Flash!!! Ahhhhh-AAHHHHH!! Part 1: Radio Daze

Flash Gordon (1980) has been an obsession of mine since first seeing it at the drive-in a the tender age of six.

This obsession led to a great love for the character, a creation of cartoonist Alex Raymond in 1934, and an insane interest in anything connected to it, be the cliffhanger serials of the 1930s, the various comic book and animated adaptations, on back to Raymond's amazing original Sunday strips.

For the first installment of my on-going tribute to Flash, here's the first 26 episodes of the original radio show from 1935.....

The Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon (1935)
26 episodes

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Spider-Man: The Mark of The Man-Wolf (Power Records, PR-8146, 1974)

I was a Spider-Man fan as a child, cutting my teeth on the double whammy of the (then-current) introduction of the original Hobgoblin storyline and the (then-current, again) monthly reprints of the entire Lee/Ditko run of the book via the reprint title Marvel Tales, circa the early 1980s.

But, after a downhill slide of over a decade in incredibly terrible storylines, Marvel Comics has finally provided the straw that has broken the Web-Headed camel's back in the form of "One More Day".....

From Wikipedia:

One More Day is a 4-part, 2007 comic book crossover storyline, connecting all of the Spider-Man comic book series. It will conclude the storyline of the fallout of Spider-Man's actions during the Civil War. It starts in Amazing Spider-Man #544, continues in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 and The Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #41, and concludes in Amazing Spider-Man #545.

The last issue has been delayed until late December, according to Newsarama.[1]

Writer J. Michael Straczynski wrote this: "there's a lot that I don't agree with, and I made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel, especially Joe Quesada... there was a point where I made the decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the OMD arc." Eventually Joe talked me out of that decision because at the end of the day, I don't want to sabotage Joe or Marvel, and I have a lot of respect for both of those." ^[1]

The story has been quite controversial and has been heavily criticised by areas of the fandom under the assumption the story will undo Spider-Man's marriage. ^[2] The story itself is still ongoing.

Spoiler Alert!!!!!!! The following is (for anyone who cares) the revelation in store for those reading "One More Day"

Just prior to the One More Day storyline, Peter publicly confronts the government's Scarlet Spiders who each wear redesigned "Iron Spider" armor; their appearance in battle against and alongside Peter raised public doubt

over whether Parker is the original and/or only Spider-Man, despite his previous public reveal.

Peter's attempts to save Aunt May by contacting such diverse characters as Mister Fantastic or the High Evolutionary fail, prompting the demon Mephisto to appear to him with a bargain; he will save May's life, so long as Peter and Mary Jane agree to have all memory of their marriage wiped from all but a small part of their souls, thus allowing Mephisto to enjoy listening to that part scream for all eternity. Peter and Mary Jane agree to the deal and the continuity for the past 20 years is wiped out. Peter and Mary Jane are no longer married, Aunt May is no longer shot, Peter's unmasking

has never occurred, and Harry Osborn is alive (with everybody celebrating at a party for him). Fan reaction is almost completely negative to these changes.

IMO, if Joe Q. likes stories that focus on deals with the Devil, then he can burn in Hell. I wash my hands completely of any and all Marvel titles

. My reasoning? The Pete and MJ marriage is one of the better things to come about within the last 20 years in the book, and Marvel decides to chuck it. For what? A poor excuse for cop-out and poor writing? Screw Marvel. I'll never buy another one of their books again.

Anyways....onward to happier times. Here's another Power Records Marvel Comics post.

Track Listing:

01- Spider-Man: The Mark Of The Man-Wolf

02- The Incredible Hulk: At Bay

03-Captain America And The Falcon: And A Phoenix Shall Arise

04-The Fantastic Four: The Way It Began

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Christmas Countdown 2007: Ground Zero!!!

Lon Chaney Jr.- "Monster's Holiday" (Tower Records, 1964)




This delightful little .45 single is actually fairly hard to come by, but it's charming little tale of monsters hi-jacking Santa's sleigh is too heart-warming not to share...

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Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Golden Records SLP170, 1964)



Sadly, my scanner crapped out on me, so I couldn't include the scans of the actual comic, but here's the album...

Download Link (Hosted by LIX.IN)

Merry Christmas, everyone....hopefully Droppo Claus visits each and every one of you all.

The Words & The Music of Frankenstein (Hip-O Records, 1999)

God Bless Rob Zombie. Released in 1999 on his Spookshow International label, in conjunction with Universal Music Group's Hip-O label. Hip-O is basically UMG's answer to Rhino Records, re-issuing and re-releasing a ton of stuff from defunct labels that now fall under the UMG library (such as Decca), as well as special compilation projects like this.

Probably one of the best anthology/compilations of score music and sound bites from the first three films of Universal's Frankenstein franchise.

Track Listing:

1. Word of Friendly Waning

2. Toast

3. Grand Appassionato

4. Bride of Frankenstein

5. Prologue

6. I'm Glad to See the Monster Roasted

7. He Hated Fritz

8. Search Every Ravine

9. Bring Him To The Village

10. A Toast

11. Grand Appassionato

12. The Bride Of Frankenstein Main Title

13. Prologue

14. I'm Glad To See The Monster Roasted

15. Monster Entrance

16. The Monster! It's Alive!

17. Processional March

18. Forget? If Only I Could Forget

19. A Strange Apparition / Pretorius' Entrance

20. You'll Need A Coat

21. Pastorale

22. Chase Music / Crucifixion / Monster Breaks Out

23. We Better Get Away From These Parts

24. The Hermit's Fiddle (Ave Maria)

25. Alone - Bad, Friend - Good

26. The Music Of Friends (Ave Maria)

27. This Is The Fiend

28. The Fire In The Hut / Graveyard

29. Dance Macabre / Female Monster Music

30. Monster Enters / Monster Theme

31. In The Tower Pt. 1

32. In The Tower Pt. 2

33. Creation Pt. 1

34. Creation Pt. 1 / Female Monster Music

35. Creation Pt. 2

36. She Hate Me . . . Like Others

37. Explosion Pt. 1

38. Explosion Pt. 2

39. The Son of Frankenstein Main Title

40. It Wasn't My Father's Fault

41. The Message

42. The Discovery

43. The Examination

44. Has He Asked You To Rob Any Graves?

45. The Result Of The Examination

46. The Giant / Looking For A Monster

47. The Evil Flute

48. I Scare Him To Death

49. The Evil Flute

50. Don't Touch Him, Frankenstein!
51. The Death of Ygor
52. There's a Monster Afoot

53. The Monster Appears

54. The Monster's Lament

55. Monster On A Rampage / The Menace Destroyed

56. Herewith I Deed To You

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The World Of Junior Samples (CLP-1005, 1967)

My grandparents absolutely adored this man. Possibly because he reminded them of the common, earthy folks that filled their day-to-day lives in rural Ohio.

And, with the passing of time, I find him to be be funnier and funnier with each passing year....I like to blame my parents and their insane need to watch HEE HAW every time they had a chance.

About a year back, I actually lucked into scoring Samples' complete discography on Chart Records (The World of Junior Samples, which I'm sharing here now, Bull Sessions at Bull's Gap (1968), That's a Hee Haw (1969), and The Best of Junior Samples (1970), on vinyl.

From the liner notes of this album:

"I don’t know whether people read liner notes on the back of albums before or after they play the record that’s inside, but in any case the recording that’s inside this album jacket is the result of one of the most amazing stories I’ve encountered in my sixteen years of covering stories about show business and it’s people. Junior Samples is a North Georgia backwoodsman who backed into show business through an amazing set of circumstances that seem more like a fairy tale than that legendary lady, Cinderella.

I suppose it all started when one of Junior’s young sons found the head of a big fish on the shores of Lake Laneer near his home in Cummings, Ga. He took it to a race track to show his dad, our hero, who had taken a few drinks, and, needless to say, was feeling pretty good. Junior paraded the fish among the racing fans and claimed that he had caught a big bass. A radio announcer covering the races also heard Junior’s story and proceeded to broadcast it to his audience. Thus the story of the big fish spread, and soon came to the attention of the Georgia Game and Fish Commission who, in turn, dispatched Jim Morrison to the home of Junior Samples with a tape recorder to get Junior’s own account of how he caught the big fish.

Today Junior says, “this is one of my stories that got out of hand. I told Mr. Morrison to forget it, but when he kept insisting that he had to get a story, I took a drink and told him one!”

In the Spring of 1966, the original ‘Big Whopper’ interview was broadcasted all over the state of Georgia through the regular Game and Fish Commission program. It was so funny that stations were asked by their listeners to repeat it.

Junior was then forgotten for a while until Spring of 1967, when the program was repeated and the reaction again was fantastic. Slim Williamson, President of Chart Records, was contacted, and he immediately signed Junior to a recording contract and gained the rights to release the interview as a record. The two guitars were dubbed in to provide background music and the interview was shortened to conform with the time of most of today’s records.

