Category: Uncategorized (Page 37 of 739)

New Prehistoric Scenes Saber Tooth Tiger and Cave Bear
by Atlantis Models
Around $30 each, or discounted from some online retailers.

Keeping with the prehistoric theme, today’s second pick in The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide is actually two picks, reissues of two classic Aurora Prehistoric Scenes model kits that have not been sold since the early 1970s, The Saber Tooth Tiger and The Cave Bear!

Again, the perfect gift for fans of prehistoric beasts of any age, these snap-together, slightly articulated model kits help you bring the lumbering and fearsome animals of bygone days back to life without the use of DNA technology or any of the related mayhem involved with that. Both kits are 1/13 scale, and are compatible with all of the classic Aurora Prehistoric Scenes mini-dioramas.

The Prehistoric Scenes Saber Tooth Tiger once assembled, measures 6.5 inches tall with a base width of 8.5 inches. He can be painted and customized, or left unpainted. There are 24 parts and the snap-together assembly is simple and quick.

This kit was last seen on store shelves in the early 1970’s. The Atlantis version comes with both bases and is molded in Saber Tooth Yellow. It also comes with a nameplate and movable extra set of legs and arms for different poses.

You can order it directly from Atlantis Models.

The Prehistoric Scenes Cave Bear is another set that was never reissued like the Prehistoric Scenes dinosaur kits were. This figural kit measures 6.5 inches tall with a base width of 10 inches when assembled.

This kit was also last seen on store shelves in the early 1970’s. The Atlantis kit comes molded in Bear Brown with a cave scene including cave wall, nameplate and bear skulls. This model has a movable head, and front and rear legs. From the Original Aurora Tooling. And you can expect the same, easy, Snap-Together Assembly. It can be painted, or left as is.

You can order this kit directly from Atlantis Models, or from other hobby retailers.

Prehistoric Times Magazine
One-year Subscription: 4 issues $40

Our first pick today in The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide is Prehistoric Times, a wonderful print magazine for dinosaur enthusiasts and collectors of related merchandise. You are not likely to find this mag locally in WV. Books A Million no longer has the impressive magazine rack that they used to. I discovered this magazine (which has 30+ years of history) at Barnes & Noble on a trip earlier this year, and I fell in love with it.

Each full color, 50+ page issue includes reviews of the latest prehistoric animal model kits, toy figures, books and more, plus interviews with artists and scientists, artwork from the finest paleoartists in the world and the latest scientific discoveries in paleontology.

There’s also news and information about prehistoric life you won’t find anywhere else. This is some seriously fascinating and engrossing stuff for dinosaur fans, and the artwork on display every issue is amazing.

As a bonus, in addition to the tons of cool art in every issue, the magazine sports a logo by master dinosaur (and other cool stuff) illustrator, William Stout, a regular at WonderFest USA. Mel and I have several signed and inscribed books by William.

Prehistoric Times is the perfect gift for the dinosaur enthusiast of any age on your holiday shopping list. You can go to the website and subscribe and also order back issues so that you can put a pile of them under the tree. It’s also available digitially, but is much harder to wrap that way. And if you really love dinosaurs, you might want to join the magazine’s Facebook Group.

Tuesday on The AIR  we offer up yet another patchwork edition of Radio Free Charleston. A triple shot of unheard-since-August-2018 editions of Radio Free Charleston Volume Four make up a great all-local episode of RFC Volume Five. To hear this gem, 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. Heck, you can even scroll down and listen to it on demand below.

At 10 AM and 10 PM you can hear this combination of RFC volume 4, episodes 86, 87 and 88. I do apologize for not providing any brand-new content for the show this week, but paying work combined with The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide means that something had to give. And for that same reason, we don’t have links to the artist’s pages this week. Search the blog and you’re sure to find most of them.

Check out this playlist.

