BBC spotlights Sherlock Holmes on the radio
Listen here.
Hear the evidence gathered clue by clue - as Sherlock Holmes enthusiast, Nick Utechin investigates how the Baker Street sleuth has been portrayed on radio across the decades.
Stretching from the Forties to the Noughties, this 3 hour showcase of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective features some rare recordings of Holmes and Watson in action:
* The Adventure of the Speckled Band (17/05/1945)
Why did Helen Stoner's twin sister die in mysterious circumstances on the eve of her wedding? Stars Cedric Hardwicke as Sherlock Holmes and Finlay Curry as Dr Watson.
* The Red-Headed League (19/10/1954);
The strange case of an ad seeking only red-haired men... Stars Ralph Richardson as Holmes and John Gielgud as Watson.
* The Boscombe Valley Mystery (12/12/1966)
The sleuth probes a murder in Herefordshire, but the crime's roots are down under. Stars Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as Watson.
* The Return of Sherlock Holmes: The Solitary Cyclist (17/03/1993)
The sleuth investigates who's following music teacher Violet Smith. Stars Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson.
* The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Abergavenny Murder (18/05/2004)
When a man dies in his Baker Street apartment, the detective is bound to investigate. Stars Clive Merrison as Holmes and Andrew Sachs as Watson.
Pop Culture Roundup: Anime; Conan; Dick Tracy; The Spirit; DC Comics; Sherlock
Lists you can use: The 20 Best Anime Movies Not Made By Studio Ghibli.
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Thanks Boing Boing for alerting us to these free Kindle collections of the complete Conan and complete Sherlock Holmes.
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Via special arrangement with the Will Eisner Estate, the Spirit is now appearing in the Dick Tracy comic strip, which is illustrated by comics great Joe Staton. It's a win-win-win. I hope this get published in book form eventually. Thanks, Rip, for the heads up.
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Good news! I you have a 1978 DC Comics calendar (which I do), it'll work for 2017, too. Or, if you prefer just Batman or Spider-Man.
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Benedict Cumberbatch apparently shares a common ancestor with Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Thanks Boing Boing for alerting us to these free Kindle collections of the complete Conan and complete Sherlock Holmes.
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Via special arrangement with the Will Eisner Estate, the Spirit is now appearing in the Dick Tracy comic strip, which is illustrated by comics great Joe Staton. It's a win-win-win. I hope this get published in book form eventually. Thanks, Rip, for the heads up.
-----
Good news! I you have a 1978 DC Comics calendar (which I do), it'll work for 2017, too. Or, if you prefer just Batman or Spider-Man.
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Benedict Cumberbatch apparently shares a common ancestor with Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Cumberbatch, 40, and the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who died in 1930, were 16th cousins, twice removed, according to the website Ancestry.com.
Pop Notes: Pop '67; Kaluta and Fradon; Rogue One; Fisher and Reynolds
Hello and welcome to the New Year! I enjoyed a nice holiday from posting here at PCS. I hope you had some down time, too.
I've plugged it a couple times already, but I hope you'll check out our new side blog: Pop '67! It's a look back at pop culture 50 years ago. It's predecessor, Pop '66!, was a lot of fun to create, though it never enjoyed PCS-level readership.
And, speaking of 1966, our pal Booksteve mentioned that he's wrapped up his long-running 1966: My Favorite Year blog, too. Tune into his regular site for good stuff.
I enjoyed lots of good reading over the holidays, including the most recent issue of Comic Book Creator, one of the great many mags published by the folks at TwoMorrows.
This one featured lengthy, well-illustrated, interviews by two awesome, but very different, artists of the 1960s and 70s: Ramona Fradon and Michael W. Kaluta.
In my mind, these two exemplify the difference between a cartoonist versus an illustrator - not that one is any better than the other.
Fradon is a cartoonist - somebody with a perhaps God-given knack for telling stories in pictures. Her comic book art obeys all the fundamentals of anatomy and perspective, yet isn't overly "realistic." There's a sense she's depicting an imaginary, cartoonish world - not our reality.
Kaluta's work, on the other hand, hearkens back to the great book illustrators of yesteryear. Though his comic art conveys movement and action, it looks more like the real world. He's also a master of creating a singular image - such as a comics cover or poster - that tells a story in its own right.
Kaluta admits in his interview that storytelling is something he had to learn, while Fradon says it's something that's always come naturally.
We're very lucky to have them both. Who'd want to be without Fradon's Aquaman or Metamorpho, or Kaluta's Shadow or Starstruck? Combining these two profiles in a single magazine highlights the delightful diversity found among the great comics artists.
Good stuff, highly recommended.
Like the rest of the world, I also saw "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" over the holidays.
I have to admit I was disappointed, and not simply because this is a darker story than the other Star Wars films. It boiled down to the story being unnecessary - I think we've gone back to the Death Star well enough times (before, during, after) - and the characters being a bore.
I wanted to like Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso. She has a compelling screen presence, but the character gave her nothing much to work with. The two males leads had little personality, either, and the snarky droid seemed trapped in the 1990s.
Unlike "The Force Awakens," which introduced us to new characters who were fun and who I'm eager to see return to the screen, I'm left not really wanting to see any of these folks again. And - I put a SPOILER up there didn't I? - I guess I won't!
Also over the holidays, I mourned the passing of Carrie Fisher and, the following day, her mother Debbie Reynolds.
I don't have much to say that others haven't. Like many, I grew up with Fisher as Princess Leia. I was there in the theater during the summer of '77 getting swept away like everyone else. And Reynolds will forever more light up the screen each time anyone watches "Singin' in the Rain."
It will be fun to see the upcoming documentary on these two, prepared without a suspicion that we'd be losing them both before it's release. And I'm glad we haven't seen the last of Leia, as Fisher reportedly had completed filming all her scenes as the character for the next Star Wars film.
I've plugged it a couple times already, but I hope you'll check out our new side blog: Pop '67! It's a look back at pop culture 50 years ago. It's predecessor, Pop '66!, was a lot of fun to create, though it never enjoyed PCS-level readership.
And, speaking of 1966, our pal Booksteve mentioned that he's wrapped up his long-running 1966: My Favorite Year blog, too. Tune into his regular site for good stuff.
I enjoyed lots of good reading over the holidays, including the most recent issue of Comic Book Creator, one of the great many mags published by the folks at TwoMorrows.
This one featured lengthy, well-illustrated, interviews by two awesome, but very different, artists of the 1960s and 70s: Ramona Fradon and Michael W. Kaluta.
In my mind, these two exemplify the difference between a cartoonist versus an illustrator - not that one is any better than the other.
Fradon is a cartoonist - somebody with a perhaps God-given knack for telling stories in pictures. Her comic book art obeys all the fundamentals of anatomy and perspective, yet isn't overly "realistic." There's a sense she's depicting an imaginary, cartoonish world - not our reality.
Kaluta's work, on the other hand, hearkens back to the great book illustrators of yesteryear. Though his comic art conveys movement and action, it looks more like the real world. He's also a master of creating a singular image - such as a comics cover or poster - that tells a story in its own right.
Kaluta admits in his interview that storytelling is something he had to learn, while Fradon says it's something that's always come naturally.
We're very lucky to have them both. Who'd want to be without Fradon's Aquaman or Metamorpho, or Kaluta's Shadow or Starstruck? Combining these two profiles in a single magazine highlights the delightful diversity found among the great comics artists.
Good stuff, highly recommended.
Like the rest of the world, I also saw "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" over the holidays.
SPOILERS for anyone who didn't see it!
I have to admit I was disappointed, and not simply because this is a darker story than the other Star Wars films. It boiled down to the story being unnecessary - I think we've gone back to the Death Star well enough times (before, during, after) - and the characters being a bore.
I wanted to like Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso. She has a compelling screen presence, but the character gave her nothing much to work with. The two males leads had little personality, either, and the snarky droid seemed trapped in the 1990s.
Unlike "The Force Awakens," which introduced us to new characters who were fun and who I'm eager to see return to the screen, I'm left not really wanting to see any of these folks again. And - I put a SPOILER up there didn't I? - I guess I won't!
