Month: November 2025 (Page 5 of 6)

Today’s second pick in The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide is a big-ticket item, and also kicks off a week of our second entries of the day being music-based suggestions.

Perfect for the Beatles fan, or the John & Yoko fan on your holiday shopping list, we have the Power To The People: Live at the One To One Concert Super Deluxe Boxed set.

Starring John & Yoko and The Elephants Memory Band, with cameos by Frank Zappa, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon and more, today I am recommending the 9 CD/3 Blu ray version of this boxed set, which is available in other configurations, albeit with much less material included.

On August 30, 1972, John Lennon & Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory and guests headlined 2 historic ONE TO ONE concerts at Madison Square Garden, NYC. These benefit shows played to a combined audience of 40K people and helped raise over $1.5 million to support children with disabilities. They were his only full-length concerts after leaving the Beatles and the last shows John & Yoko performed together.

In 1986, highlights of the two concerts were condensed into one LP and released as John Lennon: Live In NYC. The sound quality was iffy on that release, and fans have been wanting to hear the entire concerts ever since.

Now, produced by Sean Ono Lennon, both concerts have been completely remixed and re-engineered by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon, using new HD multitrack transfers by Rob Stevens with mixes mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road. There has been some tinkering with autotune on the vocals, but if you know John Lennon, then you know he would absolutely approve of this.

The concerts are presented separately as `afternoon,’ `evening’ and `hybrid’ shows on 3 HD Audio Blu-ray discs in HD Stereo, 5.1 Surround & Dolby Atmos.

This Super Deluxe edition also includes a 204-page book, newsprint poster, 2 postcards, 2 sticker sheets, 2 replica tickets, VIP backstage pass & VIP after-show invitation.

And yet, that’s not the main attraction for the John Lennon completist.

For the last several years, under the direction of Sean Ono Lennon, the Lennon estate has been releasing super deluxe, remixed and remasterd boxed sets of all of Lennon’s solo albums. However, one set that had been announced and was scheduled for release was pulled at the last minute.

Some Time In New York City by John & Yoko, with Elephant’s Memory Band and a bonus disc of live recordings is not the favorite John Lennon release of many fans. It is his most overtly political album. He alternates tracks with Yoko for the first time. The original production and recording left a lot to be desired.

Worst of all, the lead single, and most famous track from the album, includes the “N word.”

While it was a bold, crass and effective political statement when it was originally released in 1972, today it was just too cringeworthy and offensive to be released by a major label. The possibility of it being embraced by the very racist and mysogynistic institutions that it criticized made it simply too radioactive in the current political climate.

That meant that all the work done on that album, with “Ultimate” mixes, elemental mixes demos and more, went on the shelf.

The reason this boxed set is a whopping nine CDs is because it includes everything that was produced for the Sometime In New York City boxed set, minus the one very offensive song.

It’s a decent compromise, and it will shine new light on an album that has some great music hidden under the iffy production and political posturing. And that’s why the Power To The People Super Deluxe Edition includes 9 CDs, 103 tracks, lots of extra goodies, and is a must-have for the Beatles and John Lennon completist

Available where ever deluxe boxed sets are sold, Power To The People: Live at the One To One Concert will set you back more than a $220 dollars.

The first pick today in The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide is a really cool recreation of a rare 1970s action figure, available in two cool versions.

Gargon The King of the Terrons
Part of the Astro Command/Adventure Command line
$49.99 to 74.99
available from  Vintage Toys and Trains and White Elephant Toyz.

I did a full photo-review of these figures back in August. This is the perfect gift for collectors of vintage toys, space toys and Super Joe, but they’ll also appeal to collectors of new toys who don’t often get to see something this wild.  He towers over 1/12 scale figures, which makes him a pretty impressive and opposing alien menace.

A couple of years ago when Steve Stovall (of VT&T and Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo fame) and Jason from White Elephant Toyz teamed up to realize Steve’s longtime dream of reviving the late 1970s Super Joe action figure, the idea of it being successful enough for them to revive his arch enemy, Gor: The King of the Terrons, was just a pipe dream.

