This week’s art is an acrylic painting inspired by a photo I took a few years ago on a trip to Chicago.

The photo was pretty cool, with bright flowers, a powerful blue sky and just enough city to make it look really interesting.  However, there was a wee bit too much city. There were light poles, traffic signals, overhead power lines.  Plus there were way too many cars, and more than a few people in the way, messing up my compostion.

So I started from scratch and painted this on sturdy artboard, over the course of almost a month, omitted the offending objects, and came up with what you see above.  I decided to make the sign for the store look almost like a monolith, and not like a huge sign for Dick’s Sporting Goods.

I used some of the lessons I’ve picked up studying Hopper, but also supercharged the colors so they didn’t really look natural. This is how I see things most of the time anyway.

To see it bigger try clicking HERE.

Meanwhile, Monday at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a two-day marathon of Radio Free Charleston.  The idea is that this week, now that The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide is in the books (except for the master list, coming this Friday), I’m going to take it easy, and part of that sees me giving you the chance to sample the best of 2022 on The AIR, as we spend the next several days giving you marathons of the best all of our music specialty shows recorded this year. I’ll tell you all about them each day, here in the blog.

This week PopCult brings you the second two chapters of a previously unknown 1939 movie serial based on what was then a very new comic book character, Batman. Or do we?

Here’s what is says in the YouTube description for this amazing discovery:

Here it is… Chapter 1, completely uncut, with a special introduction by Michael Monroe, Dean of Film Studies at the Dini College of Arts. Monroe is the author of “WHAT’S IN YOUR SERIAL? THE BUSTER CRABBE STORY.”

Discovered in December, 2015, MYSTERY OF THE BATMAN is a little-known serial which would have featured the first appearance of DC Comics’ Batman, in any medium, outside of comic books.

Young “Batman” author, Bob Kane, had gone to Hollywood, early in his career, in the hopes of pitching The Caped Crusader as the star of a film series. This was just as the character was being introduced in the pages of DETECTIVE COMICS magazine.

Originally intended for twelve chapters, MYSTERY OF THE BATMAN was produced by BJC Pictures, an obscure poverty row studio, which went bankrupt with only six episodes filmed and completed.

All of the studio’s assets were thought to have been destroyed, until a massive collection of 16mm prints, video transfers and original posters turned up in a barn outside of Beeville, Texas.

Thanks to the passionate effort of historians and fans, the existing chapters of MYSTERY are currently undergoing an extensive digital restoration.

It sounds incredible, doesn’t it? Well it is. See this isn’t really a long-lost find, but is, in fact, a meticulously-produced fan-made hoax, which is a loving tribute to Batman and to the early days of movie serials.

They give it all away further down in the description:

Before anyone feels too clever, I’m sure by now it’s obvious this project was produced in 2016, and in NO WAY is intended to be anything other than a loving parody.

This short film was done in good fun, as a love letter to the history of Batman and his family. Please stay tuned till the very end for the proper credits.

Thank you!- Ryan Bijan, Director

This is a real blast.  The credits are loaded with in-joke references to folks who have worked on the Batman comics over the decades. The art direction and music are spot-on, and the only big give-away that this is not a real period piece is the acknowledgement of Bill Finger as Batman’s co-creator.

In truth, Finger was not give proper credit until more than forty years after his death in 1973.  It’s a nice touch for the filmmakers to risk the joke in order to give credit where it was long overdue.

Any fan of vintage movie serials will appreciate the nods to the form, and the direct tributes in some of the shots.  This was obviously a labor of love. Ryan Bijan and his crew deserve major kudos for this.

Many thanks to Jon Raider for turning me on to this cool project. Tonight and over the next two weeks, PopCult’s Sunday Evening Video will bring you all six chapters of Mystery Of The Batman, two per week, so you can enjoy it for yourself and also enjoy waiting a week between some of the episodes, just to give you the movie serial experience.

If you’re impatient and want to watch all the chapters now, you can go to the YouTube page for Big John Creations, and visit their Facebook page for all kinds of cool behind the scenes info and other cool stuff.

Chapter Three is at the head of this post, and Chapter Four is below.  You can find the first two chapters HERE.

Episode Eleven of Radio Free Charleston dates back to December 2006. It was our first Christmas Show and it features music from CLOWNHOLE and MELANIE LARCH, plus Pentagram Flowerbox and more animation from Rudy Panucci and Brian Young. Host segments were shot at the original location of The Purple Moon and this is the first episode where our host, Rudy Panucci, had facial hair.

This memorable show included Mel singing “Ave Maria” live on the fifth-floor fire escape at the old Livemix Studio. That clip recieved notice from around the world and remains our most-watched music video on YouTube.

The rest of the show is pretty impressive as well, with Pentagram Flowerbox, holiday cartoons by Rudy Panucci and Brian Young and a punk rendition of “Deck The Halls” by Clownhole. We also have an onscreen appearance by The Charleston Playhouse Quartet, performing the RFC theme song, buried in the end credits. It’s always fun to run a Christmas show in the dog days of summer, so watch this and feel somewhat cooler.

Actually, that happens every time somebody watches RFC.  Original production notes are HERE.

We’ll be bringing you special holiday episodes of RFC all month long, leading up to Christmas.

This is the final day of The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide, and I sorta saved the coolest for last. Today’s gift ideas are all for really cool stuff. That’s our theme.

Cosmic Force: Purple Yogz Foot Soldier Figure Set
From Cotswold Collectibles
$69.99

From our friends at Cotswold Collectibles comes a really cool 12″ alien action figure set. Perfect for the 1/6 scale science-fiction oriented collector on your shopping list. I’m just going to quote from their description here…

Purple YOGZ are an advanced technical Alien race that pretends to be neutral, but will side with whom ever suits their needs best at the time. They will retreat though when the odds do not favor them. An assault team consists of one YOGZ commander 10 assault troopers of varying abducted races; cyborgs, android, or robotic beings, all wearing a control collar. YOGZ have many social and political classes which are constantly, but covertly maneuvering for power.

