Above you see PopCult’s video of last weekend’s opening of Dr. Mercer’s “Joe Too Cool To Smoke” Peanuts memorablia collection at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum.

Our video only captured a portion of the over 5,000 Peanuts items on display.

We also have snippets of the guided tour, conducted by Wheeling, West Virginia pediatric physician Dr. William Mercer, who accumulated this massive collection (and quite a few great experiences) over forty years of practicing pediatric medicine.

Dr. Mercer’s collection was largely assembled from patient’s gifts, beginning in 1987 after he designed a Snoopy-themed pediatric room at his practice.

Over the years Dr. Mercer began doing outreach programs in schools, telling kids to be “Too Cool To Smoke” (and later vape). The collection is permanent, but will rotate often because it’s so huge that only some of it can be shown at one time.

If you want to see Dr. Mercer’s Peanuts collection, check out The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum. for details, hours and directions.

And here’s a few more photos (sans captions) of the cool stuff in Dr. Mercer’s collection…

This week we are going back to March 2008 for “Fantastic Four Shirt,” episode 37 of Radio Free Charleston. This is a very special episode because it features two acts who were alumni of the original RFC radio program, but were just making their first appearance on the video version of the show.  Lady D is, of course, Doris Fields,a legend of the West Virginia music scene. Blue Million was also an RFC radio vet–Their front-man, Alan Griffith, appeared performing solo on one memorable night, backing up me and The Stunning Janice as we butchered Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone.”

Also on the this episode is an installment of “The Android Family,” and part four of Frank Panucci’s series of enlightening animation, this episode is called “Porky Bang.”  Host segments were shot at LiveMix Studio’s Quarrier Street home.

You can read the original production notes HERE, but remember, many of the links are deader than crap.

The PopCulteer
July 28, 2023

Today we have a photo essay of a very special place in the Windy City. On our recent trip back to Chicago we made it a point to stop at the highly-recommended Sideshow Gelato, which as the name implies, is a combination of a great Gelato place with an old school sideshow exhibition.

Gelato is Italian ice cream, which uses more milk and less cream, and no egg yolks, so it has a denser texture with less air, and richer flavor due to having less fat.

We were there on a weekday afternoon, so while we saw the stage and most of the attractions, we didn’t get to see any performers or films or anything. Still, the Gelato was fantastic, on par with Charleston’s own Caffe Romeo, and the decor and attractions were priceless.

I first heard about this place from Mitch O’Connell, who was lucky enough to attend a sneak preview right before they opened. Later, Mel saw where they were carrying Penn Jilette’s own Gelato creation. The fact that it’s just half a block from the heart of Lincoln Square, one of our favorite places to go in Chicago, meant that we were destined to try it out.

Lincoln Square is home to Quake Collectibles, Laurie’s Planet of Sound, Enjoy-an Urban General Store, Merz Apothocary and Giddings Plaza, which is where I filmed Tautologic for RFC 217.

Sideshow Gelato is literally just across the street and past the Walgreens from this Mecca of coolness in Chicago. It’s technically in Lincoln Square, but everything else I mentioned is along one really cool stretch.

Now, when I say “sideshow,” I mean the really cool, freaky stuff like two-headed babies, monkey-fish carcasses, life-sized photos of the world’s tallest man–classic carnival sideshow material. Plus the decor is terrific. The tables are decorated with vintage and new magic show posters. There are cool books and T-shirts and stuff for sale. I don’t want to give away all the secrets of Sideshow Gelato, so we’re a bit skimpy on the sideshow attractions. If you’re curious, you’ll just have to go there yourself.

Also, I didn’t get any photos of the Gelato itself. It was over 90 degrees that day, and once we had Gelato in our hands, eating it took priority over photographing it.

And did I mention the Gelato itself is great?

Here’s how cool this place looks…

This is where the Gelato lives…until they give it to you to eat.

You may have noticed that I capitalized “Gelato” in this entire post. It’s so good that it demands the extra respect.

Behind the colorful counter and with just a glimpse of the cool ceiling.

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This weekend your PopCulteer is headed to Louisville for the Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo.  I told you about that last Sunday, and I’ll tell you more about it next week when I get back. Meanwhile, here are a few suggestions of things worth venturing out in the heat for in and around Charleston and The Mountain State this weekend.

I want to make special note of The Blob, the musical by Mark Scarpelli and Dan Kehde, which is being revived at The Elk City Playhouse by CYAC.  It’s our first graphic below, but here’s more details from their PR:

A 1958 Horror Classic comes to life on the musical stage with music, dancing, romance, and DooWop fun, in one amazing evening of entertainment! Featuring performances by Nik Tidquist, Julia Carriger, Mattie Connelly, Austin Susman, Caroline Chamness and a supporting ensemble of singers, dancers and musicians.

The production includes twenty songs from Scarpelli and Kehde with such titles as “Duck and Cover”, “Midnight Monster Marathon”, ”A Boy To Hold Me”, “Too Young To Ever Fall In Love”, “Rocket Route Forty”, “Little Moon” and many more.

7 PM
Friday July 28, Saturday July 29
Friday August 4, Saturday August 5

And 2 PM July 30

Tickets $15.00 Adults, $10.00 Students/Seniors
Available online or at the door
Due to limited seating, reservations are suggested
The Elk City Playhouse
218 Washington St. W. Charleston, WV.

Live Music is back at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM.  Friday it’s Minor Swing. Saturday Ronald & The Rayguns entertain the crowd at Charleston’s beloved Bookstore/Coffee Shop/Art Gallery.

The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe has some great stuff this weekend to tell you about. Thursday at 5:30 PM, Swingstein and Robin return with Swing for a good cause. Friday Tim Courts plays during happy hour.  Later on Friday The Kind Theives make their return to the Glass.  Saturday at 10 PM, Jakob Thmas and Friends with Patty and The Butchers come to The Empty Glass stage. Sunday, Los Angelenos Leather Duchess show up at The Glass at 10 PM. Next Monday it’s Open Mic Night at 9 PM and on Tuesday The legendary Spurgie Hankins Band does their monthly gig at The 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, heatstroke, indcited co-conspirators, Ninja cicadas, soccer hooligans 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.

If you’re up for going out, here are a few suggestions for the weekend, roughly in order…

Your PopCulteer is back from The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum, where I attended the official opening of a huge collection of Peanuts memorabilia. The display features part of a massive collection of Peanuts-related memorabilia accululated by Wheeling, West Virginia physician Dr. William Mercer over forty years of practicing pediatric medicine.

Dr. Mercer’s collection was largely assembled with patient’s gifts, beginning in 1987 after he designed a Snoopy-themed pediatric room at his practice. Over the years Dr. Mercer began doing outreach programs in schools, telling kids to be “Too Cool To Smoke” (and later vape).

Mel and I shot video, but it’s taking a bit longer than expected to edit, so today I’m going to bring you a collection of photos. The plan is to have the video ready and posted within the next week.

When we do have the video done, it’ll show off the collection, but also include highlights of Dr. Mercer’s tour of his collection.

The crew at Kruger Street put together an amazing exhibit, with over 5,000 Peanuts items perfectly arranged and displayed all over the lower level of the Museum.

Here’s our first look at Dr. Mercer’s Peanuts collection, at The Kruger Street Toy& Train Museum. The exhibit is open now and will be a permanent part of Kruger Street going forward…

For the opening, we were directed to the side door.

Dr. Mercer (in the orange shirt) begins the tour.

Counting the neckties hanging over head, there may be a thousand Peanuts items just in this photo.

It’s really a massive collection. I should’ve brought a wide-angle lens.

Displays focus on the different Peanuts characters, with much of the emphasis on Snoopy.

They don’t leave out Charlie Brown, though.

There is so much to delve into here.

A whole wall is devoted to the “Joe Too Cool To Smoke Campaign,” including this woodcut sign, made by a former Marx Toys design artist.

A permanent wall of Christmas Peanuts items.

More Snoopy items, in a side hall.

A small Peanuts train layout includes a bubble so that kids can pop up from under the table and see what it’s like inside.

Another look at that Great Pumpkin train set.

The event last weekend also included free T Shirts and sunglasses. A bonus we did not know about in advance.

We leave you with the Charlie Brown bowling ball (guaranteed to go in the gutter every time, maybe?).

Keep checking PopCult. In the next week or so we’ll have more photos and video of the opening weekend.

We’re nearly at the end of July, and once again we’re bringing you our regular Tuesday programming on The AIR that means it’s time for a new  Radio Free Charleston and a new edition of The Swing Shift. 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. This week we have some great new music, but we also include a new interview with keyboard virtuoso David Synn that takes up the second hour of our show. A few weeks ago I replayed an interview with David from 2016, and we both thought it’d be a great idea to catch up with the major life and music changes he’s been through since that time.

We had a great chat, talked about some of his influences and we even play examples of those influences during the interview.  I sneak a few more musical footnotes into our third hour. We also talk about David’s future musical endeavors and his upcoming EP, Somber Poems of Sentience, due late this year.

One thing we both forgot to menton is that he has a new T-shirt out (see it above), for fans of his music to proudly wear all over the place. You can order one HERE.

We open the show with a very factual and important song from Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns, and also bring you brand-new tunes from Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Brian Diller, The Dollyrots, Inception In Black, Jeff Ellis and more, plus the first hour has three great neo-surf tracks.

After our interview with David in our second hour, we jump into hour three with a newly-released song by the late leader of the Bonzo Dog Band, Viv Stanshall, who left us in 1995. After that I bring you a set of music by artists that we mentioned in the interview in the previous hour.

Check out the playlist below to see all the goodies we have in store. Live links will take you to the artist’s pages so you can find out more about them, and maybe even buy their music and find out where to see them perform live…

RFC V5 139

hour one
Matt Mullins and The Bringdowns “45”
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies “Lowdown Appreciator”
Brian Diller “Big Ground, Big Sky”
The Dollyrots “Hey Girl”
Galen and Paul “Hacia Arriba”
Rasta Rafiki“Young Ones (Yes Become)”
Inception In Black “Figure of Speech”
The Intoxicators “Phantom Mustang”
The Madeira “Journey To The Center of the Surf”
The Tentakills “Ghosts of Atlantis”
Jeff Ellis“If The Devil Has A Name”
The Anchoress“Bizarre Love Triangle”
The Wearing Hands “Home”

The master of the synths, David Synn

hour two
David Synn Interview 2023
Derek Sherinian “Day of the Dead”
Elvis Presley “Unchained Melody”
David Synn “Island of Gorgo”
Depeche Mode “Welcome To My World”

hour three
Viv Stanshall “Dog Howl In Tune”
Eddie Jobson “Turn It Over”
David Bowie“Fame”
Faith No More “Epic”
The Nice “One Of Those People”
Billy Joel “I’ve Seen The Lights Go Out on Broadway”
Hurtsmile “Rock & Roll Cliche”
Sean Richardson “Home”
Scarlet Revolt “One Like You”
Speedsuit “A Woman Who Knows Her Mind”
Buni Muni “Triple Double”
Novelty Island “I Hear A New World”
The Heavy Hitters Band “Come Dance With Me”

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 3 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.

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 have a new episode of The Swing Shift that pays tribute to Tony Bennett. We lost the legendary crooner last week, but this week, on a show for which I didn’t have time to compile a playlist for publication, we devote the hour to Tony Bennett swinging to his heart’s content, solo, and in collaboration with artists like Lady Gaga, Bill Evans, James Taylor, The Dixie Chicks, Mel Torme and more. It’s our humble salute to one of the great singers of our time.

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.

We have finally moved on from art inspired by our May visit to New York City. Now we’re inspired by Chicago for a while.

To be exact, we’re inspired by Chicago and Edward Hopper for the next few weeks, although today’s art is just a small sketchy pastel study I did, which I plan to render as a large-scale acrylic painting later, with much more detail and cleaner rendering. This was just done to set the composition, colors and lightplay while it was fresh in my mind. The rendering is not really Hopperesque at all, but it should be noticeable when I get to do the big version.

This scene is based on the view of the bar in the lobby at The Canopy Hotel in Chicago as we were heading out one morning during a recent visit. This piece is probably 8 inches square, with about half an inch of sloppy border cropped out after I scanned it. It’s not based on a specific photo reference, but I did use several photos from other angles to get proportions and some details close to what they really look like.

When I go high detail on this,  I may change the setting to night, which will require altering the color balance of the whole piece, and the wardrobe of the figures in the background. We’ll see. I’ll have to save that job for a time when my fingers are more cooperative. I have a more detailed painting of another Chicago scene on my easel right now, and with any luck, it might be ready for next Monday.

To see this one bigger try clicking HERE.

Over in radioland, Monday at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you 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.

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. You can hear two classic episodes of the show Sunday at 2 PM.

At 8 PM you can hear Steve Martin on last week’s episode of The Comedy Vault.

Tonight at 9 PM the Monday Marathon presents ten hours of random weirdness from The AIR’s archives.

It’s time to plug a great toy show that’s within easy driving distance of Charleston,  and your PopCulteer and his wife will be there.

The Tenth Annual Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo happens next weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s Saturday (with a Friday preview night) and it happens at the Paroquet Springs Conference Centre, at 395 Paroquet Springs Drive, in Shepherdsville, KY.  It’s not far at all from the South Louisville Antique Toy Mall, so most toy collectors ought to have an easy time finding it.  This is a great show. I’ve been to several in the past, and above and below you’ll see videos I made to document the visits. Up top it’s our clip from last year. Below you’ll see several videos from the years preceding.

There will be dozens of dealers with great vintage GI Joes, plus GI Joe from the Real American Hero era and brand-new custom uniform sets and figures for 12″ and 3 3/4″ GI Joes. Plus there will be tons of other action figures and toys for sale. You might find MEGO, Big Jim, Super Joe, Johnny West, Major Matt Mason and many other great toys from the past.

Collectors can expect new convention sets from folks like Bee-Active Toys, Cotswold Collectibles and Mattsquatch Customs and more that will compliment the show exclusive “Invasion of Spy Island” set . This is some terriic stuff that is keeping the 1/6 scale hobby alive. I believe that there will also be at least one exclusive 3 3/4″ GI Joe-style figure for sale at the show, along with Ron Rudat, one of the key designers for the Real American Hero line.

Visit the Kentuckiana GI Joe Toy Expo Facebook event page for more information. It should be a great time, and your PopCulteer will be there, so come up and say “howdy” or something.

This week we bring you two episodes of Radio Free Charleston that were recorded on the same night in January, 2008. The LaBelle Theater in South Charleston played host to a very special benefit concert to raise money for Sojourners, the YWCA shelter for homeless women and families and victims of domestic abuse. What was remarkable about this evening was that it happened on the day of the infamous “Blue Haze,” one of the many notable chemical leaks over the years that our state government has done nothing about.

Despite the fear of what an unknown chemical cloud floating around the area could do, a large crowd came out to hear an amzing assortment of musicians donate their time to this worthy cause. John Lilly, Rich Allen, The Synergy Collective, Sean Richardson, Karen Allen, Jerry Fugate, Mark Davis, Deron Sodaro and the evening’s host, Ric Cochran, put on a fantastic show that ended with a ton of musicians on stage leading a singalong to “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”

This was originally a two-part episode of Radio Free Charleston, spread out over RFC 35 and 36. Included among the musical performances are interviews I conducted with Ric Cochran and with Margaret Taylor, then (and until her recent retirement) the director of Sojourners. At the time, these two episodes of RFC were described as “uncharacteristically classy,” which amused the hell out of me.

This was waaaay back when we couldn’t put RFC on YouTube because they had a ten-minute time limit, so these shows were briefly on the Charleston Gazette servers, and then briefly available on MySpace until I remastered them and combined them into one big file about ten years ago, which by that time could be uploaded to YouTube with no duration limitations.

Sojouners is still active and the information in this show should still be valid. If you are in need of their assistance you can check with them at this link, or call 800.681.8663 or 304.340.3549, 24 hours a day.  The original production notes can be found HERE and HERE.

The PopCulteer
July 21, 2023

Your PopCulteer is in the midst of an interesting week. Sunday morning I got back from a fun, if tornado-heavy, trip to Chicago. Then I learned of some breaking news coming out of San Diego that I’ll have to tell you about next week when I can get all the details. I also had a dilated eye exam that has me working in short spurts because my eyes recover very slowly due to Myasthenia Gravis, and looking at a computer monitor is like staring into a high-powered spotlight.

That should clear up in time for me to cover the opening of The Peanuts exhibit in Wheeling Saturday. Then Sunday I’ll be conducting a new interview with David Synn for next week’s RFC, and a week from today The PopCulteer will be filled with a photo essay of a place we visited in Chicago.

But today I’m going to offer up quick takes on a couple of shows we saw in the Windier than usual City, and then bring you notes and the playlist for Friday’s new episode of MIRRORBALL on The AIR.

ANOTHER MARRIAGE

A week ago last Wednesday Mel and I took in a matinee performance of Another Marriage at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. This production starred Judy Greer and Ian Barford and is the writing debut of Steppenwolf ensemble member Kate Arrington, who coincidentally was in the cast of the play, The Qualms in 2014.

That’s a coincidence because Mel and I got married on the set of The Qualms, but that’s another marriage that doesn’t really have anything else to do with Another Marriage.

To quote the program, “Another Marriage is an intimate and beautifully rendered portrait of an ever-evolving relationship that may never be quite finished.”

It’s a great play and an impressive writing debut for Arrington. She mixes elements of romantic comedy with drama and a healthy dose of snark and reality. And the play’s structure is novel and engrossing, beginning near the end of a decades-long relationship, and then flashing back to the beginning and the high and low points of two people’s lives together.

This is Steppenwolf, so the performances are all world-class. With a great script, Greer and Barford bring their characters to life in a realistic and appealing way.

Greer and Barford are simply perfect in their complex and very genuine roles.

Another Marriage is directed by Terry Kinney, a co-founder of Steppenwolf whose resume is longer than this post is supposed to be. While Greer and Barford shine as the two central characters, they were well supported by Nicole Scimeca as their daughter, and Caroline Neff in multiple roles.

This was our first play in the new space that Steppenwolf opened during the pandemic, and it’s an amazing venue, with seating in the round and very impressive stagecraft, with sinking platforms in the stage and entrances that can be made from four sides of the hall.

Another Marriage has had it’s run extended to July 30, though Barford will be replaced by another fine actor, Tim Hopper, after July 23. If you’re in Chicago, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL

I raved about The SpongeBob Musical back when Mel and I saw it on Broadway five years ago, and we were both curious to see how Kokandy Productions would translate such a big show to such an intimate performance space in the basement of the Chopin Theater.

We saw their take on Sweeney Todd last December, and were astounded at how they managed to fit the show into such a tiny space with no loss of quality. They did this with an amazingly talented cast and crew, and terrific direction.

I’m happy to say that they managed to do this with The SpongeBob Musical, too. Without a lavish budget, they managed to capture all the charm of the show and compress it into a small performance area with no problem.

In fact, they even managed to stick in a few more references to the SpongeBob Squarepants cartoon than the original show did. Major kudos have to go to the director, JD Caudill, and to the various art and sound designers: Jonathan Berg-Einhorn, Jakob Abderhalden, G “Max” Maxin IV, Patrick McGuire, Steve Labedz, Ele Matelan, Michael J. Patrick, Keith Ryan, Sydney Genco and Lolly Extract.

However, the biggest key to the success of this production is the cast. Frankie Leo Bennett is simply perfect as “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Isabel García offers up a creative new take on “Patrick Star.” Sarah Patin as “Sandy Cheeks” captures the spirit of the cartoon character. Quinn Rigg really stands out as “Squidward Q. Tentacles” and you don’t even miss the two extra legs. Parker Guidry treats the audience to a wild version of “Sheldon J. Plankton” that combines the diabolical copepod with a dash of Dr. Frank N Furter.

I could go on and single out every cast member and every ensemble member, but it’s killing my eyes to type this, so I will simply say that everyone in this production is talented enough to have stepped into the roles on Broadway.

That’s an enthusiastic “thumbs up,” in case you couldn’t tell.

The SpongeBob Musical is running at The Chopin Theater until September 3, and it’s a great storefront space (and right across the street from the Division stop on The Blue Line). If you’re in Chicago and want to see a great performance of one of the most fun musicals of the last century get thee to The Chopin.

Jimmy “Bo” Horne On MIRRORBALL

Friday at 2 PM on The AIR, Mel Larch devotes the full hour of MIRRORBALL to the music of Disco legend, Jimmy “Bo” Horne.  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.

Despite only having one top ten hit on the pop charts during Disco’s heyday, Horne dominated the danceclub charts and his music has been used in movies and TV shows for the last four decades. Even today his work is being sampled by dozens of hip hop artists and turns up in video games.

Born in West Palm Beach, Horne went into event planning and artist management following his Disco career, and is still putting on great shows all over Florida. Mel brings you an assortment of Disco classics that you may not even realize that you’ve been listening to, since they’ve been sampled so many times.

Check out the playlist…

MIRRORBALL 080
Jimmy “Bo” Horne

“You Get Me Hot”
“Gimme Some (part one)
“Get Happy”
“Is It In”
“Ask The Birds And The Bees”
“Music To Make Love To”
“Rocket In The Pocket”
“Let Me Be Your Lover”
“Don’t Worry About It”
“Let’s Do It”
“You’re So Good To Me”
“It’s Your Sweet Love”
“Goin’ Home For Love”
“I Wanna Go Home With You”
“I Get Lifted”
“Dance Across The Floor”

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 a classic episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat that’s a mixtape of New Wave hits from the year 1981. You can find the playlist and background info HERE, once you scroll past one of my rants.

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. Two classic episodes can also be heard every Sunday, starting at 10 AM.

And that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back every day for fresh content.