However, the Super Joe Unlimited revival was successful enough to not only bring down the wrath of Hasbro, causing them to change the name to Adventure Command and Astro Command, but also to invest in the considerable tooling required to make a new incarnation of King Gor.

Like the Adventure Command figures, the newly-rechristened “Gargon” is not an exact reproduction. The construction is vastly superior, he’s a bit bigger, and he lacks the light-up function that won’t be missed by many. I think he has a couple of added points of articulation at the wrists, too.

Gargon is available in the same shade of green as the original Gor, but he’s also been made in a very limited Glow-In-The-Dark version, with accessories that glow as well.  The Glow version costs more, but hey, he glows, and that’s pretty cool in and of itself.

This could figure would look right at home on a shelf filled with collectible vinyl monster toys. These are a godsend for collectors of the original Super Joe toy line, but they are so freaking cool that, even for someone like me who grew up before that line hit, they are well worth collecting on their own. I’m not going out on a limb to say that Adventure Command is a huge improvement over the Super Joe line, which may be the most fragile action figure line in history.  These new figures are built like a tank.

You can order Gargon at White Elephant Toyz or get one from Steve’s eBay store.

To be honest, this is just a glorified doodle. It’s a big one, but when I started, I had no idea what it was going to be.

And…I’m still not quite sure. This started out as a me goofing around with straight edges, protracters, flexible curves and pencils, and then when I started using pastel crayons on it about a week after I tossed it on top of the slush pile, it sort of came to life.

What kind of life is something I haven’t quite figured out. I basically just used the oil pastel crayons that I hadn’t worn down yet, and decided to futz around with it for a few days.

It actually reminds me of some of my older digital abstracts, only it’s not digital. It might look like AI art to some folks (heaven forbid—I don’t mess around with that stuff), but it’s all just me.

That didn’t stop me from using a pun as the name, though.

If you want to see this image larger, click HERE.

Later today we continue The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide.

Meanwhile, over in radioland, Monday beginning at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a classic episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM we do the same with 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.

Tonight at 9 PM we bring you our newish Monday night line-up featuring two hours each of Curtain Call and Beatles Blast, plus six hours overnight with an assortment of our programming from Haversham Recording Institute: tonight is’s live concerts from Joe Jackson Peter Gabriel and the Cure on Sydney’s Big Electric Cat and Prognosis.

This week we have a great new music video from one of our  Radio Free Charleston favorites.

Above you see Frenchy & The Punk  with “Not Under Your Spell.”

If that seems familiar, This was the fir I played this week on the Radio Free Charleston radio show, over on The AIR.

It’s really cool, and I wanted to keep you fine folks up to date with what they’re doing.  Follow that link above to go where you can buy their music and buy tons of it.

This week we travel back to early June, 2012, for a special preview edition of Radio Free Charleston for FestivALL 2012. This bonus-length, forty-five minutes how includes music from John Lilly, Buddy Black, The Demon Beat, QiET, Sasha Colette, Comparsa and Brian Diller.

We also have a trailer for David Smith’s film, Ladybeard, and lots of footage from previous FestivALLs, including bellydancing and other cool stuff. Host segments were shot all over town, in places where FestivALL stuff would be happening later.

Next week in this space we’ll bring you the first of our two extra-long episodes devoted to FestivALL 2012.

Anthony Taylor (disclosure time: Anthony is a friend) is a keen observer of pop culture and genre fiction and for this entry in The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide I’m going to revisit a couple of his books that I reviewed in this blog earlier this year, plus one additional volume.

These are great gift ideas for fans of pop culture, as well as people who love the art and craft of comic books, toy making and model kits.