They were to first to learn about and use the Space Gates created by the “Old Ones”. These black masses in space are gateways that allow interstellar space travel. These Space Gates are scattered throughout the Universe with one just past Pluto in our solar system. They can only be accessed if the Star Ship has a crystal key cube which the Old Ones have hidden on planets and moons in the trillions all around the Universe. Anything without a key cube is destroyed by the Space Gates on contact.

This figure set includes:

– Elite Brigade Body w/Black Gloved Action Hands
– Purple Yogz Fuzzy Head Sculpt
– Green Super Bodysuit
– Black Super Boots
– Ironblood Mask (Green)
– Action Rifle (Green)

Set made using components from Elite Brigade, Grungatoys, and Mattsquatch Customs.

This is just pretty damned cool, and everybody needs a purple alien around the house!

Everyone Is Awesome
by LEGO
Price$34.99

Yep, it’s a pride-oriented LEGO set, and you have to admit, it looks pretty amazing.

Available exclusively from LEGO, Everyone is Awesome celebrates the power of playing together with this colorful new set. It’s simple, colorful and just looks great.

Matthew Ashton is the Vice President of Design at the LEGO Group and Designer of the Everyone Is Awesome model. He explained what inspired this LEGO set:

The starting point for this was my feeling that we, as a society, could be doing more to show support for each other and appreciate our differences. Being LGBTQIA+ myself, I knew I needed to step up to the plate and make a real statement about love and inclusivity, and generally spread some LEGO love to everybody who needs it. Children are our role models and they welcome everyone, no matter their background. Something we should all be aspiring to.

I think by taking small steps and having products like “Everyone is Awesome” out there and people representing the LGBTQIA+ community, it allows everybody to see that things do get better over time and there is a place for everybody. That’s what’s been so important to me in getting this set out with a message that we can be really proud of.

in a way, this set is not just for the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s for all of the allies – parents, siblings, friends, schoolmates, colleagues etc. – out there as well.

Design-wise, I love how bold yet simplistic the set is. It sends a powerful message, but it is also fun and quirky and doesn’t take itself too seriously. We’ve made sure to include black and brown colors to represent the broad diversity of everyone within the LGBTQIA+ community. We’ve also added in the pale blue, white and pink to support and embrace the trans community as well. I purposely put the purple drag queen in as a clear nod to the fabulous side of the LGBTQIA+ community. I hope it’s a joy to build and a joy to look at, and hopefully it will bring a lot of joy to people’s lives.

You can order Everything is Awesome directly from LEGO.

The Lights of Broadway 2022
On sale online December 4!

I’ve been plugging The Lights of Broadway show cards for years in PopCult, but they have a new set on the way. In fact, it goes on sale Sunday, December 4. Let’s see what they have to say about their 2022 Edition:

The 2022 Edition features 147 core cards (99 full edition, 48 rare). The primary cards feature actors, writers, directors, choreographers, and shows as usual; AND we once again have a special nine-card puzzle feature but in the full-card roster. In the Rare roster, we add to our Golden Age, If It Only Even Runs A Minute, Off-Broadway, and Broadway Up Close Theater series. We continue to celebrate the diversity of Broadway past, present, and future; and we also hope you have fun collecting, learning, and celebrating with us!

Our nine-card feature this edition celebrates nine legendary Broadway stars and roles iconic to them, with a collage of more of their star turns made up on the backs of the cards.

And moving into our RARE cards, we’re happy to continue in our celebration of amazing designers and music department notables. Our Honors this edition include the dearly departed as well as the now and next. And another in our recent bounty of great movie musicals.

Once again, our SUPER RARE cards include two foils and six lenticular (tilt) cards. The foils are themed around The Phantom of the Opera that ends its record-setting 35 year run in April 2023. Our lenticulars feature:

Milky White: The James Ortiz-designed cow and Kennedy Kanagawa (puppeteer) of the 2022 revival of Into the Woods.

Patti LuPone: Six of La LuPone’s eight Tony-nominated roles, including her three wins.

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Musicals: A Strange Loop became the tenth musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This card features all ten, going back to Of Thee Sing (1932) through South Pacific (1949) and A Chorus Line (1975) to Hamilton (2015) and our latest winner (2020).

Six Words: Well, four words from Six. This is a tilt version of Squigs’ A BroadWAY WITH WORDS series.

Stephen Sondheim Celebration: In tribute to the maestro, here is Mr. Sondheim surrounded by collages of Squigs’ illustrations of his many works, original and revival.

Wonderstudies: Lightcatchers were polled about their favorite understudy/standby performances and we chose 26 to represent all of the amazing stage heroes, from Shirley MacLaine to Julie Benko.

And once again, there are 40 of Squigs’ pencil sketch cards sorted into the edition as well.

If you have someone on your shopping list who falls in the middle of that Venn Diagram of Theatre fans and Trading Card collectors, then head over to Lights of Broadway this Sunday.

The Journey Internal
Order it from Robert Berry’s website

The Journey Internal: a Graphic Novel is based on the songs of SiX By SiX, and is the result of a collaboration between the band and renowned Chicago-based artist J.C. Baez. SIX By SIX is a new supergroup consisting of former members of 3, GTR, Saxon and Saga, and I’ve been playing their music on Radio Free Charleston for a few weeks now. We shall momentarily turn things over to the press release…

Though not conceived as a concept album, the band and the artist have woven the songs into a compelling tale of one man’s adventures and struggles. THE JOURNEY INTERNAL is a poignant and captivating story of his quest to find beauty and peace. Drawn in dramatic graphic detail, it chronicles the journey of Reign searching for sunlight in a very dark world. Following him from the highest highs to the lowest lows. The pages turn from battles of fire to demons in dungeons, from the confines of Reign’s inner mind to the realities encountered on the streets. From his solitude in battle to finding inspiration from a dream not yet realized.

Ian Crichton comments: “This graphic novel is amazing. The way that J.C Baez has blended the lyrics and captured the emotion of each song into a visually stunning graphic interpretation is simply amazing.”

