Hot Trax '72: Bee Gees! Todd Rundgren! Arlo Guthrie! More!
New songs entering the charts 50 years ago this week.
Pop Culture Roundup: Max Headroom Lives! Bowie is Dead! More!
ITEM! ACM plans a Max Headroom update.
ITEM! Neil Gaiman breaks some sad news to David Bowie fans.
ITEM! Jon Favreau didn't want to see Tony Stark killed off in "Avengers: End Game."
ITEM! Matt Smith is thrilled by the casting of Ncuti Gatwa as the new Doctor Who.
ITEM! Justice League stars Ben Affleck and Jason Momoa will reunite in "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom."
ITEM! The upcoming animated series, "Spider-Man: Freshman Year," doesn't follow the MCU timeline. And that's ok.
Coming Up: The Swinging Blue Jeans: Feelin’ Better – Anthology 1963-1969
Out this month from Cherry Red Records. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
The Swinging Blue Jeans had a residency at Liverpool’s legendary Cavern Club where The Beatles once appeared as their guests and, like the Fab Four, they cut their teeth playing Hamburg’s The Star-Club. The huge success of their 1963 single ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’ made The Swinging Blue Jeans stars in the UK, Canada, Scandinavia, Germany, Australia and the USA.
Terry Sylvester from The Escorts joined The Swinging Blue Jeans in early 1966, appearing on singles, ‘Sandy’, ‘Rumours, Gossip, Words Untrue’ and ‘What Have They Done To Hazel’ and the Canadian album, ‘Don’t Make Me Over’, before leaving to replace Graham Nash in The Hollies in 1968. Singers Madeline Bell and Kiki Dee guest on the 1967 single ‘Tremblin’’.
Track Listing:
DISC ONE
1 Ol’ Man Mose (commercial test version)
2 It’s Too Late Now (commercial test version)
3 Three Little Fishes (commercial test version)
4 It’s Too Late Now
5 Think Of Me
6 Do You Know
7 Angie
8 Hippy Hippy Shake
9 Now I Must Go
10 Dizzy Miss Lizzy
11 Wasting Time
12 Good Golly Miss Molly
13 Shaking Feeling
14 Shakin’ All Over
15 Shake, Rattle and Roll
16 You’re No Good
17 Don’t You Worry About Me
18 Promise You’ll Tell Her
19 Ol’ Man Mose
20 Save The Last Dance For Me
21 That’s The Way It Goes
22 Around and Around
23 It’s All Over Now
24 Long Tall Sally
25 Lawdy Miss Clawdy
26 Some Sweet Day
27 It’s So Right
28 Don’t It Make You Feel Good
29 All I Want Is You
30 Tutti Frutti
31 You got love
32 Dizzy Chimes
33 It Isn’t There
34 One Of These Days
35 Get Rid Of Her
36 It’s True
DISC TWO
1 Make Me Know You’re Mine
2 I’ve Got A Girl
3 Ready Teddy
4 Lovey Dovey
5 Crazy ’Bout My Baby
6 Good Lovin’
7 Don’t Make Me Over
8 What Can I Do Today
9 I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry Over You
10 Gotta Draw The Line (Sidney)
11 I’m Gonna Have You
12 I Don’t Believe It
13 Nobody But Me
14 You Don’t Love Me
15 I Want Love
16 Jump Back
17 Chug-A-Lug
18 This Boy
19 Do You Believe In Magic?
20 Sandy
21 Now That You’ve Got Me You Don’t Seem To Want Me (Early Version)
22 It’s In Her Kiss
23 You’d Better Stop
24 Our Day Will Come
25 I Wanna Be There
26 Anyway
27 You’re Welcome To My Heart
28 Rumours, Gossip, Words Untrue
29 Now The Summer’s Gone
30 I Made A Mistake
31 Master John (The Preacher’s Son)
32 Gotta Draw The Line (Sidney) (Later Version)
33 It’s Alright
DISC THREE
1 Tremblin’
2 Something’s Coming Along
3 Don’t Go Out Into The Rain (You’re Gonna Melt)
4 One Woman Man
5 Painting The Day
6 RAY ENNIS & THE BLUE JEANS What Have They Done To Hazel
7 RAY ENNIS & THE BLUE JEANS Now That You’ve Got Me (You Don’t Seem To Want Me)
8 THE BLUEJEANS Hey Mrs. Housewife
9 THE BLUEJEANS Sandfly
10 Big City
11 Summer Comes Sunday
12 Good Golly Miss Molly (German Version)
13 Das Ist Prima (Shakin’ Feeling German Version)
14 Tutti Frutti (German Version)
15 Das Ist Vorbei (One Of These Days German Version)
16 The Hippy Hippy Shake (Stereo)
17 Ol’ Man Mose (Stereo)
18 Save The Last Dance For Me (Stereo)
19 That’s The Way It Goes (Stereo)
20 Around and Around (Stereo)
21 It’s All Over Now (Stereo)
22 Long Tall Sally (Stereo)
23 Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Stereo)
24 Some Sweet Day (Stereo)
25 It’s So Right (Stereo)
26 Don’t It Make You Feel Good (Stereo)
27 All I Want Is You (Stereo)
28 Tutti Frutti (Stereo)
29 Make Me Know You’re Mine (Stereo)
30 I’ve Got A Girl (Stereo)
31 Ready Teddy (Stereo)
32 Sandy (Stereo)
33 You’re Welcome To My Heart (No Brass – Stereo)
34 Tremblin’ (Stereo)
Check Out Tony Hawk's Hot Wheels-Inspired Skateboard Deck
Pretty nifty. I like everything Hot Wheels.
Details:
Limited to only 100, the full-size decks are signed by Tony Hawk and based on his personal router template.
Hot Wheels is proud to make a donation to Tony’s signature charity, The Skatepark Project to help create safe and inclusive skateparks in communities across America.
New Music Releases Out Today: Sonny Clark, Hunter S. Thompson, Elvis
Our picks this week. Click the links to order from Amazon.
Coming Up: Miles Out To Sea: The Roots Of British Power Pop 1969-1975
Out this month from Cherry Red Records. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
While the early 70s musical landscape in Britain was largely dominated by introspective singer/songwriters, Bubblegum Pop and underground Rock bands, a handful of acts bravely continued to pursue the classic mid-60s group sound.
With the aid of increasingly sophisticated recording studios, they majored in crisp, muscular, hook-laden three-minute pop songs, bursting with chiming Rickenbacker guitars, irresistible choruses and Beatles/Beach Boys-inspired close harmonies.
A few (Slade, Pilot, the ill-starred Badfinger) found commercial success, but the likes of Starry Eyed And Laughing, Shape Of The Rain and Octopus proved to be the right bands at the wrong time – too late for the British Invasion that had swept America in the mid-60s, too early to hitch a ride on the late 70s Power Pop bandwagon.
‘Miles Out To Sea’ assembles the pick of these recordings, with household names and hit singles (including The First Class’s classic Beach Boys cop ‘Beach Baby’) joined by cult Power Pop names (Rockin’ Horse, Liverpool Echo, Pagliaro) obscure one-off 45s (Atlantis, Fresh Air, Big Star-soundalikes Rotten To The Core), cuts from privately-pressed or non-UK albums (Rusty, Shakane, Majority One, Ironbridge) and many unreleased-at-the-time tracks (including pre-Records band The Fabulous Ratbites From Hell and a previously- unissued demo by pre-Rusty act Sheephouse, who cut a collectable Decca single).
Featuring a clamshell box design that houses a lavishly-annotated and illustrated 48-page booklet, ‘Miles Out To Sea’ is a fascinating document of a musical genre that would only really be identified and cherished after the fact. File under Pure-Pop-For-Then-People.
Track Listing:
DISC ONE
1 MILES OUT TO SEA – Slade
2 JUST A SMILE (original single version) – Pilot
3 BIGGEST GOSSIP IN TOWN (single version) – Rockin’ Horse
4 SOME SING, SOME DANCE – Pagliaro
5 RAINCHILD – Octopus
6 I’LL BE THERE – Shape Of The Rain
7 GOING DOWN – Starry Eyed And Laughing
8 PLEASE, ELIZA – Shakanea
9 DON’T LET ME WAIT TOO LONG – Rotten To The Core
10 BLACK MOURNING BAND – Honeybus
11 YOU LIED ABOUT YOUR AGE – Bachdenkel
12 (WHAT’S SO FUNNY ‘BOUT) PEACE LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING – Brinsley Schwarz
13 WHEN WILL I BE LOVED – Dave Edmunds
14 NIGHTINGALE CRESCENT – Unicorn
15 BRIGHTON ROCK – Rusty
16 YOU MADE ME STAND UP STRAIGHTER – Byzantium
17 BICYCLE DRIVER – Neil Harrison
18 TRY ME – The Tremeloes
19 PEPPERMINT TWIST – Sweet
20 SHE WROTE ME A LETTER – Marmalade
21 LOVE’S MADE A FOOL OF YOU – Raw Holly
22 STRANGE AFFAIR – Help Yourself
23 LET YOUR LOVE GO – Paintbox
24 WHERE I BELONG – Gerry Rafferty
25 FRESH AS A DAISY – Ragamuffin
DISC TWO
1 KNOW ONE KNOWS – Badfinger
2 CHINATOWN – The Move
3 GIRL ON THE TRAIN – Liverpool Echo
4 LONELY NORMAN – Jimmy Campbell
5 FORGET HER – Nimbo
6 GET BACK HOME – Majority One
7 DANGEROUS BACON – Stackridge
8 GO AS YOU PLEASE – Stealers Wheel
9 SECOND TIME AROUND – Keith Riley
10 CHAMPION THE UNDERDOG – Sutherland Brothers and Quiver 11 ALRIGHT MA! – Stray
12 I AIN’T GOT TIME – Atlantis
13 SOMETIMES I WONDER – Sheridan and Rick Price
14 SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE – Bo’ Flyers
15 SOMETHING’S GOING ON – Ducks Deluxe
16 ORDINARY BOY – Small Wonder
17 LEAVIN’ ‘OME – The Hammersmith Gorillas
18 ZURICH 17 (BE MY BABY)- Hollywood Brats
19 GIRLFRIEND – Octopus
20 HOLE IN THE SKY* – Sheephouse
21 MONEY MAKES THE WORLD – Billy Bates
22 SPARKLE – The Fabulous Ratbites From Hell
23 THE RING OF TRUTH – Bachdenkel
24 IN A HAND OR FACE – The Who
25 ROLLING HOME AGAIN – Budgie
DISC THREE
1 THIS MAN HE WEEPS TONIGHT – The Kinks
2 DON’T YOU EVER THINK I CRY? – Rockin’ Horse
3 WE’RE NOT THEIR BOYS – Shape Of The Rain
4 LET ME TELL YOU – Fickle Pickle
5 BABY (I GOTTA GO) – Simon Turner
6 SMILE (MY SMILER’S SMILE) – Liverpool Express
7 I DON’T NEED YOU ANY MORE – Penny Arcade
8 IT TAKES TOO LONG – Fresh Air
9 WHEN YOU DANCE I CAN REALLY LOVE – Shakane
10 ANNABELLA – Billy Kinsley
11 SALLY WORKS NIGHTS – Liverpool Echo
12 STAY AT HOME – Rusty
13 CHIMES OF FREEDOM – Starry Eyed And Laughing
14 BACK ROOM – Ironbridge
15 NO MATTER WHAT – Black Label
16 GOOD LOVE CHILD – Barclay James Harvest
17 LITTLE BABY WON’T YOU PLEASE COME HOME, HONEY-CHILD WON’T YOU JUST ALLOW ME ONE MORE CHANCE, PLEASE – P. C. Kent
18 SO SAD (NO LOVE OF HIS OWN) – Iain Matthews
19 JEWEL – Wolfe
20 WALKING THE SILVER HAY -Airbus
21 MAYBE TOMORROW – Angel Pavement
22 BEACH BABY – The First Class
23 FROM ME AND FROM YOU – Keith Riley
24 I DON’T WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND – Rupert Holmes
*previously unreleased
Pop Culture Roundup: Fantastic Four, Bernard Cribbins, Alan Grant, More
ITEM! Marvel's new Fantastic Four film won't center around the group's familiar origin story.
ITEM! British comics writer Alan Grant, who penned tales about Batman, Doctor Who, Judge Dredd, is dead at age 73.
ITEM! Bernard Cribbins, who played Donna's grandfather on "Doctor Who," and who enjoyed a long career in films on on British TV, is dead at age 93.
ITEM! "Games of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin missed the premiere of the new prequel series "House of the Dragon" due to coming down with COVID 19.
ITEM! A play about Batman co-creator Bill Finger is set to be performed in three U.S. cities this year.
New on Video: "Planet of the Vampires" (Special Edition)
Order now from Amazon.
Details:
A Close Encounter of the Undead Kind! In this otherworldly tour de force of sci-fi thrills and Gothic chills, space travelers intercept a mysterious distress call from a distant world. Is it a desperate cry for help…or something far more sinister? After landing on the shadowy planet, the crew members clash with a horde of disembodied, soul-snatching aliens with a diabolical plan beyond their worst nightmares! A dazzling mixture of nerve-shredding suspense, eye-popping science fiction and full-blooded horror from the maestro of the macabre, Mario Bava (Black Sunday, Black Sabbath), Planet of the Vampires inspired decades of space-age shockers and now proudly stands as one of the most electrifying, visually stunning cult classics from Italian cinema’s golden age. Starring Barry Sullivan (Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, Caravans).
