This week we are re-presenting a couple of videos we originally posted here over eleven years ago. Since that time, the video URL’s had gotten mangled and the videos disappeared from the post, so since these are really cool things, we’re just bringing them to you again. Enjoy!
Above you see a 1973 animated short by John and Faith Hubley, starring the voices of their preschool daughters, Georgia and Emily. “Cockaboody” was in heavy rotation as between-movie filler on HBO, back in the early 1980s.
This was the second cartoon the Hubley’s made using the surreptitiously- recorded voices of their kids. Years earlier they created “Moonbird,” using the voices of their sons, Mark and Ray, and took home the OSCAR for best animated short in 1959. You can see it below.
This week we head to May , 2009 for the sixty-ninth episode of Radio Free Charleston.
May 2009 was “Mark Beckner Month” on Radio Free Charleston. Mark is a long-time friend and was a fixture on the original radio incarnation of RFC as a member of both Go Van Gogh and The Tunesmiths. After stints in bands like Hitchcock Circus and The Nanker Phelge amd relocating back to the Charleston area, Mark is now the leader of Nixon Black, and can be heard often on the new internet radio incarnation of RFC.
However, in May 2009, he was preparing to play his first real show in Charleston in years, since he’d moved to Nashville back in the 1990s. It turned out to be quite the homecoming, since unbeknowest to me, he was returning to town for good.
I had a wealth of archival material and new video featuring Mark, so I decided that, as a way to plug his “return” show with his band, Hitchcock Circus, I would devote an entire month of shows to Mister Mark Beckner.
We kicked it off by digging deep into the vaults to present Go Van Gogh: The Sad Truth, a mockumentary starring the band, which I had totally forgotten about, directed by Timothy Rock, the bassist for GVG. Stephen Beckner showed it during a movie night at his house, and I started wondering why it seemed familiar. Then it got to the scene where I’m crouched over a toilet blaming the band for the RFC radio show getting cancelled, and it all came back.
It turns out I was the cameraman and was the offscreen interviewer in addition to my cameo as myself. I have this bad habit of forgetting really cool things that I’ve done.
I was able to get a copy of the film from Stephen, and trimmed it a bit for time so I could present it as an episode of RFC. This is a rare episode of the show which was not named after a T Shirt for the simple reason, it does not include a “host segment,” instead empoloying a simple voice-over. This is also one of the few RFCs that doesn’t have the opening theme, and with this 2014 remastering, I corrected one shocking omission–after the end credits and remastering card, I put the “Ya-Hooo” guy back in.
The original production notes with the full background story can be found HERE. If you like what you see, you can see just about every scrap of video of Go Van Gogh, including the unedited version of Go Van Gogh: The Sad Truth, in THIS POST, which I put up here after the death of GVG’s drummer, and a friend to everyone, Johnny Rock.
This week’s PopCulteer column once again reverts to radio notes mode. We have a great new episode of MIRRORBALL to tell you about, and a very special artist spotlight episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, both debuting Friday afternoon on The AIR. The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear our shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.
Friday at 2 PM on The AIR, Mel Larch devotes her hour of Disco to more club hits of the late 1970s, as MIRRORBALL shines its multicolored spotlight on the songs that were moving butts on the dancefloor and creating a huge club scene.
It’s a short list of long songs designed to make you want to sweat and groove. You’ll get everything from Disco Diva, Thelma Houston to Sylvester, Love and Kisses and even a Disco version of the Batman theme song.
Take an hour and dance your cares away. Don’t worry. They’ll still be there when you get done.
Check out the playlist…
MIRRORBALL 092
Thelma Houston “I’m Here Again”
Sylvester “Over and Over”
Love and Kisses “I’ve Found Love”
First Choice “Let No Man Put Asunder”
Brainstorm “Lovin’ Is Really My Game”
Camoflage “You’ve Got The Power”
Bad City Band “Batman 77”
You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays throughout the following week Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 1 PM and a mini-marathon Saturday nights at 9 PM
At 3 PM we bring you a two-hour salute to Douglas Colvin, John Cummings, Thomas Erdelyi, and Jeffrey Hyman, or as most people know them, Dee Dee, Johnny, Tommy and Joey Ramone.
Fifty years after The Ramones formed in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, and ten years after the last original member passed away, Sydney thought it was time to pay tribute to the group that just wanted to play music and have some kicks, and along the way inspired Punk and New Wave Music.
Sydney has chosen to focus on the band’s first six albums, and ingore their later descent into heavy metal, but you’ll still get the cream of the Ramones’ crop. Because this is The Ramones we’re talking about, Sydney was able to cram forty-nine songs into her two-hours. It’s fifty if you count the one playing backwards at low volume while she’s talking.
Not too shabby a legacy for four dead guys from Queens.
Check out the playlist…
BEC 113
The Ramones
“Blitzkrieg Bop”
“Beat on the Brat”
“Judy Is a Punk”
“I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”
“Chain Saw”
“Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”
“I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement”
“Loudmouth”
“53rd & 3rd”
“Let’s Dance”
“Glad to See You Go”
“Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”
“Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”
“Suzy Is a Headbanger”
“Pinhead”
“Now I Wanna Be a Good Boy”
“Swallow My Pride”
“California Sun”
“Cretin Hop”
“Rockaway Beach”
“We’re a Happy Family”
“Teenage Lobotomy”
“Do You Wanna Dance?”
“I Don’t Want You”
“I Wanna Be Well”
“I Can’t Give You Anything”
“Ramona”
“Surfin’ Bird”
“I Wanna Be Sedated”
“I Just Want to Have Something to Do”
“Don’t Come Close”
“Needles and Pins”
“I’m Against It”
“Go Mental”
“She’s the One”
“Bad Brain”
“Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”
“Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?”
“I’m Affected”
“Chinese Rock”
“The Return of Jackie and Judy”
“Let’s Go”
“This Ain’t Havana”
“We Want the Airwaves”
“All’s Quiet on the Eastern Front”
“The KKK Took My Baby Away”
“Don’t Go”
“7-11”
“Sitting in My Room”
Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Saturday afternoon, Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Classic episodes can be heard Sunday morning at 10 AM.
That’s what’s new on The AIR Friday, and that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for our regular features every day.
Let us dig deep into the boilerplate for a new batch of STUFF TO DO in and around the Charleston/Huntington WV area (and beyond) this weekend?
As I have been copying and pasting of late, this a good time to remind you that THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST OF EVENTS. It’s just a starting point, so don’t expect anything comprehensive, and if you feel strongly about me leaving anything out, feel free to mention it in the comments.
We have plenty to tell you about this coming weekend. There’s theatre, live music, open mics, drag shows and more.
But we start off by getting a little literary for you.
There are two events this weekend tied to Stephen Bias’s latest novel, 304 Monsters. Saurday at 5 PM there is a sneak peek reading from the novel at Booktenders in Barboursville.
Starting at Noon on Sunday, The Henlo Press will host Writer’s Block at the Barboursville Community Center. This will be the official launch of 304 Monsters, and there will also be a chance to meet other Henlo Press authors. There will also be food and vendors on hand, so you can make a full day of it.
Live Music is back at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. Friday it’s Steve Himes. Saturday Chet Lowther takes the stage at the beloved bookstore/cafe/art gallery.
Friday at 9 PM, Point Pleasant’s Hairy Carey brings their original Rock and Roll to Scoobies, in Dunbar (next to the old bowling alley).
The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe has some great stuff this week to tell you about. Thursday at 5:30 PM it’s the Helping Hour with Swingstein & Robin. Jason Jobe takes the stage Thursday at 9 PM. Jobe is an outlaw and traditional country artist born and raised in Salt Rock Friday Tim Courts plays during happy hour. Sunday at 9 PM, Andrew Pauley returns to play at The Glass. You can check below for the graphics for other cool weekend shows at The Empty Glass.
Please remember that the pandemic is not over yet. It’s still a going concern with the ‘rona surging again. And now there are seasonal allergies, the flu, GOP candidates knee-capping each other, folks who drank raw milk speeding to the nearest bathroom, little Scottie Dogs that curse like sailors and other damned good reasons to be careful. Many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding while you’re out.
Keep in mind that all shows are subject to change or be cancelled at the last minute.
If you’re up for going out, here are a few suggestions for the weekend, roughly in order…
We take a trip into the past Wednesday as The AIR brings you another very special episode of Beatles Blast. You can tune in at the website, or just stay right here and listen to the convenient embedded radio player lurking elsewhere on this page.
At 2 PM (EST)Beatles Blast brings you an hour of music that captures The Beatles before they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, sixty years ago this month.
It’s an all-Beatles show that starts with the very first recorded compostion by the band, an instrumental titled “Cry For A Shadow,” which is credited to “Lennon-Harrison.” After that we hear the one song from the band’s pre-fame sessions backing German rocker, Tony Sheridan, where John Lennon got to handle the lead vocals. That’s followed by three tunes recorded live in Sweden in the fall of 1963, and then we have the bulk of a recording of a show the Beatles did for a boy’s school in Buckingham, England, in April, 1963.
This recording sat unlistened-to for sixty years, and once it surfaced, it began making the rounds. We have most of the show here, but in the show I announce that it ends halfway through a reprise of one song. Due to time constraints, I decided to just leave that partial song out.
Here’s the playlist (all songs by The Beatles)…
Beatles Blast 106
“Cry For A Shadow”
“Ain’t She Sweet”
“Roll Over Beethoven(live in Sweden)”
“You Really Got A Hold On Me(live in Sweden)”
“She Loves You(live in Sweden)”
Live At Roxburgh Hall, Stowe School, Buckingham (4th April 63)
Introduction
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“Too Much Monkey Bussiness”
“Love Me Do”
“Some Other Guy”
“Misery”
“I Just Don’t Understand”
“A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues”
“Matchbox”
“From Me To You”
“Thank You Girl”
“Memphis, Tennessee”
“Anna (Go To Him)”
“Please Please Me”
“The Hippy Hippy Shake”
“I’m Talking About You”
“Ask Me Why”
“Till There Was You”
“Twist And Shout”
Beatles Blast can be heard every Wednesday at 2 PM, with replays Thursday at 11 PM, Friday at 1 PM, and Saturday afternoon.
At 3 PM (EST) on Curtain Call, Mel Larch brings you two encore episode from just a few months ago. Curtain Call will return with a new episode next week.
Curtain Call can be heard on The AIR Wednesday at 3 PM, with replays Thursday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM, Saturday at 8 PM and Monday at 9 AM. A six-hour marathon of classic episodes can be heard Sunday evening starting at 6 PM, and an all-night marathon of Curtain Call episodes can be heard Wednesday nights, beginning at Midnight.
Also on The AIR, Wednesday at 11 PM, The Comedy Vault brings you the wacky-assed music of Spike Jones.
Tuesday finds another partly-new Radio Free Charleston on The AIR. Our first hour of Radio Free Charleston is accompanied by part one of a classic two-part episode of Radio Free Charleston International, that dates back to, 2016 and served as the pilot for Beatles Blast, which can now be heard Wednesdays on The AIR.
To listen to The AIR, 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 found elsewhere on this page.
You can hear Radio Free Charleston Tuesdays at 10 AM and 10 PM, with tons of replays throughout the week.
Our first hour is a collection of cool local, independt and brand-new music. We open with Sierra Ferrell’s take on the Sam Cooke classic, “Cupid,” which can be heard on the new video show, Cake & Tea, from the Mirror Mirror Network.
Next up we have Custard Flux, from Detroit (but brought to us via the Chicago pipeline). “Right Now Here in Time” is the first single from the band’s upcoming album Einsteinium Delirium to be released on Friday, June 7 via the label Friends Of The Fish (a subsidiary of Fruits de Mer Records, UK). You can check out a cool animated video for this tune HERE.
The remainder of our all-new first hour has new music fro Andy Prieboy, The Paranoid Style, The Broken Relics, Tucker Riggleman & The Cheap Dates, Duck City Music and loads more cool tunes to which you may well groove.
Our second and third hours are an early episode of Radio Free Charleston International, that acted as the pilot for Beatles Blast. This is the first of two parts, and you’ll hear the second part next week, because you can never have too much Beatles.
The links in the first hour of the playlist will take you to the pages where you can learn more about each artist and buy their music or find out where to see them.
hour two
The Beatles “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)”
John Lennon “Serve Yourself”
Paul McCartney “Return To Pepperland” George Harrison “When We Was Fab”
Ringo Starr “I Don’t Believe You”
The Wedding Present with Amelia Fletcher “Getting Better”
Sonic Youth “Within You Without You”
Michelle Shocked “Lovely Rita”
The Fall “A Day In The Life”
Tina Turner “Help”
Phil Collins “Tomorrow Mever Knows”
Annie Lennox “Don’t Let Me Down”
The Rutles “Get Up And Go”
hour three
The Beatles “What’s The New Mary Jane”
Mash Up “Only of a Lonely USSR”
Men Without Hats “I Am The Walrus”
New Musik “All You Need Is Love”
Paul Weller “Sexy Sadie”
Adrian Belew “Blackbird”
Kansas “Eleanor Rigby”
Alan Holdsworth “Michelle”
Golden Earring “I’ll Be Back”
Thompson Twins “Revolution”
Cheap Trick “Day Tripper”
Heart “I’m Down/Long Tall Sally”
Ben Harper “Strawberry Fields Forever”
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 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 last week’s episodes of MIRRORBALL at 1 PM and Curtain Call at 2 PM.
At 3 PM we offer up a classic episode of The Swing Shift. Next week The Swing Shift returns with the first of three new episodes devoted to Boogie Woogie, the exciting sub-genre of Swing that moves the spirit and heals the soul.
You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Friday at 10 AM and 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.
This one took nearly a month to draw, since I had to work in spurts when my fingers were cooperating, and as a happy coincidence, I have it ready in time for President’s Day. I assure you, this was not planned, and I didn’t even realize it until I started typing the text you’re reading now. The original title was “Memorials in Pencil,” but what the heck, why not be an opportunist?
This was inspired by the view from the Amtrak Cardinal as Mel and I were passing through on our way back from New York last month. At one point we were stopped for about five minutes, and I snapped a few reference photos from where The Washington Monument and The Jefferson Memorial were perfectly aligned in my point of view.
This was done with my trusty Blackwing Palamino on a new type of sketchbook paper for me that has a little texture to it. I switch back and forth between as many as half a dozen pieces at a time because Myasthenia Gravis affects how well I can grip whatever implement I’m using. At times I’ll have a couple of paintings and a few pencil drawings in progress at the same time. Pencils tend to need the most control, so stuff like this is the most frustrating to create, but also the most rewarding to finish. This one I was particular glad to put in the rear-view mirror.
Over in radioland, Monday at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you encores of a classic episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM a classic 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.
PsychedelicShack 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. You can hear two classic episodes of the show Sunday at 2 PM. All times listed are Eastern, so if you’re in another timezone, adjust accordingly.
At 8 PM you can hear an hour of alledged bloopers from Kermit Schaffer, on a recent episode of TheComedy Vault.
Tonight at 9 PM the Monday Marathon presents ten hours to expand your mind with Nigel Pye’s Psychedelic Shack.
Yes, we’re showing our age again this week. Above you see Genesis (the Phil Collins incarnation, of course) performing live in concert almost exactly forty years ago.
This was during the “Mama Tour” when Genesis was beginning to regain some of their prog credibility after a few years of extreme pop success. We see the band at their commercial peak, live at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England.
It’s a fun show that demonstrates their musical chops, and leans a bit more into their proggier music, with many of their hits consided to a show-ending medley.
In this show you’ll hear:
“Intro/Abacab”
Good Evening Chat
“That’s All”
“Mama”
“Illegal Alien’
Audience Participation Time
“Home By The Sea”
“Keep It Dark”
“It’s Gonna Get Better”
In The Cage Medley (“In The Cage/ The Cinema Show/Riding The Scree/ The Cinema Show (reprise)/In That Quiet Earth/The Colony Of Slippermen”)
“Afterglow”
“Drum Duet”
“Turn It On Again” (including popular medley)
Just think…some people who were conceived the night of this concert are grandparents already!
Radio Free Charleston 68, “Axiom Starliner Shirt,” dates from April, 2009, and we bring it to you once again. This episode of your favorite local music, animation and film show featured music from Jeff Ellis and Marcie Bullock. We also had the first edition of The Radio Free Charleston Financial Report, as well as the debut of the cutest li’l cute cartoon show in the history of cuteness, “Cuticles.” neither of those segments ever appeared in the show again!
Host segments for this show were shot late one Sunday evening in the parking lot at the Nitro Marketplace shopping center. “Why there?” You ask? I honestly have no idea. It seemed like a good idea at the time. The green ball cap seemed like a good idea, too, but it sure looks stupid on screen. The shirt was from the movie, “Wall-E.” This episode also includes the ultimate onscreen URL joke, in case you were wondering which show that one was in. You can find the original production notes HERE.
We recorded Jeff way back in the Autumn of 2007, at the unity open mic. The footage was used in another music program for The Gazz, but by the time 2009 rolled around, we felt it was time to present our mix and edit of Jeff’s song, “In Harm’s Way.” Closing the show is Marcie Bullock, who was from Huntingon but is now living in Memphis and occasionally Disneyworld. Marcie, backed ably by The Steve Himes Connection, treats us to her soulful, bluesy original song, “Can’t Undo,” from her CD.
We have a hot new episode of MIRRORBALL to tell you about, and a very special encore episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, both being broadcast Friday afternoon on The AIR.
The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear our shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.
Friday at 2 PM on The AIR, Mel Larch devotes her hour of Disco to club hits of 1978, as MIRRORBALL spins the hits of the dancefloor from right when the underground scene was surfacing and getting national notice.
This show is filled with regional and club favorites that didn’t quite light up the national charts, but which influenced dance music for the next few years.
Check out the playlist…
MIRRORBALL 091
Amant ‘Hazy Shades of Love’
Bill Summers “Straight To The Bank”
C.K.B. “Superman”
Gene Chandler “Get Down”
Dee D Jackson “Meteor Man”
Gibson Brothers “Cuba”
Karen Young “Hot Shot”
Terry Scott “Funky Music”
Miquel Brown “Symphony of Love”
You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays throughout the following week Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 1 PM and a mini-marathon Saturday nights at 9 PM
At 3 PM we bring you an encore of an early episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat, which originally aired on February 3, 2017.
Sydney Fileen presented two hours of terrific New Wave-era music in this classic episode. There may even be a subtle theme to this show, inspired by then-recent electoral tragedies that are still reverberating around the globe.
Check out the playlist…
BEC 017
The Clash “Know Your rights”
M “Official Secrets”
Elvis Costello “Two Little Hitlers”
Theatre of Hate “Do You Believe in the Westworld”
The Plugz “Mindless Contentment”
Hazel O’Connor “Big Brother”
The The “The Beaten Generation”
New Model Army “No Rest”
Joe Jackson “Right And Wrong”
Laibach “Sympathy For The Devil”
The Sex Pistols “Holiday In The Sun”
Stiff Little Fingers “Guilty As Sin”
Talking Heads “Burning Down The House”
Boomtown Rats “Banana Republic”
DEVO “Freedom of Choice”
Depeche Mode “People Are People”
Spear of Destiny “Never Take Me Alive”
Kate Bush “Army Dreamers”
The Buggles “Living In The Plastic Age”
The Beat “Whine and Grind/Stand Down Margaret”
The Specials “Racist Friend”
Gang of Four “To Hell With Poverty”
The Stranglers “No More Heroes”
Funboy Three “The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum”
Tom Robinson Band “Up Against The Wall”
The Vapors “Cold War”
The Dead Kennedys “Kill The Poor”
The Dickies “Paranoid”
The Police “When The World Is Running Down”
Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Saturday afternoon, Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Classic episodes can be heard Sunday morning at 10 AM.
That’s what’s on The AIR Friday, and that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for our regular features every day.
Comments