Nigel Glockler comments: “One word sums up this incredible visual feast: stunning!!!”

Robert Berry comments: “When J.C. approached us we were intrigued to see what he would come up with based on our songs. The results are masterful.”

J.C. Baez, a Chicago-based artist has collaborated with Jon Anderson of Yes, Steve Hackett of Genesis, and Walter Koenig, of Star Trek fame, and now Six By Six.

J.C. Baez comments: “I am fortunate to be working with Ian, Nigel, and Robert, bringing their amazing musical ideas into the visual realm. The process has been very much a collaboration and I’ve been made to feel like part of the Six By Six family. This story is dynamic and exciting and I’m thrilled to work on this graphic novel which is in the vein of Genesis’s ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and other classic albums.”

Recommended for fans of comics, concept albums and prog-rock. Order it HERE.

MEGO 50th Anniversary World’s Greatest Super Heroes
Available from many retailers, including Amazon and ZLC Collectibles.
Under $20 each.

Note: Though technically a pre-order, three of these figures have already shown up locally at Walmart.

Fifty years on from the debut of one of the most successful action figure lines in history, MEGO is back with The World’s Greatest Super Heroes and DC Comics!

Released in vintage-style boxes, TWGSH line is back in stores with almost exact relicas of the outfits, accessories and headsculpts that were featured in the line half a century ago, all mounted on MEGO’s new, sturdier and more articulated body.

These toys cross the line from being terrific nostalgic recreations while also being sturdy enough for kids to enjoy. They have re-created the quirky and charming eccentricities of the orginal toys, including the “oven mitt” gloves and the costume details that don’t exactly match the comics, and that is a big part of the nostalgic appeal of these guys.

Superman, Batman and Robin have already shown up in the Charleston area. Online retailers should start shipping Aquaman, Shazam, Green Arrow, Green Lantern and The Flash next week.

Those last two are a big deal for MEGO collectors because they were never made into MEGO figures back in the day. Nobody remembers why, but two of DC’s top characters were passed over for lesser-known heroes like Green Arrow and The Flash’s sidekick, Kid Flash. This time around MEGO even went so far as to give these two heroes catalog numbers that match what they would’ve had back in the 1970s.

Longtime reader of PopCult know I’m a huge MEGO fan, and these figures absolutely scratch that nostalgic itch, and they’ll also make a great gift for any fan of DC Comics.

Look for them in the “Collectors” section at Walmart’s Electronics Department, or online.

And with that, The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide is in the books. Next Friday I’ll post the Master List here, and then we’ll be about two weeks away from the big day!

The PopCulteer
December 2, 2022

We have reached the first Friday of December, and this afternoon we offer up a special new episode of MIRRORBALL on The AIR. The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.

At 2 PM, Mel Larch uncorks a new MIRRORBALL! The AIR’s showcase of classic Disco music presents a collection songs produced and composed by Giorgio Moroder.

Moroder changed the landscape of Disco music with his sonic creations like Donna Summer’s hypnotic “I Feel Love.” Widely regarded as a founding father of disco and also an electronic music trailblazer, Moroder made his mark as an influential Italian producer, songwriter, performer and DJ.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Moroder has worked with some of the most famous names in music including Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Cher, Janet Jackson and David Bowie. He is heavily noted for being the key player in the Queen of Disco Donna Summer‘s rise to fame throughout the 1970s, collaborating with her on her biggest hits including “Love To Love You Baby,” “Hot Stuff” and “I Feel Love.” In 1997, Moroder and Summer won the Grammy Award for “Best Dance Recording” for the song “Carry On.”

Giorgio Moroder’s music charted success everywhere the disco craze touched down but he is also responsible for some of the most classic film scores to date including Scarface and Midnight Express, as well as timeless soundtrack numbers like Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” (Top Gun), Irene Cara’s “Flashdance,” Blondie’s “Call Me” (American Gigolo), as well as compositions on films such as The NeverEnding Story, Superman III, Rambo III and Beverly Hills Cop II. From these, Moroder has accumulated three Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, four Grammys and more than 100 gold and platinum records. Giorgio Moroder was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004.

We’ll hear the Disco classics created by Mororder and his Munich Machine cohorts, Pete Bellotte and Keith Forsey, and chances are we’ll continue this theme with the next episode of MIRRORBALL in a couple of weeks.

Check out the playlist…

MIRRORBALL 064

Giorgio Moroder “The Chase”
Donna Summer “Virgin Mary”
Trax “Watch Out For The Boogie Man”
Dino Solera “Classically Elise”
Giorgio Moroder “I Want To Funk With You Tonight”
Marsha Hunt “The Other Side of Midnight”
Giorgio Moroder “Utopia”
Speed Limit “Love Fever”
Giorgio Moroder “Let The Music Play”
Munich Machine “Party Light”

You can hear MIRRORBALL almost every Friday at 2 PM, with replays Saturday at 9 PM and Sunday at 11 PM exclusively on The AIR. Next week things will be a bit different because of our big December programming stunt!

The AIR’s Big December Programming Stunt

Starting Monday, December 5, at 7 AM, The AIR will kick into “Best of 2022” mode, as we present eight days of marathons featuring the best episodes of our music specialty shows from the first eleven months of this year. Check out this schedule:

From Monday at 7 AM until Wednesday at 1 PM it’s our flagship show, Radio Free Charleston.

Wednesday at 1 PM until Midnight we have Mel Larch’s Curtain Call.

Thursday, Midnight to Midnight, Herman Linte graces us with our prog-rock show, Prognosis.

Friday all day it’s me with The Swing Shift, making things Swing for you hipsters.

All Day Saturday MIRRORBALL changes the dance style as Mel Larch brings you 24 hours of classic Disco music.

Sunday Sydney’s Big Electric Cat brings New Wave Music to the forefront, courtesy of Sydney Fileen.

Monday, December 12, wraps up our Marathons with Nigel Pye’s Psychedelic Shack, from 7 AM to 9 PM, and then yours truly returns with ten hours of Beatles Blast.

And then Monday, December 13, me mother’s birthday, no less,  The AIR returns to normal for a week before we get all Christmas-y.

And with that, we wrap up this week’s PopCulteer. Speaking of wrapping things up, later today sees the final installment of The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide, as we go out with five super-cool gift ideas. In this space next week we’ll bring you the master list of every gift idea we brought you. We’ll also have all our regular weekly features.

It’s the next-to-last day of The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide and today I’m going to recommend gift ideas based on one of the most holiday appropriate icons of pop culture.

Today our gifts are all based on EC Comics!

I didn’t say which holiday, now did I?

You may have a horror fanatic on your shopping list who would love to experience and celebrate the comics that arguably shaped everything from modern horror comics and movies to anthology TV shows and even horror-movie hosts. With their mix of shock, gore and humor, the EC horror comics set the tone for the “Monster kids” of the 1960s to take over movies and TV.

And there was much more to EC Comics than just the horror comics. They also offered up Science Fiction books and shocking thrillers, in addition to being the publisher of MAD Magazine.

The original comics are like a “who’s who” of comic book creators, with artists like Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, Bernie Kreigstein, Jack Davis, Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Al Williamson, Harvey Kurtzman and more. Writers included Al Feldstein, Ray Bradbury, Jack Oleck and others. While fun and humorous at times, it’s amazing that these comics were published at the tail end of comic’s Golden Age. They really are a sign of where comics could go in the future.

The HBO Series Tales From The Crypt is an adaption of an EC Comic book, and the Creepshow movies and television series are directly inspired by these classics.

Today’s picks look at a very affordable recent series of EC Comics Archives from Dark Horse, plus some cool licensed products for the die-hard fan.

EC HORROR Collections

EC Comics published a trio of classic horror anthologies, Tales From The Crypt, The Vault Of Horror and The Haunt Of Fear, and each book had a “host” who introduced stories. This was where we met The Cryptkeeper, The Vault Keeper and The Old Witch.

The cool thing was that each book included stories introduced by all three hosts. In their home book, the host would take the first and last story, and turn over the second and third stories to the other two. They would crack corny jokes about the stories and insult and make fun of the other hosts and their stories.

The stories are exceptionally well-crafted, with brilliant art, and the formula worked well enough that it carried over to the HBO adaptation, an animated cartoon series, and almost every horror or sci-fi anthology on TV from The Twilight Zone to Night Gallery, Tales From The Darkside, Creepshow and many, many others.

As part of their affordable paperback EC Archives collections, Dark Horse has published two volumes each of Tales From The Crypt, Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear. Each book costs less than twenty bucks, and the production is awesome.

The books are printed larger than they were originally. Now they’re the size of magazines, which is easy for aging eyes. Marie Severin’s original color guides were followed to digitally re-color the artwork, and each volume contains six full issues, reprinted complete with the original letters pages and covers. Some volumes have introductions by prominent fans.

These are basically paperback versions of the hardcover EC Archives, which retail for fifty bucks each or more.

You ought to be able to order these from any bookseller or comic book shop, but for the sake of convenience, Amazon has Tales From The Crypt HERE and HERE; Haunt Of Fear HERE and HERE; and Vault of Horror HERE and HERE.

EC Science Fiction Collections

Occasionally overlooked because the Horror comics got so much attention (not all of it welcome), the EC Science Fiction comics were no less revolutionary, with amazing art and stories.

These are absolute gems that belong in the library of any comic book or science fiction fan.

So far, Dark Horse has only released the first volume of Weird Science (The John Hughes movie and TV series had little resemblence to the comic, but at least they did pay for the rights to the name) as a low-priced paperback, but that will change as Incredible Science Fiction is due out just after Christmas, and the first volume of Weird Fantasy is scheduled for January.

For now, you can order volume one of Weird Science HERE.

EC Crime and Thriller Collections

Not content with just horror and science fiction, EC also gave us pulp-style crime and thrillers with Shock SuspenStories.

There have been two paperback volumes so far, the first of which has a foreward by Steven Spielberg. You can order it HERE.

This high-quality trade reprints the first six complete issues of the pulp-comic classic Shock SuspenStories! Featuing the titanic artistic talents of Al Feldstein, Jack Kamen, Jack Davis, Joe Orlando, Graham Ingles, and Wally Wood.

The second volume, which reprints issues #7-#12 can be ordered HERE.

These are suprisingly sophisticated stories, recommended for fans of Film Noir and Mickey Spillane.

EC Comics Plush Throws
From Retro-A-Go-Go
$45 each

These are a pre-order item, but they are supposed to ship next week, so you have plenty of time to get them for Christmas.

The folks at Retro-A-Go-Go have licensed classic EC comic book covers for a series of deluxe plush throws.

These are huge blankets, with a generous 50″ width by 77″ length. Made from ultra-soft, lightweight polyester microfiber. The front of the blanket is printed edge-to-edge with vibrant and fade-resistant colors. The back is lined with fuzzy, warm, white fleece. Machine washable.

You can warm up with horror or science fiction to keep you warm. There are four designs, but one is already sold out. The remaining styles offer up a classic cover from Weird Science, a classic cover from Tales From The Crypt, and a montage of classic science fction covers.

The artwork is beautiful, and these are perfect for folks who are into cool weird stuff to snuggle with.

EC Comics T-Shirts and Socks
from Fright-Rags

The Horror Clothiers at Fright-Rags have licensed EC Comic’s iconic Horror Hosts for a trio of shirts, and not stopping there, they have also produced a pair of socks featuring all three ghoulish storytellers.

You have your choice of The Cryptkeeper on a red shirt; The Old Witch on a green shirt; The Vault Keeper on a blue shirt, or all three hosts with classic panels from the comics on a pair of socks.

These are all high-quality garments, featuring art recreated by Kyle Crawford.

This is as close as you can get to giving socks and underwear to a horror fan without causing them to attack you with a meat cleaver!

Tomorrow we wrap up The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide with a collection of REALLY COOL STUFF!

Today The 2023 PopCult Gift Guide comes to an end. Friday will see The Master List offered in The PopCulteer, but today is our final batch of gift suggestions.

And it’s sort of a vague one.

Today I’m going to suggest that you give the gift of local music. The thing is, if you’re one of my many readers who does not live in West Virginia, then you’ll have to go out and find it in your own area. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.

And I have to state upfront that this is in no way a comprehensive list of local releases. In fact, I’m limiting myself to five recent releases that I know can be bought in a physical format. If you are, or know, a local musical artist or group, please use the comments below to bring them to my readers…and my…attention.

I have been cranking out around a thousand words every day all month long on this Gift Guide, and my brain is crying out for a much-needed rest, so if I have featured your music on Radio Free Charleston but don’t mention it below, do not take it as a snub. It’s a combination of fatigue, old age and a lack of ominpotence.

Don’t let that dissuade you from seeking out new music by local and independent artists whose music can brighten the lives of the people on your holiday shopping list. The comments are open for you to remind me how cool your music is.

Before we get into the five artists I’ve chosen to spotlight, I want to mention that several local record shops have dedicated local music sections to help you find the perfect local musical gift for the folks on your list.

Locally, that means you can go to Budget Tapes & Records or Sullivan’s Records in Charleston, Orbit’s in Barboursville, Cheap Thrills in Princeton or any of the other cool record shops in our state. They will be glad to assist you, and might even be able to let you sample some of the music.

You can also sample local music on Radio Free Charleston, heard every Tuesday (with replays all week) on our sister internet radio station, The AIR. Each week I post the playlist for our new show in this blog, and when possible, that playlist will have live links to the artist’s websites.

Below you’ll see five recent releases by local artists that can be bought in a physical form. If your gift-getter prefers digital downloads, then that opens up a whole world of music via Bandcamp and other websites that you’ll find in those playlists. Please note, I’m keeping these as short as possible because I’m about to fall asleep. It’s been a long month.

Dear Boy
Brian Diller
Available on on CD and Vinyl

Just a couple of months ago, my old friend, Brian, released a new collection of songs spanning his 45 years making music.  Dear Boy is available on CD and Vinyl, and I played just about every track from it on Radio Free Charleston. Back in the 80s, Brian was the king of Charleston rock, and this collection from his archives shows off his impressive talent.

You’ll get vintage tracks by Brian Diller & The Ride, recorded in the Charleston area, songs he composed while living in Nashville, and more great tunes from across his career.

You can also by these songs, and several more at Brian’s Bandcamp Page.

Artifacts
Hello June
Available in different formats and packages from the Hello June online store

One of the most anticipated WV music releases of the year, Artifacts comes five years after the debut album by Hello June, and showcases the songwriting and voice of Sar Rudy, who is rightfully one of the most acclaimed artists to come out of the Mountain State in some time.

With an sound that’s hard to describe, Hello June manages to rock too hard to be pure Americana. The lyrics are intimate, articulate and intelligent, and Rudy’s voice is an exquiste instrument.

And that’s a sentence I never expected to write in this blog.

Artifacts is bound to wind up on a lot of “best of the year” lists.

Seed
Todd Burge
Available on CD from his Bandcamp page

Todd Burge is one of the most prolific singer/songwriters in the state, and Seed is his fifteenth solo album.

Just released less than a month ago, Seed is, well…how about I let Todd describe it?

These songs seemed to be “handed to me” like little gifts from various sources. A few were challenges from The Song Colony*, an open group of writers who meet each month in Marietta Ohio at The Stage Door. At the end of each session, we spontaneously pick one word to use as a jumping off point for a song. We call it the “Quick and Dirty”. The assignment is to spend one hour or less on a song, and the goal is to write whatever comes to mind, without the pressure of feeling it should be precious, or a “masterpiece”. We are simply working the songwriting muscle, and as a result, happy accidents occasionally occur. Hundreds of songs have come out of this group using this method.

Other songs from Seed are playful challenges from friends. Pig came from my late friend Mark Scohy saying to me, “there aren’t enough songs about bacon”. Weed and Keep Your Clover Bloomin’ came to me while I was doing yard work, and a couple others came from words I saw in a book called 300 Drawing Prompts.

Seed is another reliably terrific collection of Todd’s songs, delivered with his pleasing voice and trademark wit.

Gravel (Remix)
63 Eyes
Available on CD from their Bandcamp page

Speaking of Todd Burge, when I first met him back in 1989, he was in the legendary Morgantown band, 63 Eyes.

This is a remixed version of an album that almost never was. Here’s the story…

Gravel was originally planned for vinyl release back in ’88, but for various reasons, it only made it to a limited run cassette. In 2023, the album was completely remixed by Mark Poole at Zone 8 Recording.

Unlike Todd’s singer/songwriter work, Gravel shows a heavy punk influence and the end result is sort of a precursor to the Grunge that was bubbling up in the Northwest around the same time.

Folks might call it “alternative,” but it rocks and sounds great regardless of labels.  Recommended for fans of Nirvana, Wall of Voodoo, and XTC.

That Grand Old Feeling
William Matheny
Available in multiple formats and packages from William Matheny’s online store

William Matheny is a West Virginia-based singer-songwriter whose brand of Americana music is firmly steeped in the Appalachian storytelling tradition. This latest release was written and recorded before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That Grand, Old Feeling is Matheny’s most expansive work yet, taking narrative inspiration from the eclectic characters who inhabit dive motels and roadside haunts and sonic cues from the work of classic American rock’n’roll artists like Jason Molina’s Magnolia Electric Co. and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers.

Matheny’s 2017 album Strange Constellations was a critical darling, drawing praise from outlets including NPR Music, PopMatters, and American Songwriter. That Grand Old Feeling tops it and shows an exponential growth in one of our most striking songwriters.