Aurora Plastic Models Catalogs: Volume 1 – The 1960’s
compiled by Anthony Taylor
APT Publishing
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8312227680
Paperback $35.99
Hardback $64.99

Aurora Plastic Models Catalogs: Volume 2 – The 1970’s
compiled by Anthony Taylor
APT Publishing
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8312227680
Paperback $35.99
Hardback $64.99
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8309355167

These two volumes are the perfect gift for fans of Aurora Model kits as well as purveyors of pop culture of a certain golden era.

Model building was a huge, mainstream hobby from the 1950s into the 1970s, and is still a popular pastime today. One of the most creative companies making these assemble-it-yourself kits was Aurora Plastics.  In each of these books, after a brief intro by Anthony Taylor, you get over 320 pages of pure gold–ten years worth of retailer sales catalogs from Aurora from the 1960s and 1970s.

These catalogs were available in most hobby shops so kids (and adults) could make wishlists and see the full product line. The catalogs are reproduced in full color, close to their original size, and they trace the evolution of the hobby over the course of the 1960s. The early years see the catalogs dominated by airplanes and cars, with just a few historical figures in the mix.

As the years progress, we see a virtual explosion of pop culture topics, as Aurora’s selection reflects the passions of the day, from the space program to James Bond and spies, to superheroes, Batmania, hit TV shows and movies and even “original equity” creations designed to cash in on the burgeoning counter culture.

And we can’t leave out the monsters. “Monster Kids” loved model kits, and one of the major forces driving the hobby was the Universal Monsters, with additional kits featuring Godzilla, literary horror and other scary subjects. At one point they even combined the monsters with hot rods. The package art shown here is incredible and the product descriptions priceless.

Both volumes of Aurora Plastic Models Catalogs make perfect gifts for any model kit collector, and will be of great interest to anybody interested in pop culture from the 1960s and 1970d, and one of the most creative ways to ever play with toys…building models.

You can order these books from Amazon, through Anthony Taylor’s website, or from most booksellers by using the ISNB code.

The Art of George Wilson
by Anthony Taylor (Author), Daniel Herman (Editor), George Wilson (Artist)
Hermes Press
ISBN: 978-1-61345-288-2
$75.00

The Art of George Wilson is an absolutely gorgeous hardcover coffee-table book that collects and celebrates one of the most widely-distributed artists of the 20th century, who sadly did the vast majority of his work anonymously. It’s a great gift for comic book fans as well as folks who appreciate commercial art and gauche painting.

Anthony Taylor has managed to uncover the life story of a very private man who would probably be extremely pleased, and equally perplexed to be getting so much recognition. Along with Taylor’s great bio, the book includes the only known interview with Wilson.

Taylor even relates a secret from his past that Wilson couldn’t talk about during most of his lifetime. This book is an invaluable and long overdue recognition of a man who was part of the lives of millions of kids who never knew his name. It’s a missing piece of comic book history.

Let me quote the book’s PR blurb:

What made many of the great adventure comics of the 1960s so attractive were their fantastic painted covers by artist George Wilson. Unlike other comic book covers of the era, Wilson’s covers harkened back to the era of pulp magazines and were spectacularly eye-catching. He turned in efforts for literally hundreds of comics titles including: Classics Illustrated, The Twilight Zone, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Dr.Solar, Magnus Robot Fighter, Turok, Son of Stone and Star Trek, to name but a few.

This new art book focuses on over 300 examples of his cover art and features numerous examples of Wilson’s artwork scanned from the originals together with many of the book covers he created including his extensive run on Avon’s The Phantom (as well as his work on the Gold Key version).

The reason Wilson is so deserving of the accolades is that his work is just so damned impressive. There is a long standing snobbery in the world of fine art that looks down on commercial artists. Despite the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, even today we find resistance to the idea of commercial illustrators and comic book artists being considered alongside the artists who play the gallery game.

Unless, of course, those artists had their work traced by Roy Lichtenstein.

Seeing so much of Wilson’s work in one place, most of it free of the text and trade dress that obscured it on comic book covers, reveals that Wilson was a technically brilliant painter, working mainly in gauche, who had a mastery of light and shadow in a league with Edward Hopper, mixed with a sense of drama and fantasy that rivals the best of the surrealists.

The Art of George Wilson is relevatory for art lovers, and is a nostalgic treat for those of us who grew up seeing those spectacular comic book covers that captured our imagination…and made us wonder who painted them. Also of note is a great introduction by contemporary artist, Joe Jusko that really illustrates the influence that Wilson had on a generation of artists, most of whom never knew his name.

The Art of George Wilson can be ordered directly from Hermes Press. You may be able to order it through your favorite bookseller by using the ISBN code.

Svengoolie® T-Shirt
by MeTV Limited
From $19.95 + $6.95 shipping and handling (plus sales tax where applicable)

The perfect gift for any fan of the famed horror host, Svengoolie, this is the classic Sven shirt, as seen on celebrities like Mark Hamill, Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole, as well as thousands of nobodies.

This exclusive, glow-in-the-dark t-shirt celebrating America’s favorite horror host turns any ordinary Svengoolie fan into an “Official Chicken Thrower.” Featuring print on the front and back—the “Chicken Thrower” insignia—this ghastly garment is a sure way to show your allegiance to the Sven-nation in style!

Might I also suggest an appropriate rubber chicken pairing, from the fine aged rubber chicken cellars of Archie McPhee?

This shirt is available in sizes ranging from Small to 5X, so you ought to be able to cover the die-hard Svengoolie fan on your holiday shopping list. It’s a great shirt to wear anywhere, and in the spirit of the season, some would even say it glows!

Order it from MeTV, and poke around their website for dozens of other cool pop culture items. Beware of highly-flammable imitations and remember, NO PERSONAL CHECKS!

The PopCulteer
November 7, 2025

Like I mentioned last week, this week we are into our first week of The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide, so I will be running a scaled down version of STUFF TO DO, without the lengthy boilerplate (you can find an example HERE), and with fewer than ten graphics, instead of the ever-ballooning number that has topped 20 at times in recent months. The reason for this is to make your humble blogger’s life a little easier during his busiest month. This week I even moved our round-up of STUFF TO DO into the PopCulteer, just to keep things simple.

Until we get back to normal in December, more than ever, you should remember 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.

We very happily remind you that Cristen Michael has created an interactive calendar that is way more comprehensive than this list of STUFF TO DO, and you can find it HERE. Just click on the day and the event and you’ll be whisked away to a page with more details about loads of area events.

You can find live music in and around town every night of the week. You just have to know where to look.  Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.

Here we go, roughly in order, it’s graphics for local events happening over the next few days that I was able to scrounge up online…

Continue reading

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band: Still Barking
Import CD Boxset
$258.45 from Amazon

Today’s second gift suggestion in The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide is one of our big-ticket items, and like our first pick, it’s pretty much the ideal gift for fans of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band.

I mean, real, die-hard fans of the band. It’s basically everything they ever released and more.

Still Barking is a limited edition 20 disc (17 CDs + three DVDs) set that includes 17 CDs documenting a spectacularly entertaining career featuring: Stereo versions of all of the band’s original albums, carefully remastered to capture their idiosyncratic charm; Additional remastered versions Gorilla and The Doughnut In Granny’s Greenhouse in their original mono mixes; A newly compiled remastered CD of all the band’s singles; Two discs of demos, rehearsals, and outtakes; A single disc of backing tracks; Three discs of BBC Sessions that capture the band’s eccentric live energy; Two live discs (Studio Bellevue, Amsterdam. Recorded: November 1968 and Fillmore East, NYC, 17 October 1969); A CD featuring a live show from London’s Marquee Club and additional material of band rehearsals from the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire.

Plus there are three DVDs of TV performances, including the complete Bonzo appearances from the shows, Do Not Adjust Your Set, Colour Me Pop, Beat Club, and more.

Other highlights include rare appearances, short films, and vintage footage from the height of their career.

