennon; his “Golden Earth Girl,” Linda Eastman; his wife, Nancy McCartney; and even Queen Elizabeth, among many others. Here are the origins of “Let It Be,” “Lovely Rita,” “Yesterday,” and “Mull of Kintyre,” as well as McCartney’s literary influences, including Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, and Alan Durband, his high-school English teacher.

With images from McCartney’s personal archives―handwritten texts, paintings, and photographs, hundreds previously unseen―The Lyrics, spanning sixty-four years, becomes the definitive literary and visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

Finally in paperback and featuring seven new song commentaries, the #1 New York Times bestseller celebrates the creative life and unparalleled musical genius of Paul McCartney at a lower price, in a physical format that’s easier to handle than the deluxe hardcover edition.  This handsomely designed volume pairs the definitive texts of over 160 songs with first-person commentaries on McCartney’s life, revealing the diverse circumstances in which songs were written; how they ultimately came to be; and the remarkable, yet often delightfully ordinary, people and places that inspired them.

This is a great gift for any die-hard fan who passed on the pricey hardcover edition, or just anybody who’s interested in the art of songwriting.

Writing The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide and working on other top-secret projects has caught up with your PopCulteer, so Tuesday on The AIR  your blogger and radio show host slacks off during this holiday week and delivers special encore presentation (that means a rerun from 2021) of a holiday patchwork edition of Radio Free Charleston.  I’ll explain below, but to listen to the warmed-up treats we have, you simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay on this page, and  listen to the cool embedded player over at the top of the right column.

At 10 AM and 10 PM you can hear a compliation special that combines the 2019 Radio Free Charleston International Thanksgiving Special, which is 90 minutes of yours truly and his lovely wife, Mel Larch, playing music and joking around…and then the rest of this show contains the 2019 Paul And Spike’s Too Grumpy Critics Thanksgiving Special, which is half an hour of holiday humor, and the final hour of this show is The Relax Radio Show, created and hosted by George Daughtery, the beloved and much-missed, Earl of Elkview.

Now, this doesn’t mean you won’t get any new RFC this week. On Friday, several times through the day, we will premiere The 2023 Radio Free Charleston Christmas Extravaganza, hosted by yours truly and his lovely wife, Mel Larch. This show will open with a huge surprise that will thrill and delight Charleston music fans

That one-hour show premieres Friday, and then will be incorporated into RFC V5 154 the following week. We also plan to wear this thing out over the next month or so.

But before that, we have another holiday to get out of the way.

Check out the playlist for the first 90 minutes of the show…

The Aquabats “Showtime”
The Blues Brothers “Sweet Home Chicago”
Book of Mormon “Making Things Up Again”
The Beatles “Free As A Bird”
Kate Bush “All We Ever Look For”
The Beautiful South “From Under The Covers”
The Bad Shepherds “Making Room For Nigel”
DEVO “Huboon Stomp”
The Aquabats “Playdough (Live)”
Mike Batt/Roger Daltry “The Pig Must Die”
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies “Yankee Pride”
Andy Partridge/Robyn Hitchcock “Planet England”
Andrea True Connection “More More More”
Cats “Invitation To The Jellicle Ball”
YES “Don’t Kill The Whales”
The Tubes “White Punks On Dope”
MST3K “Gamera Song”

This is followed by Paul and Spike’sToo Grumpy Critics Thanksgiving Special and The Relax Radio Show, a one-hour program created by The Earl and his friend, Buddy Griffith.

This special will air in the regular RFC timeslots this week, and then Friday check PopCult for the air times for The 2023 Radio Free Charleston Christmas Extravaganza.

You can hear this week’s special episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Thursday at 3 PM,  Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, and next  Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can hear a different 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 MIRRORBALL at 1 PM, and Curtain Call at 2 PM. At 3 PM we have two recent episodes of The Swing Shift.

The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide returns later Tuesday, with Beatles Books.

Today in The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide, we’re carrying over our retailer recommendations from Sunday to tell you about three local bookstores.

One is a treasure trove of incredible used books. Another specializes in a specific genre, and the third is a Charleston institution.

All of these are great places to find the perfect gift for any literate person on your holiday shopping list.

And…even if they aren’t that literate, there are a variety of picture books available.

Appalachian Books. A Moveable Feast Bookstore
808 B Street. Upper Saint Albans, WV

This wonderfully eclectic bookstore opened earlier this year, and it is the long-standing dream of beloved Charleston musician and librarian, Charlie Tee, realized by his widow, Lynn Rousseau.

When the store opened in August, Lynn told WOWK, “During COVID quarantine, our dream was to open a small bookstore, and he would make little baked goods, and I would run the store. Then, he died of COVID [on] Dec. 18, 2021, I miss him very much. He was my rock and my backbone.”