Please keep in mind that dozens, if not hundreds, of other West Virginia musicians released great new music this year, and if you want to tell the world about it, please use the comments below. Also, you can always give the gift of live music by giving someone the experience of going out to a performance by a local artists.

You can hear all the musicians listed here in regular rotation on Radio Free Charleston, and if you tell me about a great new band in the comments, I’ll probably play their music too.

Today in The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide we are going to offer up a selection of cool graphic tees for the person on your shopping list who likes to wear cool graphic tees. Except for one suggestion, these are links that will take you to cool stores with many different T-Shirt designs. It’ll give you more latitude in choosing your gift.  Some of the designs you’ll see below are available on items other than shirts (but not the first two) and they all come in a variety of sizes,  while some stores also offer some different shirt color options, as well.

I’m going to try to give you extra examples of what the shirts look like, but follow the links in the subject header to see for yourself. I only gots so much space to work with here.

Mitch O’Connell Shirts

Mitch O’Connell, AKA “The World’s Best Artist” has a line of T Shirts bearing his designs available in his Threadless store. There’s some really great stuff there and I’m sure you can find a great gift for the T-shirt-wearing person on your shopping list.

I am a huge fan of Mitch O’Connell. We palled around a bit at a couple of comic book conventions in the 1980s, when I was editing CODA, and we reconnected years later via MySpace and became online buddies. I was a fan of his comics work and illustration before that.

If you like Pin-Ups, Horror, Wolves, Sexy Pin-Ups, Devils, Monsters, Clowns, Really Sexy Pin-ups, Tiki, Rock-a-billy, Zombies, Retro and Really REALLY Sexy Pin-ups, you’re sure to LOVE Mitch’s work. I mean, how can you not love Bucee Beaver as Leatherface, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

Also of note, you will also find Mitch’s recreations of the famous Leave it to Beaver monster sweatshirt designs, which are now available in greyscale versions, so they’ll look exactly like they did back on black and white television. I recommended these shirts four years ago.

As a special incentive, from now until Christmas Mitch is donating 100% of his Threadless earnings to the charity, Feeding America, so not only will you be buying cool gifts, you’l also be feeding the less fortunate.

And you can also visit Mitch’s Etsy Store for prints, books and other cool things.

Retropolis Tees

This webstore is the motherlode for retro and nostalgic T-shirts. You will find shirts with everything from superhero logos to defunct candies and restaurants to cult figures like Count Dante here. Today Retropolis Tees is offering 15% off of everything for Cyber Monday.

If you have someone on your shopping list who’s a Disney Park fanatic, they have a whole section of shirts for them. You’ll find tons of shirts with classic cereal characters like Quisp and Freakies. Fans of 1960s animation will find shirts inspired by The Flintstones, Mighty Hercules, Wacky Races, Underdog and more. If you have a comic book nerd on your shopping list, you can find shirts with logos and emblems for obscure superheroes like Ultra Boy, Jor El, Nova and E Man. They even have a catagory of shirts devoted to classic toys.

Most designs are available on different colored shirts, and sizes run from small to 3 X Large. Prices are usually 18,99 to 22.99, depending on size. T Shirts make a great gift, and they have hundreds of nostalgic designs from which to choose.

If you can’t find the perfect gift at Retropolis, you must not have anybody on your shopping list over the age of 25.

GI Trekker’s Threadless Shop

My friend, Thomas Wheeler has a Threadless shop filled with great pop culture designs, and the stars of the show are the dinosaur shirts from the Athletic Department of Jurassic University.

These are great for kids or dinosaur fans of any age.

Scroll down his page a bit and you’ll find shirts to appeal to UFO aficionados, Star Trek fans, GI Joe collectors, toy collectors of any kind, and several funny gag shirts destined to adorn the sci-fi, toy or comics punster in your life.

All designs are available on shirts in a wide selection of colors, and in sizes ranging from small to 3 XL.

Some people wear their hobbies on their sleeves, but here’s a way for someone to wear their hobby on their chest.

Svengoolie Art Shirts

Earlier this year, METV released five limited edition ART shirts that pay tribute to Svengoolie, the beloved horror movie host. A new design popped up each month, from noted artists and cartoonists, Jim Engel, Scott Show!, Jill Thompson, Bill Morrison and coincidentally enough, Mitch O’Connell.

All five designs are still available, but I don’t know for how long.

Svengoolie started out as “Son of Svengoolie,” (so named by the original Sven, Jerry G. Bishop) back in 1979. After becoming Svengoolie proper and also becoming a Chicago instittion, Rich Koz would go on to great fame almost thirty years after this when his show finally went national on METV.

Earlier this year METV celebrated Svengoolie’s long career by commissioning these five shirts, and also with a television special that aired throughout October.

Chances are you know a fan of Svengoolie, and chances are, they’d love to have one, or all, of these shirts.

Sami Zayn: Honorary Uce
from WWEshop.com

This pick is for a single design, but if you follow the link up there you can navigate to all sorts of other WWE and NXT T-shirts.

The single shirt I’ve picked is for Sami Zayn, who in my opinion has been the top professional wrestler of the year. From his show-stealing match with Johnny Knoxville at Wrestlemania to his months-long storyline as an honorary member of the most powerful faction in wrestling, The Bloodline, Zayn has shown an uncanny ability as an actor as well as a wrestler.

Zayn was always amazing in the ring, and he always found ways to connect with the crowd, as a face or as a heel, but this year he’s risen to new heights in storylines that have way more depth than your usual wrestling angle.

His chemistry with Roman Reigns and The Usos is so strong that, in one of the most memorable wrestling moments in years, he managed to get Reigns and Jey Uso to break character and crack up during a promo. He was like Tim Conway to their Harvey Korman.

So, with that said, our final T-shirt pick today is the SZ Honorary Uce shirt, commemorating his being welcomed into the legendary Samoan A’noi family. Not too bad for a guy who’s just your average Red-headed Canadian Muslim.

That is The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide for today. Tomorrow we near the end with a day devoted to EC Comics.