The results have been fantastic. Junior, after appearing on my night radio program and on my television show, as well as others, was immediately taken into the hearts of all who heard him. He was asked to, and did, appear before the Legislature at the Tennessee State Capital. Johnny Cash was so favorably impressed with Junior that he asked him to join his radio show this fall. He was written up in newspapers all over the South, and is now being acclaimed as the comedy find of 1967.

I personally think that Junior’s greatest appeal is in his honest approach to any subject, as I’m sure you will be able to tell by listening to this, his first album."

Ralph Emery
WSM Radio and Television

Track Listing:

01- World's Biggest Whopper (with Jim Morrison)*
02- Truth About the Fish (with Jim Morrison)*
03- The Hunter (with Tommy Dee)
04- The Bird Mule (with Jim Morrison)*
05- Moonshining (with Ralph Emery)
06- It Happened to Junior (with Jim Morrison)*
07- The Disorderly House (with Tommy Dee)
08- Bitten By The Love Bug (with Bob Jennings)
09- The Cook (with Ralph Emery)
10- On Television (with Eddie Hill)
11- Keep On Keeping On (with Bill Powell)

* (note- a Georgia game warden, not who you're thinking of)

COMING SOON!

Christmas Countdown 2007: Lum n' Abner Christmas 1940 Broadcast (12/25/40)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love "hillbilly" movies and such, and one of my favorite things of this type of thing being the classic radio comedy, Lum n' Abner. The radio comedy spawned 7 films during the 1940s, all of which are available in some shape or form on cheap-ass DVDs from various manufacturers.

From Wikipedia:

Lum and Abner, an American radio comedy which aired as a network program from 1932 to 1954, became an American institution in its low-keyed, arch rural wit. One of a series of 15-minute serial comedies that dotted American radio at its height as America's number one home entertainment—others included Amos 'n' Andy, Easy Aces, The Goldbergs, and Vic and Sade—Lum and Abner included various elements of each but yielded something as singular as the others and became somewhat more of an institution.

The creation of co-stars Chester Lauck (who played Columbus "Lum" Edwards) and Norris Goff (Abner Peabody), Lum and Abner was as low-keyed as Easy Aces, as cheerfully absurdist as Vic and Sade, and raised The Goldbergs ethnic focus by amplifying the protagonists' regional identities. As the co-owners of the Jot 'em Down Store in the then-fictional town of Pine Ridge, Arkansas, they were always stumbling upon moneymaking ideas only to get themselves fleeced by nemesis Squire Skimp, before finding one or another way to redeem themselves, Lum and Abner played the hillbilly theme with deceptive cleverness: The hillbillies just knew the slickers were going to get theirs, sooner or later, and either didn't mind or knew more than they let on that the slickers getting theirs was a matter of fortunate circumstance.

Lauck and Goff had known each other since childhood and attended the University of Arkansas together (joining the Sigma Chi Fraternity together while there). They performed locally and established a blackface act which led to an audition at radio station KTHS in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Prior to the audition, the two men decided to change their act and portray two hillbillies, since there were already an overabundance of blackface acts at the time. After only a few shows in Hot Springs, they were picked up nationally by NBC, and Lum and Abner, sponsored by Quaker Oats, ran until 1932. Lauck and Goff performed several different characters, modeling many of them after real-life residents of Waters, Arkansas.

After the Quaker contract expired, Lauck and Goff continued to broadcast over two Texas stations, WBAP (Fort Worth) and WFAA (Dallas). In 1933, Ford Motor Company became their sponsor for approximately a year. Horlick's Malted Milk, the 1934-37 sponsor, offered a number of promotional premium items, including almanacs and fictional Pine Ridge newspapers. During this period, the show originated from Chicago's WGN, one of the founding members of the Mutual Broadcasting System. In 1936, the city council of Waters changed the town's name to Pine Ridge.[1] Postum cereal sponsored Lum and Abner in 1938-39, before Alka-Seltzer picked up the duo for eight years. Over the course of its life, Lum and Abner appeared on all of the major radio networks, CBS and ABC (formerly NBC Blue), in addition to NBC and Mutual.

One of my favorite episodes of the series has always been the annual Christmas episode that was traditionally broadcast during the holidays. For download this go-around of the 2007 Christmas Countdown, I've posted the 1940 broadcast of it, and I hope that you find it as touching and fun as I have for years.

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Merry Marvel Marching Society Membership Kit (1965/67)

Face Front, True Believers! Going through some old crap I had laying around after being inspired by a viewing of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, I came across my copies of Voices of Marvel (1965) and Scream Along With Marvel (1967), two promo vinyls given away to those lucky enough to have been around to join Marvel's officially sanctioned in-house fan club, The Merry Marvel Marching Society (or, M.M.M.S., for short).