Special Features:
- Brand New 2K Master
- NEW Audio Commentary by Novelist/Critic Kim Newman and Writer/Journalist Barry Forshaw
- Audio Commentary by Mario Bava Biographer Tim Lucas
- Alternate Music Score Highlights
- Original Italian Opening Credits
- TRAILERS FROM HELL with Joe Dante
- TRAILERS FROM HELL with Josh Olson
- Theatrical Trailer
New on Video: "Raw Deal" - Classic Noir Directed by Anthony Mann
Order now from Amazon.
Details:
Beautifully restored exclusively for this Special Edition Blu-ray.
All Joe Sullivan wants is “a breath of fresh air.” But when you’re serving time in stir for robbery, fresh air is a rare commodity. That’s about to change though as mob boss Rick Coyle has greased the skids inside the prison walls, so Joe can make it outside where girlfriend Pat will be waiting.
But things don’t exactly go as planned for the duo as car trouble during their getaway forces them to get help from the only person nearby -- strait-laced legal assistant Ann Martin, whom they kidnap and use to evade capture. Things aren’t going as planned for Rick either who set up the escape fully expecting the fugitive to get “cut down” so he could keep the $50,000 he owes Joe for taking the rap for him.
Now past the dragnet, the trio each find themselves increasingly conflicted in their loyalties and core beliefs as Joe is torn between the two women, who both care for him, while Pat and Ann each make decisions that prove they’re not as bad, or as good, as they’re supposed to be.
Raw Deal presents the moviemaking team of director Anthony Mann and cinematographer John Alton at the peak of their success (fresh off their box office smash T-Men), offering dark, moody atmosphere filled with fog-shrouded landscapes and characters who are no strangers to the “left-handed endeavor” of crime. Scenarist John C. Higgins (He Walked by Night) and co-writer Leopold Atlas offer a taut, suspenseful tale of one man’s desperate bid for freedom and the two women who love him.
Dennis O’Keefe, star of the earlier T-Men, contributes a first-rate performance as the determined Joe, with Marsha Hunt (Pride and Prejudice) as Ann and Oscar® winning actress Claire Trevor (Key Largo) as the fiercely loyal Pat. Raw Deal also features a suitably slimy Raymond Burr as Rick, John Ireland as Burr’s sadistic henchman Fantail, and noir standbys Regis Toomey and Whit Bissell. Raw Deal is film noir at its finest!
BONUS FEATURES:
- Feature length audio commentary by author and film historian Jeremy Arnold
- Deadly is the Male: The Making of Raw Deal - A Featurette with writer and film historian Julie Kirgo, film historian & director Courtney Joyner and biographer & producer Alan K. Rode
- Dennis O’Keefe: An Extraordinary Ordinary Guy - A featurette with Jim O’Keefe (son of Dennis O’Keefe) and biographer & producer Alan K. Rode & film historian & director Courtney Joyner
- An image gallery with rare stills, posters and other promotional material
- Restoration Comparison
- Trailers
- PLUS: A 24 page booklet with an essay by author Max Alvarez (The Crime Films of Anthony Mann) featuring stills, posters and other production material
New Pop Culture Books: Superman '78! D&D History! Tarzan! Doc Savage! More!
Click the links to order from Amazon.

It was from that studio—Don’s studio—that came such award-winning, generation-defining films as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Anastasia, and the video game Dragon’s Lair.
Now, after more than half a century in the movie business, Don is ready to tell the story of his life. How his passions for artistry, integrity, and his Mormon faith shaped him into the beloved icon whose creativity, entrepreneurship, and deeply-held beliefs entertained, enthralled, and inspired millions across the globe.
Exclusive original art makes this book perfect for fans, cineasts, and anyone looking “somewhere out there” for inspiration and motivation.
Pop Culture Roundup: Horror Comics! U2 in a Sphere! SMG back to TV! More!
ITEM! Vault Comics has announced a new, jumbo-sized horror anthology title.
ITEM! U2 is set to play a Las Vegas residency next year inside "the largest spherical structure on earth.
ITEM! Sarah Michelle Gellar is set to appear in a new supernatural TV series.
ITEM! Fantagraphics Books has struck up a new partnership with Sunday Comics, a publisher of vintage newspaper strips.
ITEM! Neil Young still doesn't think its safe to tour in a COVID world. He may be right. I've got a mild case right now after having successfully avoided the bug and its various variations for two years.
Check Out a New Range of Black Panther Marvel Legends Action Figures from Hasbro
Another new batch of Marvel Legends figures from Hasbro. Click the links to order items from Amazon.