Seventeen days into our twenty-day journey of The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide, we find ourselves once more pondering the gift-worthiness of a small stack of wonderful books.

Christmas Eve in the Mountain State
by Marly Hazen Ynigues, Emily Prentice (Illustrator)
Ramp Arts, LLC
ISBN-13: 9798986490304
$14.99 Available online from Barnes & Noble

Available to order now, in time for the holidays is Christmas Eve In The Mountain State, a pun-filled storybook about West Virginia, written by Marly Hazen Ynigues, The Pun Poet of West Virginia, and illustrated by Emily Prentice. The book promises playful puns for all 55 counties plus dozens of cities and towns, big and small.

As a life-long West Virginian, and a fan of truly bad puns, this storybook is right up my alley. Our state certainly has enough strange place names to work with, and Marly Hazen Ynigues really makes the most of them. This is one of those books that fun for kids, but probably just as much fun for adults to read to kids. Check out the publisher’s blurb…

“KANAWHA celebrate with you?” Make Christmas Eve in the Mountain State your new holiday tradition with playful puns for all 55 counties and dozens of West Virginia cities and towns, big and small.

“WEIRTON-ight gonna bring you mountain cheer!” Join West Virginians and West Virginia expats home for the holidays. Young mountaineers and recent transplants enjoy opportunities to learn about WV culture while family and friends invite them to be a part of what makes the Mountain State charming, welcoming, and unforgettable. Endearing illustrations depict rural and urban mountain scenes and West Virginian diversity of ages, races, ability, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Enjoy cultural nods such as the red bandanas and “the pepperoni’s on a roll.” Illustrations include fun touches such as county shapes hidden in the art on the pages where they are mentioned. Packed with Christmas joy and West Virginia pride, you’ll want to read it every year. The perfect Christmas present so we can “Share some PLEASANTS!”

Christmas Eve In The Mountain State is available in a few local bookshops around the state, but you can also order it directly from Barnes & Noble.

Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome
by Garth Marenghi
Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781529399400
$21.58

If you know of Garth Marenghi, then you’re excited that this book is out. Allegedly the alter-ego of Matthew Holness, Marenghi has unleashed his dark imagination onto the printed page. Let’s look at the publisher’s synopsis…

Dare you crack open the TerrorTome? (Mind the spine)

When horror writer Nick Steen gets sucked into a cursed typewriter by the terrifying Type-Face, Dark Lord of the Prolix, the hellish visions inside his head are unleashed for real. Forced to fight his escaping imagination – now leaking out of his own brain – Nick must defend the town of Stalkford from his own fictional horrors, including avascular-necrosis-obsessed serial killer Nelson Strain and Nick’s dreaded throppleganger, the Dark Third.

Can he and Roz, his frequently incorrect female editor, hunt down these incarnate denizens of Nick’s rampaging imaginata before they destroy Stalkford, outer Stalkford and possibly slightly further?

From the twisted genius of horror master Garth Marenghi – Frighternerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage (plus Man-Shee) – come three dark tales from his long-lost multi-volume epic: TerrorTome.

Can a brain leak?
(Yes, it can)

Recommended for fans of horror infused with a healthy dose of absurd humor, and also for fans of Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place. Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome can most easily be ordered in the United States from Amazon.

Number One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions
by Steve Martin, illustrated by Harry Bliss
Celadon Books
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250815293
$30.00 (discounted at Amazon)

Number One Is Walking is Steve Martin’s cinematic legacy―an illustrated memoir of his legendary acting career, with stories from his most popular films and artwork by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss.

Steve Martin has never written about his career in the movies before. In Number One Is Walking, he shares anecdotes from the sets of his beloved films―Father of the Bride, Roxanne, The Jerk, Three Amigos, and many more―bringing readers directly into his world. He shares charming tales of antics, moments of inspiration, and exploits with the likes of Paul McCartney, Diane Keaton, Robin Williams, and Chevy Chase. Martin details his forty years in the movie biz, as well as his stand-up comedy, banjo playing, writing, and cartooning, all with his unparalleled wit.

With gorgeously illustrated cartoons and single-panel “diversions” in Steve and Harry’s signature style, Number One Is Walking is full of the everyday moments that make up a movie star’s life, capturing Steve Martin’s singular humor and acclaimed career in film. The perfect gift from the team who brought you the #1 New York Times bestseller A Wealth of Pigeons.

Recommended as a great gift for any fan of Steve Martin, and that should be most of us. Number One Is Walking should be available from any bookseller using the ISBN code, or from Amazon at a hefty discount.

Fearsome Weirdos Family 
by Robert Jiménez
Independently published
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8363976667
$15 (paperback) $25 (hardcover)

I’ve recommended Robert’s trading card series many times in the past, and now he’s compiled six of them into a hand book, available from Amazon as a paperback or hardcover (use the links above).

Fearsome Weirdos Family is a collection of Fearsome Weirdos trading cards written and illustrated by Robert Jimenez. This book showcases the trading cards from the following sets:

Fearsome Weirdos
Fearsome Weirdos: Harvest Of Horrors
Fearsome Weirdos: Kaiju Creeps
Fearsome Weirdos: Ghouls Of Yule
Startling Lineup
Weird-Ass Faces

Robert’s work has appeared on album covers, in publications such as THE THING: ARTBOOK, VISIONS FROM THE UPSIDE DOWN: STRANGER THINGS ARTBOOK, Tiki Magazine and Pinstriping & Kustom Graphics Magazine, and has shown in galleries including Disneyland’s Wonderground, Harold Golen, M Modern, Creature Features, and Bear & Bird among others.

You can also see Robert’s work in trading card sets for Topps, Cryptozoic, and Upper Deck on licenses such as Garbage Pail Kids, Wacky Packages, Mars Attacks, Star Wars, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Rick And Morty, Ghostbusters, Adventure Time and more. Most notably, Robert worked on 8 paintings for the Upper Deck trading card set FIREFLY THE ‘VERSE and 9 paintings for WACKY PACKAGES GO TO THE MOVIES by Topps.