Also over the holidays, I mourned the passing of Carrie Fisher and, the following day, her mother Debbie Reynolds.
I don't have much to say that others haven't. Like many, I grew up with Fisher as Princess Leia. I was there in the theater during the summer of '77 getting swept away like everyone else. And Reynolds will forever more light up the screen each time anyone watches "Singin' in the Rain."
It will be fun to see the upcoming documentary on these two, prepared without a suspicion that we'd be losing them both before it's release. And I'm glad we haven't seen the last of Leia, as Fisher reportedly had completed filming all her scenes as the character for the next Star Wars film.
New comics Jan. 4, 2017: Astro Boy Omnibus; Hulk Epic Collection
Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.
Beach Boys and Motown issue 1966 "copyright dump" releases
To prevent overseas interests from cashing in, the Beach Boys and the Motown labels have once again issued rare recordings as a way to safeguard their copyrights.
In Europe, works go out of copyright 50 years after their original release. One way to secure the copyright, is for artists and record labels to reissue them. In the past, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys and Motown have all done this by releasing download releases, expensive limited edition box sets, or conventional reissues.
The Beatles seem to have abandoned the practice after issuing an official bootlegs release via iTunes back in 2013. Bob Dylan has generally gone the route of expensive box sets. This year, his huge collection of 1966 live recordings did the job. The Beach Boys and Motown have gone the download route, although the Beach Boys conventional release of Pet Sounds and Party! outtakes this year was likely also timed to protect copyright.
But the band has also just released a digital release aimed at protecting the rights of some professionally recorded live concerts. You can order the Beach Boys' Graduation Day: Live at the University of Michigan here.
Meanwhile, Motown has gathered a collection of 80(!) outtakes as Motown: Unreleased 1966. You can order it here.
Here are the track listings:
Show 1
Disc 1
In Europe, works go out of copyright 50 years after their original release. One way to secure the copyright, is for artists and record labels to reissue them. In the past, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys and Motown have all done this by releasing download releases, expensive limited edition box sets, or conventional reissues.
The Beatles seem to have abandoned the practice after issuing an official bootlegs release via iTunes back in 2013. Bob Dylan has generally gone the route of expensive box sets. This year, his huge collection of 1966 live recordings did the job. The Beach Boys and Motown have gone the download route, although the Beach Boys conventional release of Pet Sounds and Party! outtakes this year was likely also timed to protect copyright.
But the band has also just released a digital release aimed at protecting the rights of some professionally recorded live concerts. You can order the Beach Boys' Graduation Day: Live at the University of Michigan here.
Meanwhile, Motown has gathered a collection of 80(!) outtakes as Motown: Unreleased 1966. You can order it here.
Here are the track listings:
Show 1
- Help Me Rhonda
- I Get Around
- Medley: Fun, Fun Fun/Shut Down/Little Deuce Coupe/Surfin' USA
- Surfer Girl
- Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
- You're So Good To Me
- You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
- California Girls
- Sloop John B
- Wouldn't It Be Nice
- God Only Knows
- Good Vibrations
- Graduation Day
- Barbara Ann
- Help Me Rhonda
- I Get Around
- Medley: Fun, Fun Fun/Shut Down/Little Deuce Coupe/Surfin' USA
- Surfer Girl
- Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
- You're So Good To Me
- You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
- California Girls
- Sloop John B
- Wouldn't It Be Nice
- God Only Knows
- Good Vibrations
- Graduation Day
