Rudy Panucci On Pop Culture

Hot Fun In The Sun: Production Notes For RFC 43

Episode 43 of Radio Free Charleston is online now! This puppy’s called “Holden Caulfield Shirt” and it features music from The Clementines, InFormation and Melanie Larch, plus the classic Troma Trailer for Daniel Boyd’s Strangest Dreams: Invasion Of The Space Preachers” and the educational cartoon “Drugs Are Bad.”

We shot our host segments on the lawn at The University Of Charleston during Symphony Sunday, where it was hot enough to bake a person’s brain if they were stupid enough to wear a heavy felt hat. Other locations in this episode of RFC include The La Belle Theater in South Charleston, Taylor Books on Capitol Street, and lots of backwoods boondockery from two decades ago. Plus there are the Catfish, gathering in anticipation of FestivAll.

The Clementines are Douglas Imbrogno and Casi Null. Doug, of course, is my long-suffering editor here at PopCult and has also been on the show as half of The HeyDays. Lately this Nuevo Folk Duo have been gigging around town, dipping into a folkish catalog of old tunes that sound new, and new tunes that sound old, plus they’ve been weirding out a bit with a digital delay, and we have one of their “Soundscapes” in this episode of RFC. We shot this at Taylor Books back in February, and waited until just the right moment to spring in on an unsuspecting public. Stay tuned to RFC in the coming weeks as we feature Casi performing solo and as a member of Punk Jazz.

InFormation first appeared on RFC way back on episode 24. When we taped the song for that show, we grabbed an extra tune and held onto it. In fact, there was only one thing keeping me from using it–I forgot to ask what it was called. It was sitting there on the hard drive waiting for me to drop it into a show, but we were taping so much great music so fast that this gem remained hidden away. Last Saturday night Mel and I ran into InFormation’s Curtis and Shane, and I decided to finally use this song on the new show. However, I forgot to ask what it was called again, and so I had to guess. I thought it was called “Angry All The Time.” It isn’t. It’s called “Innocence” and you can hear it on their CD, which you can get from their website right here. I shot the host segments about 12 hours after I decided to use this song, and my email didn’t get to them until the next day.

You can see and hear InFormation in action June 7 at the Washington Community Center in Marietta Ohio, or you can head to Heathens in South Charleston on June 27. They are a great band and you really ought to hear them live.

Over the end credits we take another look at Melanie Larch’s “Siren Song Of The Catfish” which we recorded last year as part of Mel’s report on FestivAll. FestivAll is coming up again soon, and I thought it’d be good to share this with the RFC viewers who haven’t heard it yet. This is Mel’s original composition, with her lovely multi-tracked voice and me burying my Les Paul in the mix.

We also take a look at the trailer for the Daniel Boyd classic, “Strangest Dreams: Invasion Of The Space Preachers.” This was one of Danny’s films that wound up being distributed by Troma, and with Troma nearing an end, we thought it would be cool to turn the clock back 18 years to see what Jim Wolfe, Guy Nelson, Eliska Hahn, Jesse Johnson, Gary Brown and Steve Gilliland were up to. Throw in a hillbilly Gray Poupon-lovin’ Dave Weekly and WVSU professor Boyd and Dave Wohl covered in dung, and you have the “Citizen Kane” of locally-shot sci-fi comedies about Preachers from outer space. You can order the film here, since you’ve seen the trailer, and now you must own a copy for yourself.

Our animation this time around is “Drugs Are Bad,” an educational film which is a rare collaboration between legendary animation studio UPA and a wise-guy webshow producer who had a one-minute hole in his latest show.

That’s the dirt, but not the dung, on episode 43. If all goes well, episode 44 will go online in one week, featuring music from Quick and Dirty and a band to be named later, plus we’re working on arranging a special visit fromVice President Dick Cheney, who has some ‘splainin’ to do.

9 Comments

  1. oncee

    Another great episode. Keep up the good work, Rudy.

  2. InFormation

    Thanks for having us back Rudy. Keep in touch. Keep up the good work.

  3. Bella Donna

    “Invasion of the Space Preachers”….hoo-wee, there’s one from back in the day! 😉 Always cool to see the Danny Boyd archives revisited.

    I kept waiting for Mr. Mackey to pop up for a cameo in the animation, though.

    “Siren Song of the Catfish” reminded me a lot of Enya. Nice work by RFC’s Resident Diva!

  4. Mexican Romeo

    I’m up to day watching RFC, finally. You really need to get the word out on this show!

    I loved the movie trailer. It made the movie look really funny. I’m guessing that all the best stuff from the movie is in the trailer, right?

    I don’t know how you keep digging up so many great musicians from so many different styles. That ambient stuff is unlike anything I’ve ever heard in town. Simply amazing. InFormation is good enough that I may venture out to see them live sometime. That Catfish thing was also unlike the sort of thing you’d expect on RFC.

    Hard to believe you’ve done more than forty shows and have yet to resort to bluegrass (the most awful music that evil ever created). THIS is the West Virginia that I can tolerate living in–the one with clever, intelligent people who do original music. It’s not the fantasy “Deliverance’ version filled with hicks and racists that gets presented to the rest of the country through the media.

  5. Longtime Listener

    Another great show. Nice to see that you’re getting out around town and bringing the diverse and original music scene to light. Good stuff.

    It was fun to see Danny’s trailer again, too. Lots of “I know that guy” moments in there. I do have to agree with Mexican Romeo on one thing. You need to get the word out on RFC. The Gazette doesn’t even seem to know you exist.

  6. Strident Wiener

    Im just catching up with this last batch of RFC. Great music. I liked the two spacey things, and InFormation impressed me when they were on the show before. The movie trailer was a hoot, and the cartoon was too damn funny.

    You have to get the word out about this show. Have you ever considered forming a street team?

  7. Elvis Capone

    More Star Trek Ice Cream! That was hilarious!

  8. Mountain Woman Phd

    Another stereotype-busting show. I wish the Gazz would make more of a big deal about this show. I missed this one, and it’s great! I could listen to The Clementines make music like that for hours. InFormation sounds amazing. Its always fun to see clips from a Danny Boyd classic. The catfish music was hauntingly beautiful.

    The only problem with the show is that it’s no cure for insomnia. I’m too excited to go back to bed now.

  9. Van Martin

    You really seem to be in a groove with the show.  I really liked the ambient stuff from the Clementines, and I remember InFormation from last year.   Really good music. Danny Boyd’s stuff was always a guilty pleasure for me, so it’s nice to see some of it on your show. That cartoon was really strange…in a good way.

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