Appalachian Books–A Moveable Feast Bookstore is the kind of place that bibliophiles dream about.

There are books for everybody. You’ll find novels, art books, hobby books, loads of cookbooks, and there’s a huge section of children’s books, a particular favorite of Charlie’s. It’s a wonderful way to keep the memory of such a sweet, sweet man alive.

The space is really cool. It’s a cozy little bookstore, plunked down right in the middle of a cool, industrial-looking setting.The lighting is great and there are places to sit to rest if the book-shopping overwhelms you. Plus you get the bonus of great conversation with Lynn, who will hunt down any book that you can’t find in the store.

The store is not hard to find.  It’s located one block South of Main Street in Saint Albans, snugly nestled on the second floor of the buildig that houses Teays Physical Therapy, on the corner of Kanawha Terrace and B Street.  There is ample parking right across the street.

Be prepared to spend plenty of time looking through Lynn’s stock of books. There are new books arriving daily, in any genre you can imagine, and it will take multiple visits for you to see everything. I recommend following the Appalachian Books Facebook page to keep up with the new arrivals and special discounts and events (like the one seen below).

Plot Twist Books
209 D Street, South Charleston, WV

Meanwhile in South Charleston, on D Street to be exact, we have another new bookstore. Plot Twist Books is an independent bookstore located in South Charleston, West Virginia. They offer a curated selection of new and used books and bookish gifts, with a heavy accent on mystery. But they have all sorts of great books from which you can choose.

From their website:

Our new books are priced according to the publisher’s cover price. Used books are generally priced as follows:

Hardback: $7 | Paperback $5 | Mass Market PB $3 | Children’s $1-3

We are a donation-only store, and we offer a discount coupon in exchange for donations. We accept donations of good, quality books that are in solid condition. Acceptable genres include general fiction, non-fiction, classics, recent releases (past 5 years), bio/memoir, kids/teen/YA, sci-fi/fantasy, poetry, short stories, horror, graphic novels and coffee table books.

We are not interested in vintage romance novels, mass market writers (e.g. Patterson, Grisham), encyclopedias, textbooks, outdated technology books, and other items in poor condition.

Co-owned by Matt Browning and Brian Mann, Plot Twist Books is a welcome addition to the literary scene in the region. You want to check out their website, and their Facebook page to keep up with author signings and other special events.

Taylor Books
226 Capitol St, Charleston, WV

Taylor Books is a bit of a landmark in Charleston now. Founded years ago by Ann Saville, and currently in new and very capable hands, this combination bookstore, art gallery and coffee shop has become a destination on Capitol Street, drawing fans from around the world.

Since it’s so hard to write about something new about a place as well-known as Taylor Books, I’m just going to swipe from their website:

Since our grand opening in 1995, Taylor Books has become a Charleston institution and a favorite landmark for locals and visitors a like. Featuring a café serving a vast variety of  coffees, home baked muffins, scones, cookies, cakes and other goodies, wine, free Wi-Fi, live music every weekend, author events, a fine art gallery featuring local, regional and national artists, board games, a full schedule of classes in our two art studios, rich architectural character, free book club membership, fast special order service, an abundant selection of unique cards and gifts, thousands of books from all genres, including an unsurpassed selection of regional works, and a friendly, attentive staff.  Hope to see you soon!

If you’re in Downtown Charleston, you can’t go wrong by doing some holiday shopping at Taylor Books. Follow them on Facebook to keep up with new events.

Most of the books I recommend in The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide can be ordered through Taylor Books or Plot Twist Books, simply by using the ISBN number. Lynn might be able to track them down, too.

This week’s painting is really just a small acrylic doodle on black illustration board that is just an attempt at quickly rendering the female form on a day when my fingers weren’t cooperating due to MG. I got the basic shape, lighting and composition down, but ran out of steam when it came to rendering fine details, so I just left it a bit absract. To be honest, the star of the painting is that little glint of light bouncing off her knee.

This one took about forty minutes, half of which was quickly mixing colors.

It’s way looser and semi-abstract than a lot of my recent work, but that’s mainly due to me not spending a lot of time on it.

As I warned you last week, you can probably expect a few more quick ‘n’ sloppy pieces over the next few weeks.

To see it bigger try clicking HERE.

Over in radioland, Monday at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you encores of a recent 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. You can hear two classic episodes of the show Sunday at 2 PM.

At 8 PM you can hear an hour of the stand-up of Lewis Black on last week’s episode of The Comedy Vault.

Tonight at 9 PM the Monday Marathon presents ten hours of classic New Wave Music on Sydney’s Big Electric Cat.

Be sure to check back later Monday morning for the next installment of The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide.