Author: Rudy Panucci (Page 76 of 581)

American Exxxtasy: My 30-Year Search for a Happy Ending
by John Amero
with Ashley West and April Hall of The Rialto Report
FAB Press
ISBN-13 : 978-1913051068
$30.00

You may think it odd to recommend a book about a pioneering filmmaker who specialized in sexploitation and straight and gay porn as a Christmas gift, but our first pick in The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide today is just that. It’s a great gift for any reader who enjoys well-told life stories, or anyone interested in the golden age of independent filmmaking. If you have someone on your gift list who enjoys gritty, and sometimes sleazy, real-life stories, then American Exxxtasy will be a surefire hit. I just reviewed this in PopCult a few weeks ago, but it’s stuck with me since.

American Exxxtasy: My 30-Year Search for a Happy Ending is a real treat for non-snobby film fans. It’s the life story of John Amero, who is not exactly a household name, but he’s led a fascinating life as a pioneer of underground cinema and has even flirted with mainstream success. If you are not offended by the idea of treating people who worked in the porn industry as real folks, then you really ought to enjoy this book.

This is the first book published with a co-imprint of The Rialto Report, the website I’ve written about here previously that documents the golden age of porn via articles and podcasts. Amero was their first contact when they began their mission, and it took years of prodding by them to convince him to tell his life story.

It’s a pretty wild life story: A young man from a small New England fishing town grows up to become one of the most influential exploitation filmmakers in the 1960s, and then goes on to pioneer hardcore straight and gay porn, before winding up his film career producing a mainstream documentary for NBC. Mainstream audiences may not know of such films as Body of a Female, Diary of a Swinger and The Corporate Queen, or they may pretend not to know about Blonde Ambition and Every Inch a Lady, but these were all very profitable independent film releases. They just aren’t quite the “art films” that are discussed in “polite company.”

The remarkable thing about American Exxxtasy is how positive and upbeat Amero has managed to remain. Growing up in a family ripped apart by mental illness, being confused about his sexuality and eventually coming to grips with being gay, and then living in New York City through the eras of Stonewall, LGBTQ rights and AIDS, one would expect Amero to be at least a little bitter or embattled, but that is not the case here.

In American Exxxtasy, the meaty parts about the actual filmmaking process are engrossing. This is not like reading about how many hundreds of special effects artists worked on a Spielberg movie. This is about buying cheap film stock and running around New York, shooting without a permit, while trying not to get busted for filming topless women. This is the story of guerilla filmmaking back before anybody called it that.

We also learn of Amero’s childhood, and his early life in New York in the late 1950s, working in menial jobs at CBS and ABC, and how his story includes encounters with Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Andy Warhol, Montgomery Clift, Anthony Perkins, and Olympia Dukakis.

Exploitation film aficionados will eat up the stories of his partnership with his bother, Lem, and his friendship with fellow underground filmmakers Michael and Roberta Findlay. Plus they’ll get a kick out of reading about his dealings with various, possibly mob-connected, grindhouse film distributors.

Ashely West and April Hall are credited as co-writers, but as they do with The Rialto Report, their voices are not evident. I’m certain they did a heck of a lot to guide and edit Amero, but the story is his to tell, and they step back let him tell it splendidly.

American Exxxtasy is a true American success story told with wit, humor and genuine emotion. It captures a moment in the film industry that we will never see again. This is a first-person account of a cultural and sexual revolution played out in one man’s life. Perhaps Amero’s happy ending is that he has enjoyed a life well lived and can share his story with the world. American Exxxtasy: My 30-Year Search for a Happy Ending is available from any bookseller. You can order it using the ISBN code, or you can get a signed first edition, directly from the publisher.

