Stan Lee 1922-2018

I'm so sad to note the passage of Stan Lee, co-creator of the Marvel Comics Universe, who died at age 95 today.

This is a day we all suspected was coming soon, but one that hits hard, nevertheless.

For those of us who grew up reading his comic book scripts and Stan's Soapbox columns, and, I suspect, for those who've grown up seeing his many cameos in Marvel's movies, it's difficult to contemplate living in a world with no Stan Lee. I know it's going to take me a long time to get used to  it.

Without a doubt, I'll be paying tribute to Stan and his fellow Marvel creators for a long time to come here at Pop Culture Safari. But, today, I'm thinking about the one brief moment I got to spend in the presence of the Man.

I grew up in a state that doesn't have much in the way of comic book conventions, so my direct contact with the comics creators I admired as a kid has always been pretty much limited to the actual pages of comic books themselves.

Several years back, though, I did manage to make it to a con at which Stan was a featured guest. In fact, Stan's presence was pretty much the only reason I made the trip.

Sadly, Stan didn't present a lecture or participate in a Q&A at the event. But he did, for a considerable sum, pose for pictures with fans.

I think such photos are a weird phenomena. They seem so strangely transactional and raise all sorts of questions about fame and how bizarre it is. Are fellow humans really that much more important than the rest of us that we should pay to be in the same picture frame as them? I mean, Stan was just a guy, right?

But I paid and it was worth it, not just for the pic below of me, my kids, and Stan, but also for the chance to say, literally, "thank you," which I did right after the shutter clicked.

Stan at that moment was functioning, basically, as a human prop. In fact, that's what he looks like in the picture. He didn't have much time to move, let alone speak, before the next set of fans sidled up next to him. But he did give a smile and a slight nod of acknowledgement at my comment. And my inner fanboy smiled, too.

I'm glad I had the chance, in person, to say thanks to one of the people who helped make my childhood a little more magical.

Thank you, once again, Stan, for all those Marvelous memories. And, to all my fellow fans out there, I'm thinking of you. Be well. This is a tough one, but we'll make it through if we all hang together.


Vintage Marvel Comics Superheros cartoon place mat


New comics collections for January 2019: Black Panther; Captain America; Kirby, more

Black Panther Epic Collection: Revenge of the Black Panther

Decades: Marvel in the 50s - Captain America Strikes! 

Kirby is...Fantastic! King-Sized Hardcover

Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 12

Marvel Masterworks: The Savage She-Hulk Vol. 2

Creepy Archives Volume 28

Corto Maltese - The Secret Rose

Disney Masters Vol. 6: 
Giovan Battista Carpi: 
Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: King Of The Golden River

The Martian Monster And Other Stories (The EC Comics Library)

Vintage Superman and Marvel Comics comic rack sign


New Music Friday: The Beatles; Jimi Hendrix; Charles Bradley; Marianne Faithfull

The Beatles (The White Album) [6 CD + Blu-ray]

The Beatles (The White Album) [4 LP]

The Beatles (The White Album) [3 CD] 

Charles Bradley - Black Velvet

Marianne Faithfull - Come and Stay with Me: The UK 45s 1964-1969

Al Green - The Hi Records Singles Collection

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland 50th Anniversary Edition

Pop Culture Roundup: Hot Wheels stamps; Amazon wishbook; walkie talkies; Six Million Dollar Man

The USPS is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hot Wheels with a series of new stamps. I love Hot Wheels.

It'll never replace the Sears Wishbook in my heart, but Amazon is mailing (really mailing) out a holiday catalog.


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Walkie-talkies were so much more fun than texts.


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The Six Million Dollar Man visits Toy "R" Us, 1974.


Coming up: Come Join My Orchestra: The British Baroque Pop Sound 1967-73


Out Dec. 7.  Pre-order from Amazon now.

Details:

Come Join My Orchestra covers British baroque pop’s formative years and its integration into a wide variety of genres, ranging from Johnny McEvoy’s exquisitely sculpted take on traditional pop balladry and a clutch of dyed-in-the-wool folkies (Ian Campbell, Bert Jansch etc) to McCartney acolytes (Fickle Pickle, Mike Batt, the Gerry Rafferty-led Humblebums) and symphonic/art rock bands like Procol Harum and Barclay James Harvest.

When Paul McCartney – who arguably kick-started the whole baroque pop genre when he recorded the likes of ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ with pivotal strings arrangements – made his oft-quoted remark that pop was the classical music of the 20th Century, perhaps he meant it in a more literal sense than anyone realised at the time.

In the immediate wake of ground-breaking albums like Rubber Soul, Revolver and Pet Sounds, the British and American music scenes became increasingly ambitious and cerebral. As the major recording studios becoming ever more sophisticated, a new generation of musicians and producers sought to emulate the backroom auteur status of Brian Wilson or the symbiotic relationship between George Martin and The Beatles.

A new, more melancholic strain was introduced into British pop: expansive orchestral arrangements merged with the burgeoning psychedelic mind-set to create such studio-bound masterpieces as Days Of Future Passed and (of course) Sgt Pepper, with harpsichords, oboes, flutes, recorders and French horns providing a moody, introverted chamber pop flourish.

Wilson and The Left Banke led the way in the US, but Britain was also awash with acts mining the baroque pop seam. Honeybus, The Zombies, Donovan, Nirvana and many others made significant recordings in that field, fusing mournful minor chord melodies with fey vocals, ornate arrangements and what had previously been considered non-rock instrumentation.