RFC V5 202

hour one
Jeff Ellis “The Destroyer”
Shine “Dazed and Confused”
Stonebeard “Dreams Die Hard”
Blame The Day “Breathe”
In The Company of Wolves “Red Star Anthem”
Karma To Burn “Thirty-Three”
Science of the Mind “Sending You To Hell”
Ann Magnuson “Be A Satyr”
Rennaissance with Stephanie Adlington
The Company Stores “Love Me Again”
Emmalea Deal “Ghost”

hour two
Eddie Harris Trio “Dark Hollow”
Jay Parade “Crying Over Spilt Coffee”
Tom Rader “She Knows My Ghost”
Half Batch “Way Back”
Creek Don’t Rise “You Won’t Let Me Love You”
Feast of Stephen “Revolution”
Blame The Day “Stuck”
Hawthorne Heights “New Winter”
Stonebeard “Lethe’s Forgiveness”
Axis Evertyhing “Beat Cop”
Masterdong “Cocksmoker”
Seigfried “Wasp”
Socio Turmoil and the Dynamic Brain “Haunted Manor”
Holly and The Guy “Fix You”
Mark Beckner “Fragile”
Joe Vallina “Nowhere To Be Found”
Kerry Hughes “Worry Later”

hour three
Qiet “Yes I Want It All”
Jordan Andrews Jefferson “Blue”
Go Van Gogh “Shut Up I Love You”
The Laser Beams “Eden By The Fire Escape”
Ona “Killing Hymn”
Out of Nowhere “Thoughts Fade”
Boulevard Avenue “Mary Mary”
Radar Hill with Nick Wickman “Something’s”
Chuck Biel “Turtles All The Way”
Superfetch “Laydown (Live)”

You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM,  Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight, Sunday at 8 PM and  Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different classic 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 NOISE BRIGADE at 2 PM. At 3 PM we have two recent episodes of The Swing Shift.

Remember The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide continues with two posts every weekday, all November long.

Svengoolie 45th Anniversary Collector’s Box
$99.79 from ME TV

If you know Svengoolie, you love Svengoolie. He is the current reigning horror movie host, celebrating 45 years of scary movie hosting, and he can be seen ever week on ME TV.

If you have a die-hard Svengoolie fan on your holiday shopping list, this is the perfect gift. it’s a little pricey, but it’s packed with value.

The Svengoolie 45th Anniversary Collector’s Box is filled with limited-edition items to honor 45 years of Svengoolie on TV. The assortment of products in this box were selected for Svengoolie’s fans by the official home of Svengoolie, MeTV. Only 2,000 boxes were made. So, if you have a Svengoolie fan in your life that you’d like to give this to for the holidays, order now.

Included in the box are:

• A Svengoolie 45th Anniversary trading card designed by famed horror artist, Mark Spears. One side of this card features Svengoolie, while the other side features his original incarnation as Son of Svengoolie from 1979. The two sides line up when side by side. This card is numbered 1-2,000 to show the rarity of this item. It comes in a protective, glow-in-the-dark case and includes a stand to make it easy to display.
• “The Svengoolie Stomp” 45 vinyl record, re-released in neon green. It’s a 45 to celebrate the 45th anniversary. One side is “The Svengoolie Stomp” by Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon and the other side is a sing-along version.
• Attack of the Shrunken Sven Squad miniature figurine set featuring: Svengoolie, Nostalgiaferatoo, Gwengoolie, Imp (Ignatius Malvolio Prankenstein) and Kerwyn.
• A Svengoolie 30 oz stainless steel travel mug with a black top hat straw cover.
• “The Svengoolie Stomp” knit socks featuring Svengoolie on the front of the stocks and a hilarious squished rubber chicken on the bottom of the foot.
• The limited-edition Svengoolie 45th Anniversary enamel pin featuring an embossed Svengoolie 45th Anniversary logo on the back of the pin.
• A 3” embroidered Svengoolie logo iron-on patch
• A Svengoolie stylus pen perfect for writing jokes or playing “Too Drawn Out!”
• A Svengoolie air freshener to help cover up dungeon smells!
• A stretchy rubber chicken keychain

If you have a Svengoolie fan in your house, this collector’s box is the perfect one-stop-shopping experience. Order it directly from ME TV.

The Closest Thing to Crazy: My Life of Musical Adventures
by Mike Batt
Bonnier Books Ltd
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1785120848
$26.33 from Amazon or autographed directly from Mike Batt (ships from the UK)

Our first pick today in The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide is a bit of a cult item for those of us in the USA.

Mike Batt is undeservedly obscure in America, but he’s pretty famous in the UK and around the world. He’s had an amazing life, from being the man behind The Wombles to crafting a series of amazing progressive/orchestral/New Wave-ish albums, to collaborating with an arranging for some of the top names in musical theater and popular music and way more than I can mention in one sentence without rambling like a lunatic.

I’ve been a big fan since his conceptual ballet/operetta, Zero Zero, wound up on Night Flight in 1981, and I’ve followed his career since. I’ve even featured his music and his fantasy book, The Chronicles of Don’t Be So Ridiculous Valley, in previous editions of The PopCult Gift Guide, so I have no qualms about recommending his new book, which tells the story of his amazing life, even though I haven’t got my copy yet.

Because of that, I will turn this gift recommendation over to the publisher’s blurb…

Described variously as a ‘polymath’, a ‘renaissance man’ and ‘one of the most colourful characters in the music business’, Mike Batt has led an extraordinarily vibrant and challenging life that has been full of both glorious victories and bitter failures.

For better or for worse, he is a man who has always lived life on his own terms. Idiosyncratic but mainstream, complicated but compassionate, steadfastly maverick in spirit but avowedly commercial in outlook. He is a man of great contradictions, but even greater talent.

After starting out in the music business as a teenager, Batt shot to fame in the early 1970s for his part in the creation of the Wombles pop group. But this success proved to be just the beginning as he then went on to work with various artists as a songwriter, composer and producer, including Art Garfunkel, George Harrison, Cliff Richard, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Katie Melua.

Featuring cameos from some of the biggest stars in the business from Paul McCartney to Prince, The Closest Thing to Crazy takes us not only on the rocky (and classical) journey of Mike Batt’s life but also on a tour around the inside of his mind.

I don’t want to wait to read this book, but because I am buried under work writing The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide, it’ll have to wait until next month. This is the perfect gift for the Anglophile music lover with impeccable taste on your holiday shopping list.

I wasn’t really in the mood to paint this week, but I decided to try.  What you see above is an acrylic painting inspired by the view from the Amtrak Cardinal while passing through Indiana on the way home from Chicago. I don’t really have a lot to say about it. It’s dark, like the immediate future.

To see it bigger try clicking HERE.

Over in radioland, Monday beginning at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a recent episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM an also 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.

At 8 PM you can hear an hour of conceptual random comedy a classic early episode of The Comedy Vault.

Tonight at 9 PM for the Monday Marathon we devote ten hours to five more episodes of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat.  For the time being we are back to alternating between Prognosis and Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, because we’re going to be pulling the early episodes of those shows from the server soon to make room for newer programs. After they’ve been offline for a year or so, we’ll bring them back into rotation but for now, you can hear them Monday evening into Tuesday morning, and then those episode will go on hiatus.

This week we are going back to fix a video that got yanked from YouTube shortly after we originally posted it back in early 2021. The post is identical. The video is a different upload of the same show, and some numbers below have been updated. 

This year marks the 53rd Anniversary of Jethro Tull’s breakthrough album, Aqualung, and as such, they were the cover feature of the February 2021 issue of Prog Magazine. I got my copy direct from the UK, and I’ve been reading about the band, so I figured it’d be cool to run one of their concerts here in PopCult.