This is a cool way to enjoy Robert’s twisted creations in a more easily-accessed format. As a bonus, the cover is a bit of a tribute to the 1970s’ Batman Family comic book.

Recommended for the fan of macabre silliness, lowbrow art and monster culture on your shopping list. For other cool items from Robert, check out his webstore. You’ll find his artwork on shirts, wall art, trading cards, in books and even on shoes.

Random
by Penn Jillette
Akashic Books
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1636140711
$27.95 (discounted at Amazon)

This is a novel by Penn Jillette, of Penn & Teller fame, and I have to admit, I haven’t read it, so here’s what the publisher says…

From Penn Jillette of the legendary magic duo Penn & Teller: a rollicking crime caper that will bend your mind like a spoon.

“Penn Jillette is an atheist, triple-goddamned lunatic, and his book is a glorious Las Vegas lunatic paean to chance and adventure—a page-turning, scabrous, hilarious ride into randomness.”
—Neil Gaiman

“Jillette’s latest novel, Random, is about a young man who inherits his father’s crushing debt to a loan shark and turns to dice—and other dangerous measures—to dig himself out. That the dice bring him luck sends him a new philosophy of leaving decisions both big and small up to chance.”
—New York Times

Two weeks before his twenty-first birthday, Las Vegas native Bobby Ingersoll finds out he’s inherited a crushing gambling debt from his scumbag father. The debt is owed to an even scummier bag named Fraser Ruphart who oversees his bottom-rung criminal empire from the classy-adjacent Trump International Hotel. Bobby’s prospects of paying off the note, which comes due the day he turns twenty-one, are about as dim as the sign on the hotel’s facade.

The two weeks pass in the blink of a (snake) eye, but before Bobby’s luck runs out, he stumbles upon enough cash to pay off Ruphart and change his family’s fortune. More importantly, he finds himself with a new, for lack of a better word, faith.

Bobby does not consign his big break to a “higher power”—what Penn Jillette hero ever could? Instead, he devises and devotes himself to Random, a philosophy where his life choices are based entirely on the roll of his “lucky” dice. What follows is a rollicking exploration into not so much what defines us as what divines us when we give over every decision—from what to eat to whom to marry to how or when to die—to the random fall of two numbered cubes.

Random combines the intellectual curiosity of Richard Dawkins with the humor and grit of an Elmore Leonard antihero. Jillette’s up-on-his-luck Ingersoll is the character we need to help us navigate the chaos of the post-truth era.

Well, unless his roll runs cold.

Sounds entertaining and intriguing, and is likely a great gift idea for any fan of Penn & Teller.

Tomorrow The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide has you covered with T-shirts.

It’s another tricky day on The AIR  as we premiere a sorta new episode of Radio Free Charleston! You simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here and  listen to the cool embedded player elsewhere on this page.

We’ve created another new/old hybrid for you this week that you can hear at 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday. The first hour is filled with new, local and independent music, mixed with a few classic tracks and some interesting cover tunes. Hours two and three are a classic episode of RFC International from way back in in the early days of The AIR.

We open with just-released music from our old buddy, John Radcliff, and then we also feature great new local music from Brian Diller, Buni Muni, Bane Star, Minor Swing and Mediogres.  That’s mixed in with new music by friends from around the world, and a few ringers.  We wrap up the first hour with a Payback’s A Bitch sandwich, as we take a track from the album we debuted last week, and stick it between The Fall and The Who.

Four our second and third hours I went back and dug up an episode of Radio Free Charleston International from February, 2016. This show hasn’t been heard anywhere for a long time, but it’s chock-full of then-new music, mixed with a wild collection of oddites and bizarre deep cuts. Your humble blogger and Radio host needed to cut a few corners during this last week of The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide.

Check out the playlist below to see all the goodies we have in store (live links will take you to the artist’s pages for the first hour)…

RFC v5 110

hour one
John Radcliff “Falls Apart”
Brian Diller “Christmas Time of Year”
Novelty Island “Rose & The Rooftop Where She Rests”
Buni Muni “Disrespectful”
Bane Star “For You To Say Farewell”
Frenchy And The Punk “Church of Sound”
The Company Stores “Ways”
Minor Swing “Song For Mark”
The Beatles “Here, There and Everywhere”
Glimmerglass Reggae Ensemble “Run Like Hell”
The Paranoid Style “I’d Bet My Land and Titles”
The Routes“The Model”
Mediogres ‘Nice To Mole You”
The Fall “Rebellous Jukebox”
Payback’s a Bitch “The Devil’s Advocate”
The Who “Rael Parts one and two”

hour two
Iggy Pop “American Valhalla”
Wendy James “Situation Normal at Surfrider”
Avantasia “Mystery of a Blood Red Rose”
Leaf Hound “Growers of Mushroom”
Greenleaf “Golden Throne”
The Cult “Deeply Ordered Chaos”
Elton John “Claw Hammer”
Black Sabbath “Isolated Man”
National Lampoon “Flash Bazbo”
Alice Cooper “Clones”
Ringo Starr “Without Understanding”
Ozric Tentacles “Flying Machine”
Pink Floyd “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave and Grooving With a Pict”

hour three
Paul Kantner “Blows Against The Empire”
Yoko Ono with Jack Douglas “Move On Fast”
Pallas “Something In the Deep”
Jools Holland “Lady Madonna”
Elvis Costello “Watching The Detectives”
Kate Bush “Violin”
Kraftwerk “Pocket Calculator (live)”
Polysics “Married To A Frenchman”
Plastics “Last Train To Clarksville”
Paul McCartney “Temporary Secretary”
Wall of Voodoo “Hands of Love”
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Circle of the Noose”

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,  and  Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different 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.

Then at 1 PM we have MIRRORBALL, followed at 2 PM by Curtain Call. At 3 PM two great recent episodes of The Swing Shift arrive.

You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Thursday at 9 AM, Friday at 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.

Day 17 of The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide will go live in PopCult sometime this afternoon. Check back for all the great gift ideas.