Come Join My Orchestra covers British baroque pop’s formative years and its integration into a wide variety of genres, ranging from Johnny McEvoy’s exquisitely sculpted take on traditional pop balladry and a clutch of dyed-in-the-wool folkies (Ian Campbell, Bert Jansch etc) to McCartney acolytes (Fickle Pickle, Mike Batt, the Gerry Rafferty-led Humblebums) and symphonic/art rock bands like Procol Harum and Barclay James Harvest.

With a lavish 40-page booklet, many recordings making their first appearance on CD and two tracks (by The Regime and The Mellow Yellow) gaining their first-ever release, Come Join My Orchestra is a fascinating overview of what was a major development in late Sixties pop music, and one that reverberates to this day.

DISC ONE:
1. COME JOIN MY ORCHESTRA – Al Jones
2. (DO I FIGURE) IN YOUR LIFE – The Honeybus
3. COATHANGER – Clifford T Ward
4. POOR JIMMY WILSON – The Strawbs
5. THE BETTER SIDE – The Freedom
6. ACORN STREET – Michael Blount
7. FLOWERS NEVER BLEND WITH THE RAINFALL – The Toast
8. DISAPPEAR – Gilbert
9. THE SOUND OF THE CANDYMAN’S TRUMPET – Tony Hazzard
10.YOUR DOG WON’T BARK – Picadilly Line
11.CAN’T FIND TIME FOR ANYTHING NOW – John Williams
12.WOE IS LOVE, MY DEAR – Bert Jansch
13.SANDY – The Matchmakers 14.ISANDULA ROAD – Jonathan Gill
15.AM I VERY WRONG? – Genesis
16.AWAY, AWAY – The Money Jungle
17.STICKS AND STONES – Warm Sounds
18.YOU’RE NOT IN MY CLASS – The Alan Bown!
19.MELINDA (MORE OR LESS) – Curved Air
20.I’M GOING HOME – Edward Jenkins
21.DON’T TRY TO EXPLAIN – Neil MacArthur
22.EVERYMAN – Stackridge
23.DO YOU LOVE ME – Deep Feeling
24.TODAY – Festival
25.PRIVATE HAROLD HARRIS – The Ian Campbell Group
26.NOT SO YOUNG TODAY –

DISC TWO:
Five Steps Beyond
1. POPCORN, DOUBLE FEATURE – The Searchers
2. BARTERERS AND THEIR WIVES – The Rockin’ Berries
3. JUSTINE – Julian Brooks
4. COURTYARDS OF CASTILE – The Bliss
5. MOTHER DEAR – Barclay James Harvest
6. COMPETITION – The Orange Bicycle
7. I SEE WONDERFUL THINGS IN YOU – Mike Batt
8. DORIS COMES TODAY – Bill Fay
9. YEP – Bridget St John
10.THIS SONG IS GREEN – Billy Nicholls
11.CHERRYBELLE – Chris Neal
12.I COULD WRITE A BOOK – Wil Malone
13.WINDFALL – Offspring
14.POET – Audience
15.DEAR AMANDA – The Regime *
16.BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR – John Pantry
17.LETTERS FROM HER – Forever Amber
18.IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME – Andy Ellison
19.FILLIN’ A GAP – Paper Bubble
20.ILLINOIS – Nirvana
21.FATHER DICKENS – Johnny McEvoy
22.A LITTLE SMILE ON CHRISTMAS MORNING – The Annie Rocket Band
23.HE’S VERY GOOD WITH HIS HANDS – Barry Booth & His Orchestra
24.CHARLOTTE ROSE – The Majority
25.GENEVIEVE – Angel Pavement 26.LUSKUS DELPH (LIVE WITH EDMONTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA) – Procol Harum
27.THE ANSWER IS – Marc Brierley
*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

DISC THREE:
1. SATURDAY – Fickle Pickle
2. WRITER IN THE SUN – Donovan
3. A ROSE FOR EMILY – The Zombies
4. RICK RACK – The Humblebums
5. SHE SANG HYMNS OUT OF TUNE – The Freshmen
6. BROKEN BICYCLE – Kes Wyndham
7. CLOUDY – The Factotums
8. I’LL KEEP SMILING – Simon, Plug & Grimes
9. MIST ON A MONDAY MORNING – The Move
10.STRANGE PEOPLE – The U-No-Who
11.IF I THOUGHT YOU’D EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND – Edwards Hand
12.PICTURE ON THE WALL – Clive Sands
13.NEW KIND OF FEELING – Lea Nixon
14.ONLY FOOLING – Chris Baker
15.MRS RICHIE – Harmony Grass
16.ROSEMARY – A. & A. North
17.ROW ROW ROW – Peter Sully
18.TIME SELLER (SINGLE VERSION) – The Spencer Davis Group
19.THOUGHTS ON A RAINY DAY – Katch 22
20.TUESDAY – The Mellow Yellow *
21.THIS LITTLE MAN – Grapefruit
22.FACE IN MY WINDOW – Sheridan/Price
23.SMOKEY BLUE’S AWAY – Muffin
24.BREAKFAST – Richmond
25.ALL MY LIFE – Agincourt
26.SHADES AND SHADOWS – Elliot Mansions
27.GOODBYE – John George
*PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED