Author: Rudy Panucci (Page 86 of 581)

Tuesday on The AIR we deliver a new episode of Radio Free Charleston, with a first hour that’s loaded with new music from The Empty Hearts, Mark Beckner Group, The Killers, Jay Parade and more. For the second and third hours we bring you a slightly edited encore of the third episode of RFC volume 3, from 2014.  In order to hear the show, you simply have to find your way over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay on this page, and  listen to this neat-o keen embedded radio player…

We have yet another three-hour Radio Free Charleston at 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday.  This week our first hour is all-new, loaded with great, mostly-new music. Hours two and three bring you a classic episode from early in our Voices of Appalachia Radio run. Hence the old-school graphic at right.

You will hear that episode as it was originally broadcast, with one exception. An artist who was featured on that show has recently spewed forth with some hateful, racist comments, and as a result will never be heard on The AIR again. He has lost all his endorsements and voice-over jobs, and he has only himself to blame. He usually played a misogynistic, ignorant redneck while in character. It’s sad to discover that it wasn’t an act.

However this is still a killer show. Check out the playlist to see all the goodies we bring you this week…

RFCv5 029

hour one
The Empty Hearts “The World’s Gone Insane”
Mark Beckner Group “The Devil”
Oliver Sean “Devil Is Back”
David Bowie “Blue Jean (extended mix)”
The Killers “Dying Breed”
Deep Purple “The Long Way Round”
Jay Parade “Mental Trillness”
Louis Jordan “Beware, Brother, Beware”
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band “Shake ’em Off Like Fleas”
Humble Pie “I Believe To My Soul”
The Rolling Stones “Harlem Shuffle”
Norah Jones “I’m Alive”
Steve Howe “Imagination”
The Fratellis “Hello Stranger”

hour two
The Big Bad “Shine The Signal”
Time And Distance “Little Disaster”
The Science Fair Explosion “Cosmic Girls”
Joe Vallina “Suzy Said So”
Marcie Bullock “Maybe Just Crazy”
Granny’s 12-Gauge “Dear Devil”
The Boatmen “Another New Year’s Alone”
Ouralias “Daydream”
Scooter Scudieri “Ancient Rituals”
Mother Nang “Fade”
John Radcliff “It’s Not The End”
69 Fingers “Faster and Stronger”
Sarah Schlies “Child, My Child”
Sasha Collete “You Had Me”
Crack The Sky “We Want Mine”

Hour Three (Live from The Empty Glass)
The Bible Beaters “Praise Jesus”
The Living Deads “Right Behind You, Baby”
The Big Bad “Babe We Own This Town”
Scrap Iron Pickers “Spy vs. Spy”
Snakebox “Party on the Roof”
Andrew Hellblinki “Bodies”
Tyler Childers “Charleston Girl”
Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands “Little Name”
Mike Pushkin “Wrecking Ball”
Little Nomad “Take Me Down To The Riverside”
The Nanker Phelge “That’s What She Said”
Elephant in the Room “Ghost Town”
Ovada “Church of Paranoia”
The Company Stores “No Middle Name”

Radio Free Charleston can be heard Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, with replays Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM and 7 PM, Saturday at 11 AM and Midnight, Sunday at 1 PM and the next Monday at 8 PM, exclusively on The AIR.

Later today we’ll bring you news on an all-new episode of The Swing Shift.

When I was a kid, I never found the cool giant robot toy by Marx, Big Loo, under my Christmas Tree. However, years later I did find one peeking out from under the Christmas Tree at The Marx Toy Museum in Moundsville. The Marx Toy Museum closed over four years ago, but I wanted to recreate that discovery with a quick digital painting. It’s me in Pop Art mode.

If you want to see it bigger, just click on the image.

For more on Big Loo and The Marx Toy Museum, check out this link.

Meanwhile, Monday on The AIR, we bring you 16 episodes of Word Association with Lee & Rudy from 7 AM to 3 PM. This is our podcast surprise discussion show where I spring a mystery topic on Lee Harrah each week. Word Association is probably going on hiatus soon because it’s so hard to get together with anyone during the pandemic. I thought it might be fun to drop a ton of them here so you can enjoy them before they go away for a while.

At 3 PM on Prognosis, Herman Linte brings us a show devoted to King Crimson’s Red. That’s followed by a classic Prognosis and an evening of Psychedelic Shack and Radio Free Charleston.

You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on this embedded radio player…

This week we are recycling a previous edition of our Sunday Evening Video feature. Right now the punk/pop all-girl band, The GoGos, are riding high again. A couple of weeks ago a terrific documentary on the band debuted on Showtime, and they have a new song which is featured on a new “best of” compilation. That’s the first new GoGos song since 2001.

And I just found out yesterday that this Friday’s new episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat on The AIR will be a two-hour retrospective of the band’s New Wave days.

So I decided to re-present this concert video of the band, caught live in concert at Palos Verdes High School in Palos Verdes Estates, California. It’s a great show, and it lets me continue to slack off during my birthday weekend.

This week we go back to July, 2014, for an RFC MINI SHOW starring singer/songwriter Dina Hornbaker. We brought you three songs performed by Dina just a week before we posted this show at the Early Open Mic at Taylor Books. The RFC Crew just happened to be there armed with cameras and we decided to snag Dina’s first three-song set before deadline duties forced us to make a hasty retreat. This was true guerilla filmmaking because we forgot to tell anyone we were recording and had to ask permission afterward.

You’ll hear Dina doing a Summertime song with nods to Sam Cooke and George Gershwin, as well as the song that she performed on RFC 196, “Mountain Mama.” We wrap up the show with a lovely song that did not yet have a title.

The PopCulteer
August 14, 2020

It’s admission time. Your PopCulteer has been slacking off this week. Because yesterday was my birthday (it was a very nice, low-key day) I dashed off most of this week’s posts early and scheduled them to drop while I was otherwise occupied. My birthday itself was a nice little bright spot in what has turned out to be one of the worst years in history for anybody. I was genuinely humbled by all the kind birthday wishes left for me on social media, and I spent the day with my favorite person.

Speaking of Mrs. PopCulteer, Mel Larch, we did manage to squeak out a new episode of MIRRORBALL, Mel’s series of Disco Music specials for The AIR.

It’s hard to believe, but we’re already up to our eighth edition of MIRRORBALL  Friday afternoon on The AIR. and that’s followed by two great encore epsodes of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat.  You can hear all this good stuff on The AIR website, or just click on this embedded radio player…

MIRRORBALL returns as Mel Larch brings you another collection of the top hits of the Disco era. Back in the days when polyester ruled, Beats Per Minute was the top musical criteria, there were lightbulbs in the floors and it seemed like everybody was born with a silver spoon around their neck, this was the music that ruled the day.

Check out the playlist for this Disco party…

MIRRORBALL 008

Love Unlimited Orchestra “Love’s Theme”
Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band “Cherchez La Femme”
Benny Golson “I’m Always Dancin’ To The Music”
Gino Soccio “Dancer”
Patrice Rushen “Haven’t You Heard”
Yvonne Elliman “If I Can’t Have You”
Earth Wind and Fire “September”
Andrea True Connection “New York You Got Me Dancin’”
The Detroit Spinners “Rubberband Man”
Michael Zager Band “Let’s All Chant”
Chaka Khan “I’m Every Woman”
Edwin Starr “H.A.P.P.Y. Radio”
A Taste of Honey “Boogie Oogie Oogie”
Peaches & Herb “Shake Your Groove Thing”

You can tune in at 2 PM and hear the latest edition of MIRRORBALL. The plan is to drop a new episode roughly every other Friday afternoon, until Mel gets tired of doing it, or people stop listening. Later today, it will go up in the Podcast section of The AIR website, so you can listen on demand.  MIRRORBALL will also be replayed Friday night at 10 PM, Saturday at 7 PM (part of a marathon), Sunday at 11 PM and Tuesday at 1 PM. We’ll probably sneak in a few more airings during the week.

And that wraps up this short, slacky PopCulteer.  Check back for fresh content every day, even if some of it is prepared in advance.

The PopCult Toybox

Super Impulse, the folks who make all those “World’s Smallest” versions of classic toys, is bringing another great nostalgic concept to stores. The launch of Wacky Packages Minis unleashes a new line of hilarious, miniature, 3D products based on the classic stickers by iconic trading card company Topps. Wacky Packages Minis offers a fun twist on the mini collectible trend.

A few years ago Topps released Wacky Packages erasers, but these new Wacky Packages Minis are a more elaborate take on translating the popular parody stickers into miniature 3D collectibles.

Originally launched in the 1960’s, Wacky Packages has continued to release new series to new generations through the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s, and has earned a coveted place in pop-culture history. With silly and outrageous spoofs of popular household products, Wacky Packages Minis brings the original, 2D parody stickers to life by transforming them to 3D toys. There are 66 “collect-them-all” minis including 6 ultra-rare styles in pearlescent white.

With a mix of nostalgic “Old Skool” satire including Captain Crud and Bandache, along with “New Skool” wit, featuring Ghoul Scout Cookies and Dr. Pooper, this collection builds on the success of the classic collectible stickers, while remaining true to its retro roots. Each blind package “cup” of Wacky Packages Minis includes 5 mini products, 1 mini Original Wacky Packages sticker, and a collector checklist.

Super Impulse, internationally recognized for lines World’s Smallest® and World’s Coolest®, has significant experience with licensed products as well as miniature toys. Wacky Packages Minis aligns with the Super Impulse audience and is a perfect addition to their roster of miniature toys.

“Nobody does miniatures better than Super Impulse and we are amped to bring Wacky Packages Minis to the market,” says President of Super Impulse, Alan Dorfman. “There is a loyal collector base spanning five decades of Topps stickers; in fact, I collected them as a kid! We can’t wait to bring these to a new generation of boys and girls.”

Wacky Packages Minis are now available on Amazon.com, Target and specialty retailers and are coming soon to Walmart.

This is not a child-safe podcast that I’m telling you about.

If you are old enough, you may remember the Traci Lords story first-hand. In 1986, at the height of her popularity as one of the most famous and prolific porn stars in the world, it was revealed that Traci Lords had, in fact, just turned eighteen, and in the midst of the anti-porn crusades of the Meese Commission, all but one of the dozens of films in which she starred when she was underaged became contraband overnight.

Traci Lords told her story in her memoir. Many in the porn industry have told a different side of that story over the years. Now a podcast series is telling all the versions of the story that they can find and is trying to sort out the truth from the fiction in what comes across as a podcast-noir tale of he-said, she-said, they said where nothing seems to line up straight, but it’s a wild ride anyway.

C13Originals, the Peabody Award-nominated documentary studio division of leading premium podcast company Cadence13 and part of Entercom’s podcast network, announced Once Upon a Time…in the Valley, the real-life mystery and porno-noir podcast series created and written by Vanity Fair’s Lili Anolik, featuring Ashley West. The podcast debuted last month, and to date, seven chapters have been released. I’ve been recommending The Rialto Report, West’s excellent blog/podcast devoted to the golden age of porn chic for a few months. Here he plays the foil and fills in the blanks, providing a keen insider’s view of the history of the porn industry.

Let’s go to the press release.

Before there were sex tapes, there were sex tapes. Before there was Paris or Kim, there was Traci. The first, the best, the O.G. Hardcore since ’84.

In the roaring 80’s porn world, Traci Lords reigned supreme. No one questioned her right to sovereignty. Only, it turned out, the biggest star in adult films was, legally speaking, just a child. As America would discover in July 1986, when the FBI busted down her door. Traci Lords was really Nora Kuzma, who’d entered the industry as a 15-year-old high school sophomore. Traci, the victim, was saved. And the industry, the villain, was very nearly destroyed. But what if the victim here was also the villain; the villain, also the victim?

As Anolik cautions, “Put your condoms on, get that safe word ready” because she and Ashley are going in hard and deep. It’s the San Fernando Valley. It’s the mid-1980s, the moment the industry is exploding: moving from New York to L.A., from film to video, from the shadows to the spotlight. Traci may be the series’ focus, but its setting and supporting players—Ginger Lynn, Christy Canyon, Tom Byron, to name but a few—are so dynamic, they’re constantly threatening to upstage her. (Not that she’ll let them.)

Once Upon a Time…in the Valley launched with the first three episodes on July 14, 2020, via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RADIO.COM and everywhere podcasts are available. New episodes will drop every Tuesday throughout the series. You can liisten to the trailer and subscribe to the series for free HERE. Note that this podcast contains adult language and storylines. It’s not suitable for anyone under the age of 18, and certainly not safe for work.

“It’s the story I’ve wanted to tell more than any other,” says Lili Anolik. “Just imagine Boogie Nights, if Boogie Nights had a three-way with Gone Girl and A Star Is Born—and it let Gone Girl be on top.”

Once Upon a Time…in the Valley was created and written by Lili Anolik in collaboration with, and produced by Peabody-Award nominated C13Originals, a division of Cadence13. The series is Executive Produced by Corcoran and Anolik; produced by West; directed by Zak Levitt; edited and mastered by Chris Basil, Bill Shultz, Perry Crowell, and Ian Mandt; with theme music and original score by Joel Goodman.

Lili Anolik is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Her work has also appeared in Harper’s, Esquire and The Paris Review, among other publications. Her latest book, the Los Angeles Times bestseller Hollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A., was named one of Esquire’s Best Books of 2019.

Ashley West is the creator of The Rialto Report, a web and podcast channel that documents the Golden Age of Porn (1969-1984). He’s worked as a consultant on HBO’s The Deuce, and has published numerous pieces on the adult industry in The Daily Beast, several of which have been optioned for film and television.

Seven episodes in, Once Upon A Time… In The Valley is engrossing. It will make you want to binge-listen. Each episode runs between 35 and 55 minutes, and aside from the sensational subject matter, it’s a compelling Rashamon-like story of one of the most shocking scandals of the Reagan era. It’s also an in-depth look at the death of the porn industry as a major force in pop culture. Between Traci Lords, The Meese Commission, AIDS and the rise of Home Video, it’s no shock that the nature of the business changed dramatically years before the internet came along and took most of the glamour and profit away.

It’s a seedy, sexy and fascinating look at the time just before video killed the porno star.

The production on the podcast is top-notch with original music, loads of interviews with people who were there, and a good rapport between Anolik and West. The dialogue is frank and uncensored, but almost everybody interviewed comes across in a good light. We are presented with many perspectives, some directly from the people involved themselves, and some via passages read from interviews, essays or memoirs. Aside from the subject matter, which may be off-putting to some, this series is practically a textbook for how to create an entertaining and enlightening documentary podcast.

I’ve been downloading Once Upon A Time… In The Valley from Radio.com, but you should be able to find it where ever you normally listen to podcasts. It’s free, with brief commercials, and it’s a great listen.

Even in the midst of a four-day Radio Free Charleston Marathon on The AIR we offer up a newish edition of our flaghip show,  Radio Free Charleston. In order to hear these this new episode you simply have to move your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay on this page, and  listen to this excitable little embedded radio player…

We have a partly new Radio Free Charleston at 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday. Let me explain.

Over the last couple of months I’ve had, maybe, a dozen or so requests to replay an episode of Radio Free Charleston International from 2016 that paid tribute to David Bowie. We don’t really run RFC International since we combined it with RFC into the three-hour Radio Free Charleston V5. so I decided to do one new hour of RFC, packed with plenty of local and new music, and then make hours two and three an encore of our Bowie tribute. This way I get to do less work, you get a newish episode of the show, and the Bowie fans get to hear the tribute for the first time in three years. So everybody’s happy!

And we are airing this episode in its normal timeslots this week, even though we have a marathon going on. You can hear it Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, and Thursday at 3 PM.

It’s a pretty happenin’ show. Check out the playlist…

RFCV5 028

IDKHOW “Leave Me Alone”
The Dollyrots “Stay (I Missed You)”
Time And Distance “Live A Lie”
The Swivels “Panama”
The Company Stores “Bottom Out”
Linnfinity “Molly Marr of Rome”
Take Vibe “Golden Brown”
William Matheny “Mind For Leaving”
Paul Calicoat “Dylan Stole My Life”
The Big Bad “Shadowbrook Road”
Wolfgang Parker “Whisper Something German in my Ear”
Frenchy and The Punk “Why Should I?”
QiET “Get Found”
Go Van Gogh “Planet of Pyschotic Women”
WATT 4 “I Don’t Deserve You”
The Concept “Guitar Pick In My Kool Aid”
Jerks! “GFN”

hours two and three
David Bowie “Ashes To Ashes”
Rick Wakeman “Life On Mars”
Nirvana “The Man Who Sold The World”
Frankie Goes To Hollywood “Suffragette City”
Mike Garson “Space Oddity”
Cuddly Toys “Madman”
Nosferatu “Starman”
Spiders From Mars “Moonage Daydream”
Waltari “Look Back In Anger”
Adrian Belew with DB “Pretty Pink Rose”
Queen with DB “Under Pressure”
Iggy Pop with DB “Funtime”
Reeves Gabriel with DB “You’ve Been Around”
Bauhaus “Ziggy Stardust”
Tin Machine “Sacrifice Yourself”
David Bowie “John, I’m Only Dancing”
Ava Cherry and the Astronettes “I Am Divine”
Wreckage “Heroes”
Dana Gillispie “Andy Warhol”
The Polyamorous Affair “Cat People”
The Mission UK “After All”
Mystique “Drive In Saturday Night”
Duran Duran “Boys Keep Swinging”
The Erin Orchestra “Be My Wife”
Graham Blvd “Changes”
Carla Bruni “Absolute Beginners”
Mick Karn “Ashes To Ashes”
We Have Band “Let’s Dance”
Gene Loves Jezabel “All The Young Dudes”
Rick Wakeman “Space Oddity”

Radio Free Charleston can be heard Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM, with replays Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM and 7 PM, Saturday at 11 AM and Midnight, Sunday at 1 PM and the next Monday at 8 PM, exclusively on The AIR. This week we are running every episode from 2020 in a marathon that began Monday at 7 AM.  It will continue until Thursday night at 10 PM.

This week I bring you a real-world watercolor and ink piece that was inspired by a batch of photos I found from a Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art Show that took place more than eight years ago. Our subject was Narin the Mermaid, and during that session I took a few photos that showed the lighting equipment and the set that were part of the shoot, which happened in the basement of what was then the Kanawha Player’s Playhouse. I decided to do a piece based on some of those, playing off the light that was pointed directly at the camera.

Back then, I did digital paintings of Narin from that night which you can see HERE and HERE. This time I wanted to try some real painting, instead of going digital.

If you want to see it bigger, just click on the image.

Meanwhile, Monday on The AIR, we begin a four day marathon of Radio Free Charleston at 7 AM. You can read all about it HERE.

You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on this embedded radio player…

At the beginning of 2020, I changed the format of Radio Free Charleston, combining the one-hour, local-focus RFC with the two-hour, not local RFC International into a three-hour weekly show that brings you local music mixed in with the coolest music I can find from all over the world.

Starting Monday at 7 AM, The AIR will run a four-day marathon that will include every 2020 episode of Radio Free Charleston, including a new show that will debut Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM.

This marathon will run from Monday at 7 AM until Thursday at Midnight. Fans of local music can tune in and hear their local favorites played alongside brand-new music from the world’s best bands from a variety of different genre.

The reason for this marathon is that we’re filling up our server, and will have to drop off some of the shows from earlier this year soon. Also, it’s my birthday week, and I sorta like the idea of slacking off.

Tune in at The AIR website, or on this embedded radio player…