Thanks to a former employer who used to own the comic book shop in which I worked during my college days of the early 1990s, I was lucky enough to score a vintage Marching Society membership kit, as well as the above mentioned vinyls.

Remember when Marvel Comics were fun? The current state of the publisher has led me to boycott their output, but at least we have stuff like this to remember the Marvel Age of Comics...

Track Listing:

Voices of Marvel (1965)
01- The Bullpen, 1965

Scream Along With Marvel (1967)
01- The Mighty Marvel March

Included with the music are scans of the contents of my kit, as well as some later promo stuff mailed to kids during the 1966 holidays.

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Evel Knievel Tribute

Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel, Jr. (October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007) was a childhood idol of mine, which I can blame several stupid things on I attempted as a child (like riding my bike off the top of my parents' garage into a mattress, amongst other things). Sadly, my copy of the Evel Knievel Speaks to The Kids (1974) album is stored away somewhere in the limbo that I now call my home, so instead of sharing that (hopefully I can get around to doing that in the near future), all I can do is share a few samples of it, and a few other Evel Knievel related tunes, as well as the above pic of the autographed Sports Illustrated I scored from eBay a few years back (curse you, eBay!!!). Here' to the last of the great daredevils, folks...

Track Listing:
1-Evel Knievel-Why
2-John Culliton Mahoney-Ballad Of Evel Knievel
3-Hub Reynolds-Ballad Of Evel Knievel
4-Mike Lunsford-Snake River Canyon

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Christmas Countdown 2007: More Martian Hijinx and Bobby Helms, "Captain Santa Claus", DECCA label # 9-30513 (1957)

For today's installment of the 2007 Christmas Countdown, here's another cover of Milton DeLugg's "Hooray For Santa Claus", which was the theme to Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), this time by one of my favorite punk bands, Sloppy Seconds. This is taken from their 2004 EP, Lonely Christmas. And, for the "B-Side" of this installment is one of my favorite Christmas themed B-Sides, "(Here Comes) Captain Santa Claus and His Reindeer Space Patrol", from the original 1957 Decca .45 release of "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms.

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ED WOOD-A-RAMA Part 2: "Plan 9 From Outer Space" Performance Records Original Soundtrack

For our second installment of ED WOOD-A-RAMA, we have this wonderful little disc released by Performance Records in 1996.



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Christmas Countdown 2007: Superheroes Christmas (Power Records/Peter Pan #8199)

I've owned this record since around the age of 6, and because of it, nothing says Christmas like Wonder Woman beating up a Germanic Nazi type and the image of Batman in a fake beard.

Track Listing:

01 Light Up The Tree, Mr. President (Superman)
02 Christmas Carol Caper (Batman)
03 Prisoner of Christmas Island (Wonder Woman)

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Justice League

One of the better animated adaptations of comic book properties of late was the (now-concluded) Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated shows that aired on the Cartoon Network, which, being a comic book fanboy, I absolutely adored. I especially enjoyed Unlimited, which explored DC continuity itself more so than past animated attempts....and any cartoon that finally brings one of my favorite DC characters to the screen (The Golden Age version of the Vigilante) is alright in my book.



Track Listing:
01 - Justice League (theme)
02 - Justice League (end credits)
03 - Justice League Unlimited (theme)
04 - Justice League (Starcrossed theme)
05 -Justice League (Starcrossed end credits)
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Christmas Countdown 2007: Merry Christmas from Lee Majors (or, a close facsimile)

I used to love both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman as a child, which led to one of my three first childhood celebrity crushes, Lindsay Wagner...the other two being the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman and Lynda Carter...I was a weird kid. Don't even get me started on Jessi Colter and Lily Munster, because then it gets really scary...

Anyways, for this installment of the Christmas Countdown, I bring you this bundle of bionic audio joy from 1978.

Track Listing:

01 THE TOYMAKER
02 THE KRIS KRINGLE CAPER
03 CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
04 THE ELVES' REVOLT

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Welcome Home, Brother Rabbit: "Song of the South" Radio Spots

Disney's Song of the South (1946) is a film swarming with possible controversy. The Big Mouse is afraid to release to the home video market for fears of backlash from ethnic groups. The fact of the matter is that it's never been available here in the U.S....ever...in any home video format. Hardcore Disney enthusiasts have to rely on gray market bootlegs made from either Japanese or British VHSs and/or laserdiscs (two countries where it is readily available).

From Wikipedia:

Although the film has been re-released several times (most recently in 1986), the Disney corporation has avoided making it directly available on home video or DVD in the United States because the frame story was deemed controversial by studio management, despite Uncle Remus being the hero of the story. Film critic Roger Ebert, who normally disdains any attempt to keep films from any audience, has supported the non-release position, claiming that most Disney films become a part of the consciousness of American children, who take films more literally than do adults. However, he favors allowing film students to have access to the film. In the U.S., only excerpts from the animated segments have ever appeared in Disney's DVDs (such as the 2004 two-disc release of Alice in Wonderland (1951), television shows, and the popular log-flume attraction Splash Mountain is based upon the same animated portions).

Despite rumors of a forthcoming DVD release, Disney CEO Robert Iger stated on March 10, 2006 at a Disney Shareholder Meeting that it had been decided that the company would not re-release it for the time being. At the annual shareholders meeting in March 2007, Iger announced that the company was reconsidering the decision, and have decided to look into the possibility of releasing the film. In May 2007, it was again reported that the Disney company has chosen not to release the film. However, rumors to the contrary continue to surface.

Even early in the film's production, there was concern that the material would encounter controversy. As the writing of the screenplay was getting under way, Disney publicist Vern Caldwell wrote to producer Perce Pearce that "The negro situation is a dangerous one. Between the negro haters and the negro lovers there are many chances to run afoul of situations that could run the gamut all the way from the nasty to the controversial."

When the film was first released, the NAACP acknowledged "the remarkable artistic merit" of the film, but decried the supposed "impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship" (even though the film was set after the American Civil War). Today, the organization has no position on the movie.

In 2007, Movies.com listed the film as the fifth most controversial film of all time.

I just find it a shame that this incredibly important piece of film history has been suppressed by it's license holder. There are talks from time to time of a release, so here's my advice to Disney:

I own a few of the Disney Treasures tin box releases, one of which being Mickey Mouse In Black & White Vol. 1, and on it they have these pleasant little video disclaimers prior to any of the animated shorts in which the content may be "questionable" hosted by Leonard Maltin, in which Maltin explains, in short terms, something to the extent of the early Disney animators were all uneducated hicks and, well, in that particular part of our history that type of crap was "acceptable" to the general public (of course, I'm paraphrasing and those aren't Maltin's words, but that's about the gist of it). Slap one of these babies on there, first off...

I can understand Ebert's stance...so, you market Song as one of these Treasures releases which are slightly pricier than the normal DVD release, and aimed at an audience more sophisticated than children, i.e., the collector's market (Note: I use the term "sophisticated" loosely in reference to any group). Make sure you stack it chock full of supplementary material which points out that a.) this is Disney's first effort at mixing live-action and animation, b.) how fucking sorry we are as a human race that wonderful actors like James Baskett were persecuted (he won an Oscar in 1948 for his performance in this film, yet was unable to attend the Atlanta premiere because that city was segregated in 1946), and c.) make note of the controversy surrounding the flick. Don't hide from it, because hiding from it makes you look like you've done something you deserve to be guilty about...

Song of the South info

For this post's download, here are two sets of radio spots for the film, one from the 1972 general re-release, and another from the 1973 double feature re-release with The Aristocats:

Track Listing:
01- 1972 60 sec. spot
02- 1972 60 sec. spot #2
03- 1972 30 sec. spot
04- 1972 30 sec. spot #2
05- 1972 20 sec. spot
06- 1972 10 sec. spot
07- 1973 60 sec. spot
08- 1973 30 sec. spot
09- 1973 20 sec. spot
10- 1973 10 sec. spot

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Swamp Thing OST- Harry Manfredini (1982)

One of the first really shocking moments I experienced as a young comic reader was due to Alan Moore. As an annual birthday gift, an older relative would provide me with subscriptions to an even number of DC and Marvel titles....

Around 1983, I was up to about 3 apiece from the two companies, and when said kin asked me what titles I'd like to try in that particular year's birthday go-round....(insert hyper-active 9 year old voice liberally)

"Well....I wanna keep getting Green Lantern and All-Star Squadron, I like those....um....Swamp Thing! I wanna try that...I like the movie (the Wes Craven film was in heavy rotation on pay cable at the time, so naturally I had seen it about 10 times by this point probably)...."
So...in eager anticipation, I awaited for my first issue to arrive via the postal service. Little did I know that the first issue I would recieve would be the infamous "The Anatomy Lesson" (Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, February 1984), which blew my nine year old mind. No wonder I'm so fucked up now (RFLMAO!!!), because around the same time I was reading Frank Miller's Daredevil and above-mentioned relative had introduced me to the works Howard Chaykin (of whom I'm still a huge fan), mainly the then-current American Flagg!....

Needless to say, I was a faithful subscriber until Moore ended his run....

Thank God my upbringing was fairly liberal....in the words of my father, around the time I was 13 or 14: "So...looks like yer gettin' old enough to wanna go runnin' around on the weekends. Well...be home for school on Monday....and don't bring the Law with ya..."

Anyways, here's the Harry Manfredini score to the film that started a long-time love for Moore's works, bog monsters, and probably alot of petty larceny...

Track Listing:

1. Main Title (3:19) - Harry Manfredini
2. Cable And Alec (0:56) - Harry Manfredini
3. Cable's Capture (2:30) - Harry Manfredini
4. Ferret Meets The Swamp Thing (2:01) - Harry Manfredini
5. SwampThing To The Rescue (3:42) - Harry Manfredini
6. At The Lab (3:17) - Harry Manfredini
7. Airboats, Guns, Grenades (3:49) - Harry Manfredini
8. Cable Escapes (0:59) - Harry Manfredini
9. Swamp Thing And Cable (3:53) - Harry Manfredini
10. Bruno's Transformation (1:37) - Harry Manfredini
11. Arcane's Transformation (5:08) - Harry Manfredini
12. The Final Battle (4:35) - Harry Manfredini
13. Swamp Thing's Farewell (2:44) - Harry Manfredini

This would also explain why I own a DVD of the laughably terrible Return of the Swamp Thing...LOL!

Download link (hosted by Rapidshare)

Batman the Audio Book (1989)

Who do I think of whenever I think of Gotham City? Why, Roddy McDowall, of course....

Anyways, thanks to Mostly Ghostly Music Sharing Blaaahhhggg!!! for sharing this. Dostoyevsky it's not, but it's a decent time-killer....

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Christmas Countdown 2007: Mexican Santa Claus/ Buck Owens

1959's Mexi-cinema production of El Santo Claus (aka Santa Claus here in the States) is kinda like what I'd imagined would happen if one produced a holiday special while high on weed, or possibly after a few hits of blotter acid. This is why it's become a "classic" amongst those of us who find joy in watching stuff so bad, it's funny. I find the film incredibly endearing...I mean, what's not to love about terrible unintentional racial stereotypes, Santa living on a cloud in outer space (next door to Merlin's castle) and his long-time war against Satan?

The thing I find more amazing is that this flick was a staple of holiday season matinées for well over two decades (!!!!).....and folks wonder why those that grew up in the 60s and 70s are so....well, fucked up? (I count myself amongst that crowd, having been born in 1974)....

Another thing I find endearing is the work of musician Buck Owens....I blame my parents and their insane need to watch Hee-Haw. I've loved Owens' stuff for years, and his Christmas tunes are some of the most screwed up stuff you can listen to during the holiday season.....it's usually either about how some sad little kid can't understand where Daddy is ("Daddy" and/or "Mommy" in a Buck tune is usually a careless ne'er-do-well, who doesn't have time for such trivial things as a faithful marriage, spending time with children or sobriety)....or, the confusion a child has for the whole concept of "Santy Claus". All just jolly funtime stuff, kids....

So, for tonight's installment, I decided to throw up the original radio spot for the K. Gordon Murray dubbed English release of SANTA CLAUS, and a little Christmas Buck. In along with the late Mr. Alvin Owens' stuff, I've included the track "Satan's Got to Get Along Without Me", which recently turned up on the soundtrack for the film THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, because like me, director Rob Zombie is a hardcore Owens fan. I thought that the tune sorta fit the theme of the film: Santa Claus' ongoing war against the forces of Satan.

You've heard about that one, right?

Track Listing:

Santa Claus (1959)

01- Radio Spot

Download here (Hosted By Megaupload)

Buck Owens Christmas

01 Satan's Got to Get Along Without Me
02 Here Comes Santa Claus Again
03 All I Want For Christmas Is You
04 Because It's Christmas Time
05 Blue Christmas Lights
06 Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy
07 Santa's Gonna Come In A Stagecoach
08 Tomorrow Is Christmas Day
09 Good Old Fashioned Country Christmas
10 Christmas Time's A Coming
11 It's Christmas Time For Everyone But Me

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Christmas Countdown 2007: The Go-Gos- "I'm Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek" (Oriole 1964)

My youth was filled with many a day sitting on my lazy ass after school in front of my parents' (what at the time seemed HUGE) 25 in. color Admiral television set, watching the local PBS affiliate. Everyday, like clockwork, everything dropped at 5 p.m......because it was at that hour that I made the effort to spend some quality time with Dr.Who.

For the uninformed, Who is a long-running (like 4 decades long) BBC television series about an eccentric alien time traveler, known only the Doctor (hence the title: "Doctor.... Who?"). If you've never heard about it, you must have either just been born within the last 10 years or have been living a hermit's existence....it seems anytime I mention watching PBS as a child, the response is general either about the children's programming....or the Good Doctor.

In 1963, one of Doc's more popular bad guys, the alien robot/cyborg Daleks were introduced, and a brief period of Dalekmania engulf the UK, from which was this novelty Christmas single by the Brit-Pop group the Go-Gos (not to be confused with the 1980s girl-group) group from Newcastle, was released the following Chistmas...

Now, thanks to a childhood obsession and the wonders of the inner-nets (curse you, eBay!!!), I can share my copy of this delightful little ditty:

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"EX-TER-MI-NATE!, EX-TER-MI-NATE!"

Christmas Countdown 2007: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Joy of Joys!!! It truly is the season of miracles! And.....Martians!!

Ahem....after nearly 2 decades (!!!!) of searching, one of my of my Christmas wishes has finally been realized....

One of my first experiences with the world of B Movies was 1964's Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a low-budget cheesfest that I first had the pleasure of viewing during the Christmas of 1988...and it has since become a holiday tradition of mine to view it. It's quite possibly one of my favorite "bad movies" of all time...

Prior to seeing it, though, I was aware that there had been a Dell comic book adaptation published in 1964 (thanks to religious reading of Overstreet's Comic Book Price Guide), and a few years ago, after years of searching, I actually came across a copy which I purchased.

The credits of the film itself mention that the movie's theme song, "Hooray For Santy Claus", was at one point released on vinyl, but I've never been able to track down a copy. I believe it may be a case of an extremely limited release .45 single...or, this release announced by the opening credits of the flick may be non-existent.

But....

Years ago, I was informed that Dell (a branch of what would later become Western Publishing, the folks behind numerous children's books and, in the 1970s, Golden and Peter Pan children's records) had released a read-along vinyl packaged with copies of the comic (Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Golden Records SLP170) at some point in the 1960s, and for years I'd had hoped to run across a copy.

Well, tonight, after a visit to the local Goodwill thrift store....that hope has finally bore fruit. And, it only cost me 90 cents....though my copy no longer possesses the copy of the comic shrink-wrapped to the back of the album, it's of no matter, seeing as how I already own a copy of the funnybook's newsstand release version....

So, to kick off what I hope will be the first annual Christmas Countdown, I've thrown together a little Santa Claus Conquers the Martians package for download, so that other can find the joy that I've found over the years in this little holiday season cult classic...

Track Listing:

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

01- Hooray For Santy Claus- Milton DeLugg and the Little Eskimos

Monk Seven is a Japanese techno artist who recorded this delightful little ditty using samples from the film:

Monk Seven

01- Santa On Mars

A few years back, oddball European musician Senor Tonto recorded a cover version of "Hooray for Santy Claus", which I've included the single of in this package:

Senor Tonto

01- Hooray For Santy Claus
02- Hooray For Santy Claus (instrumental)

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Also, as my first gift to my readers this Christmas, here's a download link for the film in MPEG format (hosted by Internet Archive)

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) Download (567 mb)

Marvel Superheroes Power Records Part Two: "Man-Thing: Night Of The Laughing Dead" (Power Records, PR16, 1974)

When I was a kid, I loved that little corner of the Marvel Universe (circa 1970s) that darker, more horror themed characters resided. This would explain why I own complete runs of the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider series, Tomb of Dracula, and Marvel Spotlight issues #12–24 (the run of the series that featured Daimon Hellstrom, also known as the Son of Satan).....

And then, there's Man-Thing.....

Coming from a long line of funny-book muck monsters, Ted Sallis, aka, the Man-Thing....y'know, the "Fear Burns At The Touch Of.." guy who first appeared in Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), has always held a special place in my heart. I just love the big dumb lug. So, please...refrain from any of the "Giant-Sized Man-Thing" jokes that seem to be so popular amongst the kids today....at least until you give this download a listen.

Included with this download is a file of JPEGs the complete comic...

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Batgirl Theme- Billy May

Another piece of Bat-Lore that was born out of the 1960s television series was the Barbara Gordon Batgirl. Presented here is an mp3 of the "Batgirl" theme from the short 1968 un-aired pilot starring Yvonne Craig.

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Burgess Meredith- "The Capture" & "The Escape" (ABC Records #10798) 1966

God Bless merchandising tie-ins.....in what other atmosphere would you find the creation of a novelty spoken word record performed by Burgess Meredith...in character as the Batman villain the Penguin?

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Frank Gorshin – “The Riddler” (A&M 804, 1966)

Being a comic book fanboy, my love for the 1966-68 ABC-TV BATMAN series knows no bounds...so, when I ran across this novelty single that Gorshin released as a merchandising tie-in in 1966, I immediately knew I had to have it....

Sure, it's a regular fixture it seems for oddball music sharing blogs to post this....but I figured what's one more time gonna hurt?

Track Listing:

01- The Riddler (A Side)
02- Never Let Her Go (B Side)

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The Ferlin Husky Project Part 1

I love "Hillbilly" movies. This attraction stems from the fact that I, in fact, could probably be considered one, having grown up on the banks of the Ohio River in Adams County, Ohio and a family line that extends back into the darkened recesses of the hills and valleys of Northern Kentucky....

Lum n' Abner (both the radio show and the series of films from the 1940s), the various incarnations of Li'l Abner (in the comic strips and various films, my favorite being the 1940 Mascot film, which literally adapts the first few years of the strip....and has Buster Keaton (!!!) as "Lonesome Polecat")....

H.G. Lewis' ventures into hillbilly territory (notably This Stuff'll Kill Ya! and Year of the Yahoo!, which at some point I'd love to reconstruct Claude King's soundtrack), Snuffy Smith comics, vintage Mountain Dew merchandise....you name it, I find it endearing...

From this fascination with rural folk was born what I've come to dub the FERLIN HUSKY PROJECT....

In 1966, Husky (a fairly popular country and western singer of the period) starred in two of my favorite "Hillbilly" flicks, Las Vegas Hillbillys and the always enjoyable sequel, Hillbillys in A Haunted House, and after years of searching for them on VHS, I finally scored copies of the now OOP (Out of Print, for the layman) VCI DVD releases a few years back, and made a disheartening discovery.....no formal soundtracks were ever released for these two films steeped in country and western music of the era.

So, I set out to try, using my own personal collection of vinyls, cassettes, 8-tracks (though I haven't found a decent A/V bridge for that format) and CDs....with a little help from LimeWire and other various torrent sharing applications, and reconstruct a formal soundtrack for both films. So far, some progress has been made, but I fear soem of the tunes are exclusive to the films themselves, or tracking down recordings have been a bitch....but still, I struggle on...

So, here I present my work so far, and bear in mind these downloads are a work in progress...and at some point in the near future there will be updates, but as with many things of this type, who knows when that'll be...

Las Vegas Hillbillys Track Listing:

01 -Ferlin Husky- I Feel Better
02-Bill Anderson - Bright Lights and Country Music
03- Connie Smith - Nobody But A Fool (Would Love You)
04- Del Reeves - Woman Do Funny Things To Me
05- Sonny James - The Minute You're Gone
06- Del Reeves - Belles Of Southern Bell

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Hillbillys In A Haunted House Track Listing:

01- Merle Haggard - Swinging Doors
02- Merle Haggard-Someone Told My Story
03- Sonny James - The Cat Came Back

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ED WOOD-A-RAMA Part 1: Orgy of the Dead (Strangelove, 1995)

What's a B-Movie themed blog without at least a little love for Ed Wood? In our first installment, where taking a look at Strangelove Record's 1995 CD release of the soundtrack for A.C. Stephens' ORGY OF THE DEAD, a little ditty from 1965 that Wood had a hand in scripting...

And, as a special bonus, Criswell performing "Someone Walked Over My Grave" from the 1995 single by Dionysus Records.....

Track Listing:

01 - I Am Criswell
02 - Let's Turn Back
03 - The Ghouls Feast In All Their Radiance
04 - She Died In Flames
05 - One Who Prowls The Lonely Streets At Night
06 - Some Kind Of College Initiation
07 - One Who Worships Gold Above All Else
08 - The Night Things Are All About Me
09 - To Love The Cat, Is To Be The Cat
10 - A Pussycat Is Born To Be Whipped
11 - Whatever You Do, Don't Do That
12 - She Danced To Their Destruction
13 - This One Cast Herself Into The Volcano's Fire
14 - Now I Will Talk To The Wolfman And Mummy
15 - No One Wishes To See A Man Dance
16 - She Lived As A Zombie In Life
17 - This Once Would Have Died For Feathers, Furs, And Fluff
18 - Our Fitting Climax
19 - There's Nothing To Forgive - It Was All A Dream

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