The PopCulteer
November 6, 2020

Friday On The AIR

It’s fun with flashbacks day Friday on The AIR.  I’m not talking about reruns here. On a new MIRROBALL special Mel Larch salutes one of the top bands of the Disco era, Chic. Meanwhile, Sydney Fileen gives us a time capsule of New Wave Music from the pivotal year of 1978 on Sydney’s Big Electric Cat Friday afternoon on The AIR. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on this embedded radio player…

At 2 PM we present an AIR Music Special, the fourteenth edition of MIRRORBALL, hosted by Mel Larch. This salutes the brilliance of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards and their band Chic, with the following tunes…

“Dance, Dance, Dance”
“Strike Up The Band”
“Real People”
“Take It Off”
“Open Up”
“Burn Hard”:
“Bone (Funny)”
“Flash Back”
“Rebels We Are”
“Le Freak”
“Good Times”

You can tune in at 2 PM and hear our latest MIRRORBALL.  MIRRORBALL will also be replayed Friday night at 10 PM, Saturday at 5 PM, Sunday at 11 PM and Tuesday at 1 PM. We’ll probably sneak in a few more airings during the week.

At 3 PM, Sydney Fileen treats us to another mixtape look at a specific year of the New Wave era. This time it’s 1978. This was the year that saw debut albums by The Police, DEVO, The Cars and our national treasure Kate Bush. Also in this year were sophomore efforts by Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Boomtown Rats, and the first two albums by XTC, plus 1978 also brought us memorable early releases from The Ramones, The Stranglers, Souixsie and The Banshees, The Cure, The Clash and more.

Check out the playlist here…

BEC 064

The Police “So Lonely”
The Cars “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”
Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights”
DEVO “Come Back Jonee”
The Ramones “I Wanted Everything”
The Boomtown Rats “Rat Trap”
The Clash “All The Young Punks”
Siouxsie and the Banshees “Switch”
Ultravox “Can’t Stay Long”
The Cure “Killing An Arab”
The Godz “Gotta Keep Runnin'”
The Jam “Down In The Tube Station At Midnight”
Tim Curry “Brontosaurus”
Elvis Costello and The Attractions “Pump It Up”
Lene Lovich “Tonight”
The Stranglers “Nice and Sleazy”
Nick Lowe “(I Love The Sound of) Breaking Glass”
The Buzzcocks “Fast Cars”
Wreckless Eric “Whole Wide World”
Kraftwerk “The Model”
Talking Heads “Take Me To The River”
Blondie “One Way Or Another”
Japan “Adolescent Sex”
The Dickies “I’m OK You’re OK”
Be Bop Deluxe “Electrical Language”
The Adverts “No Time To Be 21”
Patti Smith “Because The Night”
Sham 69 “Angels With Dirty Faces”
X-Ray Spex “Germfree Adolescents”
XTC “This Is Pop”

As Sydney says in her intro, “1978 was the year that punk grew beyond three chords and evolved into a musically diverse and powerful energy force that revitalized music well into the 1980s.”

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. You can also hear select episodes of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat as part of the overnight Haversham Recording Institute marathon that starts every Monday at 11 PM.

And that is it for this week’s PopCulteer. Check back later Friday for three more installements of The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide. While we’re running the gift guide, we will be suspending The RFC Flashback and Sunday Evening Videos. But that means you’ll get three or four gift guide entries each day all through the weekend.

Completing The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide for today, we have a DVD/Blu Ray release of Star Trek: Picard – Season One. This is the perfect gift for the Star Trek fan on your list who still values physical copies of their favorite programs.

Star Trek: Picard features Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The new series will follow this iconic character into the next chapter of his life.

Starring Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Santiago Cabrera as Cristobal Rios, Alison Pill as Dr. Agnes Jurati, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, Isa Briones as Soji, Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Harry Treadaway as Narek, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Evan Evagora as Elnor, and Brent Spiner as Data, this new streaming series perfectly captured the spirit of ST:TNG, while moving it into a new and mature direction.

I know that having hard copies of your favorite television shows may seem a bit passe in these streaming times, but a lot of folks enjoy the keepsake nature of having something under the tree. Plus it’s getting increasingly difficult to subscribe to ever single streaming service out there.

A local note: Charleston’s own Ann Magnuson appears in a couple of episodes on this set.

The DVD will run you $28, while the Blu Ray is $35. You can find this disc at Amazon, or anywhere that DVDs are still sold.

I first wrote about these guys back in July, and they are the perfect gift for anyone who’s young at heart and fond of the ubiquitous Green Army Men that we all played with growing up.

Epic Army Men, by ToySmith, checks off all your nostalgia and cool-giant-thing buttons.

I saw these at Cotswold Collectibles, and when they got them in stock, I decided to order a set. These are Green Army Men, like most of us had when we were kids, but there is a bit of a twist…these Green Army Men are seven times the size of most Green Army Men.

These are 14 and 1/2 inch-tall Green Army Men. Jolly Green Giant Army Men, if you will. They are huge, taller than an original GI Joe and are pretty much little Green Army Men blown up to a giant scale. Don’t get me wrong. These are not action figures. They do not pose. While they are not molded as one big, solid piece of plastic (that would make them much heavier and more fragile) they are tightly glued together and you have to look at them close up to spot the seams. These are a giant-sized representation of the little green plastic soldiers that damn near everybody had to play with as a kid.

They are quite sturdy, made with a slightly more flexible rubberized plastic, and with no long, thin pieces that could snap off. They are absolutely child safe. However, at this size and price (roughly twenty bucks each) they are more like decor than playthings.

There are three styles of figures in this series of Epic Army Men: An Infantryman is giving a salute. A Radioman is holding his Walkie-Talkie. A Bazookaman is preparing to fire his shoulder-mounted weapon.

Kids can have lots of fun with these, either on their own, or as super-soldiers grown to enormous size to do battle with Godzilla. Big toys are fun for big imaginations.

Adults will get the nostalgic glee of having giant versions of their old toys, and these would look pretty cool on a bookshelf or just sitting around your living room.

You can order the set of three Epic Army Men from Cotswold Collectibles for just under sixty bucks (plus shipping). They can also be ordered directly from ToySmith, but you don’t get your pick of which figure you want (all three designs have the same item number), so you might not wind up with a full set.

Our first entry today in the 2020 PopCult Gift Guide is a triple-pick, three volumes of some of the best Aquaman comics ever published, in beautful hardcover editions. These are the perfect gift for fans of the Aquaman movie who want to see the roots of the character, and it’s also great for any fan of quality Silver Age superhero comics or great comic book art.

All three volumes are still in print and easy to find. You can order them with their ISBN codes, or you may find them online for a discounted price.

Aquaman: The Search for Mera Deluxe Edition
by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo
DC Comics
$34.99

First up we have a book that collects the first half of the acclaimed run of Aquaman issues by writer, Steve Skeates and artist, Jim Aparo. These were original published in 1968 and 1969.

Mera, the queen of Atlantis, mysteriously disappears, and Aquaman begins searching high and low to find her. In addition, Atlantis is in the grip of a new enemy named Narkran, a duplicitous politician with plans to rule the underwater kingdom with an iron fist. And finally, as if that isn’t bad enough, Black Manta shows up to take advantage of Aquaman’s desperate situation.

Over fifty years ago, writer Steve Skeates and artist Jim Aparo began their acclaimed tenure on Aquaman with this epic nine-issue tale of Mera’s disappearance and Aquaman’s frantic quest to get her back. Collected now in a new Deluxe Edition, Aquaman: The Search for Mera Deluxe Edition includes Aquaman #40-48.

The action then picks right up with…

Aquaman: Deadly Waters The Deluxe Edition
by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo
DC Comics
ISBN-13 : 978-1779502940
$39.99

This is the second volume that collects the acclaimed but underexposed run of Aquaman stories originally published in the late 1960s and early 1970s by DC Comics. Aquaman: Deadly Waters The Deluxe Edition is a great example of “relelvant” comics of the day, that addressed topical and political issues in ways that are not as heavy-handed as some of the more recent comics tend to be.

This volume collects the remaining issues of Aquaman’s first solo comic book, including a three-part Deadman back-strip written and drawn by Neal Adams, which told a parallel story that seamlessly integrates into the lead stories featuring Aquaman. It’s a great example of editorial symmetry on the part of editor Dick Giordano and his storytellers.

A nice touch with this collection (one not listed on the index pages) is that DC has included two text pages, written by Skeates at the time, that give a lot of the background of the creation of some of these stories. It’s a nice bonus, since they did not include any other text material to give us any historical context.

This volume ends with the final issue of Aquaman, from 1971. However, the character would not stay dormant.

Aquaman: The Death of a Prince Deluxe Edition
by David Micheline, Jim Aparo, Mike Grell, Don Newton and others
DC Comics
ISBN-13 : 978-1779500953
$39.99

Three years after his first solo series ended, Aquaman turned up in the pages of Adventure Comics, first as a back-up feature, but eventually as the lead feature for a few issues before graduating to his own revived solo title. During this run, Steve Skeates returned to write a few entries, working with artist, Mike Grell, on the back-up strips. Skeates departed, and was replaced by Paul Levitz and then David Micheline as Jim Aparo returned to the art chores. Eventually other creators completed the run reprinted in this collection.

Skeates and Aparo did reunite one last time, and that story is included here. When Aparo left the series for a final time, he was replaced by Don Newton, who, like Aparo broke into the business drawing The Phantom for Charlton, and eventually wound up as a longtime artist on Batman.

After being dethroned by his own people and sent into exile, Aquaman discovers a conspiracy within his Kingdom. Rather than reclaim his birthright, he decides to become a super-hero. But even Aquaman cannot escape tragedy as Black Manta kidnaps and kills his infant son! The crushing blow threatens his relationship with his beloved wife, Mera. How Aquaman copes with these crushing blows comes to define him as the hero we know today.

Collects Adventure Comics #435-437, 441-445 and Aquaman #57-63.

Together these books contain over 700 pages of terrific Aquaman adventures, and any fan of the The King of Atlantis would love to add these to their library.

Another Day In The Life
by Ringo Starr,forewords by David Lynch and Henry Diltz
Genesis Publications
ISBN-13 : 978-1905662586
$40.00 (discounted at Amazon)

We wrap up Beatles Day with a coffee table book of photographs and images by Ringo Starr. Published late last year, this somehow escaped my attention while I was compiling the 2019 gift guide, so now I’m offering it up here. A bonus is that it’s come down a bit in price at Amazon.

“This is a way of putting my life out there, because if I were to write a memoir, there’d be five volumes before I got to The Beatles. So I’m going at it this way, through photographs and quotes. And this is, I feel, a better way for me to do it.” – Ringo Starr

“Ringo’s picture book, Ringo in book form. The essence of Ringo.” – David Lynch

Another Day In The Life is introduced and narrated by Ringo Starr, with forewords by legendary movie director David Lynch and rock photographer Henry Diltz. Ringo shows us the world as seen through a Starr’s eyes, in more than 500 observational photographs and rare images from the archives, and an original text of nearly 13,000 words.

From Los Angeles to Tokyo and everywhere in between, Ringo’s photographs celebrate his life in music and offer a glimpse behind the scenes. Many are taken during historic events, such as Ringo’s acceptance of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and his return to New York’s Plaza Hotel, 50 years after The Beatles first visited the USA.

Another Day In The Life, Ringo Starr’s 184-page monograph featuring Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh and a host of All-Starr friends, is captioned throughout with an original commentary. Meditative, witty and always engaging, Ringo reflects on a legendary life in music.

This is a great gift for any fan of Ringo and The Beatles.

George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters
by Ashley Kahn
Chicago Review Press
ISBN-13 : 978-1641600514
$30.00

Continuing Beatles Day here in the gift guide, we have a thick book that compiles tons of interviews with George Harrison.

George Harrison on George Harrison is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of Harrison’s most revealing and illuminating interviews, personal correspondence, and writings, spanning the years 1962 to 2001. Though known as the “Quiet Beatle,” Harrison was arguably the most thoughtful and certainly the most outspoken of the famous four. This compendium of his words and ideas proves that point repeatedly, revealing his passion for music, his focus on spirituality, and his responsibility as a celebrity, as well as a sense of deep commitment and humor.

You can get lost in this book, reading what George thought of then-current events, his musical relationships and how he crafted his albums.

This collection of interviews lets you read the words of the late Beatle almost twenty years after we lost him to cancer. Recommended for the devout fans of Harrison and The Beatles because this is the next best thing to hanging out with George.

You can order George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters from several online booksellers, or from any book store using the ISBN code.

Paul McCartney “McCartney III”
CD/Vinyl/Download

Next up for Beatles Day in The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide we have brand-new music from Sir Paul. This is another pre-order, due out on December 11, of a brand-new Paul McCartney album, recorded during the pandemic lockdown–or “rockdown” as McCartney calls it–and it’s the third in a series of albums where almost every instrument and voice is performed by McCartney himself.

Paul McCartney will release McCartney III on December 11th. Paul hadn’t planned to release an album in 2020, but in the isolation of “Rockdown,” he found himself fleshing out some existing musical sketches and creating new ones. Before long an eclectic collection of spontaneous songs would become McCartney III: a stripped, self-produced solo work marking the opening of a new decade. Built mostly from live takes of Paul on vocals & guitar/piano, overdubbing bass, drums, etc. atop this foundation.

2020 marks 50 years since Paul McCartney released his self-titled first solo album. Featuring Paul playing every instrument and writing and recording every song, McCartney’s effortless charms have only grown in stature and influence over time. The chart-topping album would signify not only a creative rebirth for Paul, but also as a template for generations of indie and lo-fi musicians seeking to emulate its warm homespun vibe and timeless tunes including ’Maybe I’m Amazed’, ‘Every Night’ and ’The Lovely Linda’.

In 1980, 10 years from the release of McCartney, Paul wrapped up the decade of Wings with the surprise release of his second solo album, the electronic-tinged McCartney II. Once again featuring Paul entirely on his own, McCartney II would come to be regarded as a leftfield classic, with classic cuts such as ’Coming Up’, ‘Temporary Secretary’ and ’Waterfalls’.   Hard as it is to believe, it’s only been two years since Egypt Station went #1–and it was only last year that Paul’s Freshen Up tour played its last show before Covid hit pause on live music, a legendary blowout at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Recorded earlier this year in Sussex, McCartney III is mostly built from live takes of Paul on vocals and guitar or piano, overdubbing his bass playing, drumming, etc. atop that foundation. The process first sparked when Paul returned to an unreleased track from the early 90s, ’When Winter Comes’ (co-produced by George Martin). Paul crafted a new passage for the song, giving rise to album opener ’Long Tailed Winter Bird’—while ’When Winter Comes’, featuring its new 2020 intro ’Winter Bird’, became the new album’s grand finale.

This album will be the perfect gift for any fan of McCartney or The Beatles who will be excited to hear new music from the 78-year-old wunderkind. You can pre-order it from Amazon, or if your giftee is into colored vinyl, there are quite a few retailer limited edition exclusives in different colors like pink, red, green, yellow (sold out), white (independent record shops only), blue (Australia),and “Coke bottle” clear (also sold out already).

Here’s a short trailer for the album…

Today is Beatles Day at The 2020 PopCult Gift Guide, and we’re going to bring you four entries that focus on each of the Fab Four. Some are music. Some are books. Our first pick today is a our first double entry because it suggests both, a new John Lennon “Best of” boxed set, and a coffee table book devoted to a classic album of his.

GIMME SOME TRUTH: The Ultimate Mixes
[2 CD/Blu Ray Deluxe Boxed Set]
John Lennon
Remixed music produced by Sean Ono Lennon
Universal Music Group
$65

To mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Sean Ono Lennon and Universal Music Group have released Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes in a variety of formats and prices. We’re going to look at the 2CD/Blu Ray version because it’s got the most cool stuff with it.

We begin with the PR blurb:

The definitive new Best Of John Lennon – 36 tracks completely remixed from master tapes, giving these classic songs a new life for generations to come and sounding better than ever before. 2 CD/Blu-ray features 36 tracks in hi-res stereo 96/24 PCM, new 5.1 surround mixes and Dolby Atmos for the ultimate immersive experience. With an incredible 124-page book with rare photos and extensive notes from John, Yoko and more. Foldout 2-sided poster, 2 postcards and GIMME SOME TRUTH. bumper sticker.

If you are a fan of John Lennon and The Beatles, you will enjoy this reminder of the musical genius we lost almost forty years ago. This is also a good reminder of how wide-ranging Lennon was as a songwriter. Gimme Some Truthhas everything from rockers to ballads, protest songs to pop masterpieces, introspective soul-revealing epics to silly love songs. You’l find everything from the proto-metal scream of “Cold Turkey” to the tender fatherly ode of “Beautiful Boy.”

The remixes, using analog equipment and the original master tapes, are a bit of a sonic revelation. There are no major shocks or surprises here, but the new mixes have a remarkable clarity and sound absolutely pristine.

GIMME SOME TRUTH: The Ultimate Mixes is a good gift idea for the die-hard fan or a great entry-level collection for a Lennon newbie. The new mixes and the book make it really worthwhile. You should be able to buy or order this from any retailer who sells CDs.

John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band
by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Weldon Owen
ISBN-13 : 978-1681885896
$50.00 (to be released November 17. Pre-order at Amazon now)

Fifty years after its release, John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band is celebrated in the pages of a beautiful coffee table book that would be the perfect gift for any fan of the album, or anyone who wants to learn the inner workings of the former Beatle and his wife at a key time, following the breakup of the biggest band in the world. This is a definitive, in-depth, revelatory exploration of John Lennon’s intensely personal first major solo album after the breakup of the Beatles.

Described by Lennon as “the best thing I’ve ever done,” and widely regarded as his best solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released on 11 December 1970. With first-hand commentary by Lennon, Ono, and other members of the band, and packed with previously unseen photographs by those who documented their lives, this incisive volume offers new insights into the raw emotions and open mindset of Lennon after marriage to Ono and the breakup of the Beatles, to the making of the album and revealing interview with Jann Wenner in December 1970.

Primal therapy had a huge impact on Lennon’s songwriting, resulting in the creation of intensely personal, soul-baring tracks. This book takes his lyrics as a starting point and explores Lennon’s life, career, and self-perception, from “performing flea” with the Beatles to authenticity as a solo artist.

This is a treasure trove for anyone who considers Lennon to be their musical hero.

Todd McFarlane’s RAW 10 Figures
$9.99 to $19.99, exclusively at Walmart

I first told you about this cool new action figure line back in July. Now this Walmart-exclusive line has hit stores and is also available online, and I’ve gotten my hands on them. They are extremely impressive for the price.

Recommended for kids and adult collectors, this line of four action figures (so far) takes the concept of wild animals and combines with robotics to create some really cool-looking new monster figures.

Toy and Comics impressario, Todd McFarlane has struck a deal with Walmart to sell a line of toys based on characters who first appeared in his comic book series, Spawn. Cy-Gor, a cybernetic gorilla was the result of experiments done on an Army buddy friend of Al Simmons, before he became the avenging undead superhero known as “Spawn.”

This is not Cy-Gor’s first appearance as a toy, but now he’s the star figure in a line of cybernetic animal hybrids with human minds, known as RAW 10.

McFarlane and the award-winning McFarlane Toys’ design team have created a brand-new toy line and online comic series for creature and monster fans of all ages. This is a delightfully cheesy B-movie concept executed in glorious plastic that reminds me of some of the acid-trip toys we had back in the 1960s. The figures are top-notch with decent articulation for the price.

The price is a strong selling point. There are four figures. Two cost twenty bucks each, and two cost ten bucks each, so you can collect the entire first series for sixty bucks.

With a robotic gorilla, shark, raptor and cobra, you get a great mix of monster animals that can interact with your other action figures. These guys even play well with 1/6 figures…or so I’m told.

Robot animals gone wild–who can resist that? You can order these from Walmart, and if you get the whole set, you might be able to get free shipping.