The show you see above was recorded at The Capitol Center, in November, 1977. This was NOT the Aqualung tour, but they do play several tracks from that album here. In fact, I happen to have the setlist handy, but I’m not sure if every song here made it into the video…

1. Wond’ring Aloud
2. Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day
3. Jack-In-The-Green
4. Thick As A Brick
5. Songs From The Wood
6. Instrumental/ Drum Solo
7. To Cry You A Song
8. A New Day Yesterday
9. Flute Solo/God Rest Ye Gentlemen/Bouree/A New Day Yesterday
10. Living In The Past /A New Day Yesterday (reprise)
12. Velvet Green
13. Hunting Girl
14. Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die
15.Minstrel In The Gallery
16. Cross-Eyed Mary
17. Aqualung
18. Martin Barre Guitar Solo/Wind Up
19. Back Door Angels / Guitar Improvisation /Wind Up (reprise)
20. Locomotive Breath/Land Of Hope And Glory/ Back Door Angels (reprise)

From August, 2010, we have a return to the normal format of Radio Free Charleston after our extended look at FestivALL.

This episode, “To The Batmobile Shirt,” features music from InFormation, Volt 9000 and The AK40 Sexuals.  We also have short films from K.D. Lett and Scott Elkins. Our host segments were shot at The Charleston Town Center, back when people used to go there.  This is a pretty great show that I remain very proud of.

For the full production notes, go HERE.

Cryptids USA
tiny figures in a decorative box
$9.95 from Archie McPhee

It may be hard for some of us this week, but there is still such a thing as American Pride. Not finding much to feel that way about in today’s world, we turn to the world of the supernatural, the unknown and the Great American Cryptids who haunt the dreams and avoid the politics of modern living.  These are the mysterious beings who are more appealing than some of the folks we know really exist. And not only can Americans still feel pride in their Cryptids,  here in WV we can be proud to have TWO of our star Cryptids included, along with one who spends some time here occasionally.

Let’s let the fine folks at Archie McPhee tell us about these guys…

Do you ever feel patriotic about American cryptids? This Cryptids USA set of five cryptids covers the breadth of the land of the free and celebrates it for what it’s best known for— producing monsters! Includes the Jersey Devil, Chupacabra, Mothman, the Flatwoods Monster and Bigfoot himself! They are between 1-3/8″ and 1-3/4″ tall and made of soft vinyl. Why choose regional pride when you can celebrate the best American monsters from all over! Has a matchbox-style box with figures visible inside.

Its a nicely-illustrated box filled with tiny monsters, about an inch-and-a-half tall, who will be your friends when you’ve lost your faith in your fellow humans.

Not only is the Cryptids USA set a fun gift for any fan of Cryptids, monsters, the unknown or just tiny stuff, it’s practically a MUST-HAVE item for those of us looking beyond reality for a little solace.

The set of five figures is under ten bucks (plus shipping) from Archie McPhee.

The PopCulteer
November 8, 2024

Since this entry in The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide is pulling double duty as this week’s PopCulteer, it’s going to be a longish one, with several entries.

Every year I always tell you about the latest cool gift ideas for fans of the Fab Four, themselves, The Beatles.

This year is no different, as we have gift suggestions featuring the group and the individual members, at a variety of price points.

We’ll start off with the big-money gift…

The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono
$300 from many online music retailers and the official Beatles Site

This boxed set spotlights seven albums released in America Between January 1964 & March 1965. Each is a new pressing on 180-gram Vinyl LPs Cut from the Original Mono Masters.

Originally compiled for U.S. release between January 1964 and March 1965 by Capitol Records and United Artists, and out of print on vinyl since 1995 (or ealier), these seven mono vinyl discs are available now for preorder (they’ll ship by November 22)  in a new eight-LP box set titled The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono, with six of the titles also available individually.  The box set collects the seven albums, and all except The Beatles’ Story will also be available individually.

1964 was the year that the U.S. first fell head-over-heels for The Beatles, with an unprecedented run of albums and singles topping the charts and selling millions. Not simply replicas of the 1963 & 1964 albums released by Parlophone in the U.K. and rest of world, Capitol Records & United Artists compiled these albums for U.S. release between 1964-1965. Now, to be honest, Bealtes purists absolutely hated that these albums existed for years.  In 1987 the original UK versions were released in the US for the first time, and it wasn’t until a huge wave of nostalgia combined with new enthusiasm for vinyl by collectors that they decided to make these available in this form again.  Since The Beatles hit America in 1964, this is a big anniversary year.

So to celebrate this momentous year, the seven US albums are collected for a new 8-LP vinyl boxset. Meet The Beatles!; The Beatles’ Second Album; A Hard Day’s Night (Soundtrack); Something New; The Beatles’ Story (2-LP set exclusive to the boxset); Beatles ’65; and The Early Beatles feature faithfully replicated artwork and new 4-panel inserts with essays by historian/author Bruce Spizer. New lacquers were cut by Kevin Reeves at East Iris Studios with reference to the original pressings to ensure they are faithful to the original release, while also enabling more musical information to be heard than was possible before. 180g vinyl.

It’s pricey, but a great gift for the Beatles completist on your holiday shopping list.

Living In The Material World 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe
by George Harrison
$144 to $174 from select online retailers

Okay, this one is limited to 5000 sets worldwide, and is sold out from the official George Harrison website and Amazon, but it can still be pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble and several other online retailers.   There are less deluxe versions that are also available if you want to have a killer gift for the George fan on your shopping list.

Living in the Material World, George Harrison’s highly praised 2nd solo album of original music recently marked its 50th anniversary. With lyrics underscoring his enduring exploration of spiritual themes, the album resonated deeply with audiences. Just 5 weeks after its May 1973 release, both the LP and its single “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” held the top spots simultaneously on the US album and single charts.

Lovingly overseen by Dhani & Olivia Harrison, it has now been completely remixed from the original tapes by GRAMMY-winning engineer Paul Hicks. The new mix elevates the album, delivering a sound that’s brighter, richer and more dynamic than ever before. If you’re lucky enough to score the Super Deluxe Boxset, it features the album and bonus outtakes on 2 LPs and 2 CDs. Blu-ray disc with videos and session takes, 7″ vinyl single for “Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond).” The deluxe boxed set is housed in rigid slipcase, with 60-page hardcover book featuring new liner notes and photos and a 12-page booklet of recording notes.

Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection) [Deluxe 6 CD/2 Blu-ray]
JOHN LENNON – MIND GAMES – THE ULTIMATE MIXES
$167, cheaper at Amazon

Released last summer, this is a Limited Edition 10-inch square Box Set including 6 CDs, 2 HD Audio Blu-Rays, a 136-page hardback book; a reproduction of the original 1973 triptych marketing poster; postcard sized reproductions of 1973 advert artworks and an individually numbered Citizen of Nutopia ID Card.

Mind Games was considered by many fans of John Lennon to be one of his weaker efforts. It was a hit when originally released, but it was plagued with an iffy mix and the songs were overlooked as a result. This new mix is a revelation, making it sound like a whole new album.  Songs that I couldn’t be bothered to remember the titles of, like “Out The Blue” have become some of my favorite solo Beatles tracks. Any fan of John Lennon’s music, even if they didn’t previously care for this album, will love this boxed set.

The six CDs include The Ultimate Mixes, Elemental Mixes, Elements Mixes, Evolution Documentary, Out-takes and Raw Studio Mixes. Two Audio Blu-Rays include High Definition 24-192 Stereo, 24-192 5.1 Surround, and Dolby Atmos versions of all of the above, plus the 2024 Remastered “Mind Games” music video and a “You Are Here” (additional out-take) tape boxes music video.

This boxed set was produced by Sean Ono Lennon, mixed and Engineered by Triple GRAMMY-Award winner Paul Hicks, Sam Gannon and Rob Stevens.