Also in this massive boxed set are cool souvenir items like Seven reproduction band photo prints individually signed by the surving three members of the band, plus 3 band art prints, a reproduction of Imperial Records’ US promo poster and the 1967 Liberty Records press release.

A 148 page hardback coffee table book featuring an essay by Bonzos authority Chris Welch and an in-depth Day By Day Chronology/Cornology by noted author Andy Neill (The Who; Ready, Steady, Go!) rounds out this epic set.

If you know The Bonzo Dog Band, you know you need this boxed set. If you don’t know the Bonzos, you’ll have to take my word for it that you need this boxed set. Buy it as a gift for someone you love, then borrow it.

Just read the blurb:

As one of the UK’s most beloved and unconventional bands, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band have delighted audiences for over 60 years with their distinctive blend of music, comedy, and surrealism.
Formed in the early 1960s by art students Vivian Stanshall and Rodney Slater, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band began as a jazz ensemble parodying the music of the 1920s and 30s before evolving into a pioneering force in rock and comedy. Their satirical songs and eclectic performances quickly made them a favourite on the London underground scene.

They gained national fame through appearances on the TV show “Do Not Adjust Your Set,” which also featured future members of Monty Python. Known for their hit “I’m the Urban Spaceman,” produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth, the Bonzos left an indelible mark on the British music and comedy landscape.

This comprehensive 20-disc collection celebrates the complete works of the legendary Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and their impact on a generation of revered artists and comedians, from The Beatles to Monty Python. This set was seven years in the making and put together with band’s full co-operation.

It’s available from a few online retailers, but you aren’t likely to beat the price at Amazon.

Dip My Brain in Joy: A Life with Neil Innes: The Official Biography
by Yvonne Innes
Nine Eight Books
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1785121692
$35.99 (discounted at Amazon)

The first pick today (and both of today’s picks are related) in The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide is a perfect gift for the Anglophile fan of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who included associates of The Beatles, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Mike Oldfield and The Muppets within their ranks.

First up with have the official biography of Neil Innes, written by his widow, Yvonne Innes.

Neil Innes was an English musician and comedian. He rose to prominence as the creative genius behind Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and went on to collaborate with Monty Python and co-created the Beatles parody band The Rutles. Yvonne met Neil in the 1960s and the couple married in 1966. They had three sons and were together for over fifty years until Neil’s death in 2019.

Few individuals have had such an impact on British culture over the past sixty years as the comedy and music icon Neil Innes. He was the songwriting powerhouse of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band. The Bonzos appear in Magical Mystery Tour and wrote the music used for the theme song of The Muppet Show. One of their song titles became the name of the band, Death Cab For Cutie.

Innes was the injector of art college surrealism into 1960s TV comedy, instigating a revolution that led directly to Monty Python, the group he repeatedly joined on screen and stage.

He was “Ron Nasty,” co-founder of the much-loved Rutles, the “pre-fab four.”

In addtion to being the accidental inventor of the phrase ‘Cool Britannia’. Innes was a much-loved children’s TV storyteller, thinker, maker, creator, undisputed national treasure and Britain’s sweet idiot laureate.

And through it all, Neil remained one of the kindest and brightest individuals in showbusiness. Musicians, comedians and fans alike loved being around Neil. He created music and joy and art wherever he went. And the person who loved having him round more than anybody else was Yvonne. Neil and Yvonne met at Goldsmiths College in the 1960s and they went on to walk hand-in-hand through life for over fifty years, until Neil’s untimely death.

This book tells the life story of one of the unsung heroes of British comedy. In addition to his work with the Bonzos, he was a credited writer and performer on the fourth season of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, performed with the troupe in the 1970s and 80s, and appeared in their movies. This is a phenomenal life story. Any fan of The Bonzos, The Beatles, The Pythons or British comedy and music in general will love this.

Available from any bookseller using the ISBN code, or heavily-discounted from Amazon.