- Barbara Ann
- Johnny B. Goode
- KOMA Radio Spot
- Row Row Row Your Boat
Disc 1
- The Soulful Shack (Alternate Version) - The Miracles
- Ain't Too Proud To Beg (Alternate Version) - The Temptations
- Suddenly I Was Alone - Marvin Gaye
- The Shadow Of Your Smile - Billy Eckstine
- I Got You (In My Soul) - The Mynah Birds
- I'll Wait Forever - The Mynah Birds
- Road Burner (Son Of Road Runner) - Junior Walker & The All-Stars
- For Once In My Life - Billy Eckstine
- That'll Be The Day - Marvin Gaye , Kim Weston
- Don't Mess With Bill - Earl Van Dyke
- Flower Girl (Alternate Version) - The Miracles
- Can't You Hear Me Knocking - Brenda Holloway
- Whenever You Need Me - Brenda Holloway
- Just Too Much To Hope For - Marvin Gaye , Kim Weston
- Stand By Me (Live At The 20 Grand, Detroit/1966) - Earl Van Dyke
- A Taste Of Honey - The Four Tops
- Wives And Lovers (Lead Vocal By Obie Benson / Take 1) - The Four Tops
- Wives And Lovers (Lead Vocal By Levi Stubbs / Take 3) - The Four Tops
- Wives And Lovers (Lead Vocal By Lawrence Payton / Take 4) - The Four Tops
- The Lonely Heart And Lonely Eyes Of Lonely Me - Brenda Holloway
- Give A Little Love - Marvin Gaye , Kim Weston
- What Good Am I Without You - Brenda Holloway
- Pucker Up Buttercup (Alternate Version) - Junior Walker & The All-Stars
- Monkey Talk - Earl Van Dyke
- A World Without You - Barbara McNair
- I Still Get Butterflies - Brenda Holloway
- In My Heart I Know It's Right - Gladys Knight & The Pips
- I'm Losing You - Gladys Knight & The Pip
- All These Things - Gladys Knight, The Spinners
- Hello, Young Lovers - The Four Tops
- I Wish You Love - The Four Tops
- Put On A Happy Face - Barbara McNair
- The Second Time Around - Barbara McNair
- Smile - Barbara McNair
- Day In - Day Out - Barbara McNair
- Nothing But A Fool - Gladys Knight and The Pips
- You're Gone (But Always In My Heart) - Gladys Knight & The Pips
- Never Stop Loving Me - Chris Clark
- Don't Compare Me With Her - Gladys Knight & The Pips
- You've Got Possibilities - Barbara McNair
- Never Trust A Man - Chris Clark
- Sweet Talkin' Guy - The Marvelettes
- I Feel Your Love Growin' On Me - Brenda Holloway
- Without Love You Lose A Good Feelin' - Brenda Holloway
- You Got A Little Of Everything - Brenda Holloway
- Baby I've Got It - Brenda Holloway
- Keep Me - Brenda Holloway
- I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (Alternate Version) - The Miracles
- I Can't Let You Go - The Spinners
- Keep Away - Little Lisa
- Tea House In China Town (Alternate Version) - The Spinners
- I Found Something (Alternate Version) - Marvin Gaye
- Save Me From This Misery (Alternate Version) - The Isley Brothers
- I Still Love You - Chris Clark
- Got To Have You Back (Alternate Version) - The Isley Brothers
- I Can't Take You Back - Gladys Knight & The Pips
- Then - The Temptations
- I'm Giving Up - Brenda Holloway
- Spellbound - Brenda Holloway
- For All We Know (Alternate Version) - The Spinners
- Can't Hold The Feeling Back - Brenda Holloway
- The Impossible Dream - Billy Eckstine
- Dear Miss Lonely Hearts - Marvin Gaye
- Need Your Lovin' (Want You Back) - The Underdogs
- One Of These Days - The Underdogs
- On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever) - The Four Tops
- More (Theme From "Mondo Cane") - The Supreme
- Somewhere - The Supremes
- Michelle - The Supremes
- I'm So Helpless (When I'm With You) - Debbie Dean
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Marvin Gaye
- Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Kim Weston
- Never Grow Old - Kim Weston
- How Great Thou Art - Kim Weston
- Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Gladys Knight & The Pips
- Where You There - The Supremes
- What Do You Choose - The Supremes
- Steal Away - Marvin Gaye
- Near The Cross - The Miracles
- Just A Closer Walk With Thee - Martha & The Vandellas
Meanwhile, 50 years ago ...
Our new spin-off blog, Pop '67!, launches today. Tune in daily for fresh posts highlighting the pop culture of 50 years past. You'll dig it!
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