Included is a 136-page glossy, hardback coffee-table book about the writing and recording of the album – in the words of John & Yoko – taken from hundreds of hours of archive interviews; also featuring brand-new interviews with all the musicians and engineers, exclusive never-before-seen photographs by Bob Gruen and unseen photos, lyrics, letters, original tape boxes and memorabilia from the John Lennon & Yoko Ono Lennon Archives.

It may seem a bit pricey, but it’s worth every penny, and at least the $ 1,350 Ultra limited edition set is sold out.

One Hand Clapping
by Paul Mccartney’s Wings
$25 to $38 at most music retailers (depending on format)

One Hand Clapping is a batch of songs recorded by Paul McCartney and Wings for a BBC special in 1974. It’s been heavily bootlegged over the years, but this year they finally released a legit version of the soundtrack.

50 years after their initial recording, the sessions for Wings One Hand Clapping have been released for the very first time. Available on Vinyl and CD, both are newly mixed with 12 tracks that didn’t appear in the original film, including reworked extracts of Beatles classics. The package includes original artwork, plus a TV sales brochure created for the film.

The tracklist is largely made up of songs from Wings’ Band On The Run album, but there are loads of other hit singles, many featuring unique TV studio arrangements, and one song, “Soily,” that never had a proper studio recording aside from its appearance in this special, and now the album.

This is a great snapshot of Paul McCartney and Wings at the time that they were possibly the most popular band on Earth.  Highly recommended for the Paul fan on your holiday shopping list.

Crooked Boy [EP] 
Ringo Starr
$12 to $23, depending on format

I’m still gobsmacked by how great it was seeing Ringo perform live in Charleston about thirteen months ago, and even more impressive than his live show is that he’s still releasing new music on a regular basis.  His full-length Country album, recorded in collaboration with T Bone Burnett won’t be released until January, but earlier this year he put out a great EP.

Written and produced by Songwriter’s Hall Of Famer Linda Perry, Crooked Boy features four brand-new tracks from Ringo Starr with his trademark vocals and legendary drumming. Crooked Boy includes 4 songs all written and produced by Perry – “February Sky,” “Gonna Need Someone,” “Adeline,” and “Crooked Boy.” After previously collaborating on two songs that appeared on earlier Ringo EPs (“Coming Undone” on Change the World and “Everyone and Everything” on EP3), Linda approached Ringo and asked if she could produce an entire EP.

The result is yet another new collection of songs by the “Funny Beatle.”  Available from most music retailers and perfect for the Ringo fan on your shopping list.

The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night & More (Beatles Album Series)
by Bruce Spizer
498 Productions, LLC
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8986319087
$39.99

This is the latest entry in Spizer’s comprehensive survey of books about The Beatles’s albums, and it’s great for the detail-oriented Beatles fan on your holiday shopping list.

The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night & More covers the Beatles first film and its related soundtrack albums from the British, American and Canadian perspectives. As the title implies, there is much more. The book also covers the records released from the Beatles 1961 Hamburg recordings, as well as the other singles and albums released from February through October of 1964.

The book also contains chapters on the EMI recording sessions for the singles and albums, and the album covers. And, like the other books in the Beatles Album Series, the book contains chapters on the news, music and films of the era to place the Beatles debut film and its related records in their proper context. And, of course, fan recollections of seeing the film, A Hard Day’s Night, and listening to its music. The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night & More, together with its companion book, last year’s The Beatles Please Please Me to With The Beatles, provide the full story of the records and events that fueled and maintained the first phase of Beatlemania. It is a 9″ x 9″ hardcover book to match the other books in Bruce Spizer’ s Beatles Album Series. The book is 272 pages long and contains 315 color and 15 original B&W images.

You should be able to order if from any bookseller, using the ISNB code above.

And that multi-item entry in The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide is our PopCulteer this week. The Gift Guide is taking the weekends off this year, but after our second entry later today, it will return with two more entries on Monday.  Meanwhile, check PopCult every day for fresh content.