Out Now: Lego's Cool Vespa Model Kit!


Available now from Amazon.

  • Inspired by the original – This brick-built Vespa features a front wheel mounted on one side, 2 seats, a removable engine cover with a brick-built engine underneath, and working steering
  • Extra details – Finishing touches include the Vespa logo, a classic 1960s Italian license plate, a spare wheel, helmet and an accessories basket with flower bouquet
  • Designed for Vespa fans – To celebrate Vespa’s 75th anniversary, the LEGO designers have worked with the lifestyle brand to create a model to appeal to lovers of Italian culture
  • A rare color – Presented in pastel blue, one of the Vespa’s original production colors and an extremely rare LEGO color designed to appeal to LEGO fans


 

Ads '72: Bob Newhart and Jerry Vale in Vegas

Coming Up: Heroes & Villains – The Sound Of Los Angeles 1965-1968


Out May 27 from Cherry Red Records. Order now from Amazon.

Details: 

Housed in a stylish clamshell box that includes a heavily illustrated and annotated (more than 20,000 words) 80-page bound booklet, ‘Heroes and Villains’ is a fascinating four-hour trip into the heart of the late ‘60s LA music goldmine.

After The Beatles captivated a generation with their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Los Angeles music scene moved beyond the previously-dominant surf, hot-rod and girl group discs to fashion a spirited response to the British Invasion.

Hollywood studios and the Sunset Strip teen clubs played host to a thrilling assortment of bands, with such names as The Byrds, Sonny And Cher and the increasingly ambitious Brian Wilson leading the charge as LA established itself in 1965 as America’s leading music city. The scene moved on to encompass Psychedelia, Sunshine Pop and Proto-Hard Rock before August 1969’s horrific Tate-LaBianca murders traumatised LA’s music community and brought the freewheeling ‘60s to a shocking, apocalyptic end.

‘Heroes and Villains: The Sound of LA 1965-68’ charts the entire cataclysmic scene, with classic hits from The Monkees, Paul Revere And The Raiders, The Association and The Grass Roots joined by vital cuts from Love, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Mothers Of Invention, Captain Beefheart, Buffalo Springfield and The Mamas And The Papas.

Featuring enduring cult names (Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Seeds, Electric Prunes), the new breed of Singer-Songwriter (Tim Buckley, Nilsson), the emerging wave of Heavy bands (Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly), nascent Country-Rockers (Gene Clark, Stone Poneys, Gram Parsons’ International Submarine Band) and studio-based, Beach Boys-inspired harmony Pop acts (Sagittarius, The Millennium, The Parade).

In among the unreleased-at-the-time demos, alternative versions and first-time releases, there’s a raft of hugely obscure Garage Punk 45s – many from bands now stepping forward to tell their story for the first time, including The Satans (the notorious ‘Makin’ Deals’), Somebody’s Chyldren (Hollywood legend Mae West’s backing band on her brace of 1966 albums), The Prophets of Old, The Heros and The Odds And Ends.

Track Listing:

DISC ONE:

  1. PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY (single version) – The Monkees
  2. KICKS – Paul Revere and The Raiders
  3. LET HER DANCE – Bobby Fuller Four
  4. BUT YOU’RE MINE – Sonny and Cher
  5. TOMORROW’S GIRL – Merrell and The ‘Xiles
  6. SAND – Lee Hazlewood with Suzi Jane Hokom
  7. ACID HEAD – The Velvet Illusions
  8. ALONG COMES MARY – The Association
  9. DON’T SAY NO – Ruthann Friedman
  10. TWELVE THIRTY (YOUNG GIRLS ARE COMING TO THE CANYON) -The Mamas and The Papas
  11. I CRIED MY EYES OUT – The Misunderstood
  12. OUR LOVE SHOULD LAST
  13. FOREVER – The Whatt Four
  14. WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE – The Rogues
  15. THE WIND BLOWS YOUR HAIR (demo version) – The Seeds
  16. MY BABY’S BAREFOOT – The Syndicate
  17. POINT OF NO RETURN – The Music Machine
  18. CHICANERY – The Royal Teens
  19. KEEP YOUR MIND OPEN – Kaleidoscope
  20. A CHILD’S GUIDE TO GOOD AND EVIL – West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
  21. FLOATING DOWNSTREAM ON AN INFLATABLE RUBBER RAFT – The Second Helping
  22. LET’S LIVE FOR TODAY – The Grass Roots
  23. SHE SENDS ME – The Roosters
  24. (CAUSE) YOU DON’T LOVE ME – The Odds and Ends
  25. HELP YOURSELF – The Sanctions
  26. I’M GOING BACK TO NEW YORK CITY – Somebody’s Chyldren
  27. THE TRIP – Kim Fowley
  28. SAY WHAT YOU MEAN – Glad
  29. COME LOOKING FOR ME – Diane Hildebrand
  30. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE – The New Wave
  31. NEW HARD TIMES – Stone Poneys

DISC TWO:

  1. HUNGRY FREAKS, DADDY – The Mothers Of Invention
  2. ZIG-ZAG WANDERER – Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
  3. COMPUTER GIRL – Urban Renewal Project
  4. THE MOST UP TILL NOW – The Peanut Butter Conspiracy
  5. IT WON’T ALWAYS BE THE SAME – The Millennium
  6. THE MUSIC SCENE – Fapardokly
  7. JUST CAN’T WAIT – The Prophets Of Old
  8. SHE GOT ME – The Misunderstood
  9. MAKIN’ DEALS – The Satans
  10. VIET NAM – Bobby Jameson
  11. WITH NONE SHOES – The Leaves
  12. BE HAPPY, BABY – The Odds and Ends
  13. TEARS IN MY EYES – The Royal Teens
  14. SUNSHINE GIRL (promo-only stereo mix) – The Parade
  15. MR RICHLAND’S FAVORITE SONG – Nilsson
  16. DO YOU LIKE WORMS (ROLL PLYMOUTH ROCK) – The Beach Boys
  17. ALWAYS YOU – Roger Nichols and The Small Circle Of Friends
  18. CARNIVAL SONG – Tim Buckley
  19. FIRE ENGINE SKY – Michael Blodgett
  20. I’M NOT LIVING HERE – Sagittarius
  21. DON’T TURN THE LIGHT OFF – The Churchill Downs
  22. NO SHAME – The Touch (Hunger)
  23. UNCLE JACK – Spirit
  24. AUGUST MADEMOISELLE – Children Of The Mushroom
  25. LONG TIME – The Rose Garden
  26. RUN* – The Candy Company
  27. TOO MANY PEOPLE – Jim and The Lords
  28. JUST WANNA BE MYSELF – The No-Nâ-Mees
  29. SAY IT WITH A SMILE – The Heros
  30. MOVE WITH THE DAWN – Mark Eric

DISC THREE:

  1. YELLOW BRICK ROAD – Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
  2. SHE COMES IN COLORS – Love
  3. TIME WILL SHOW THE WISER (album version) – The Merry-Go- Round
  4. JOHN WORKS HARD – The Laughing Wind
  5. CALM ME DOWN (promo single version) – The Human Expression
  6. WHY (alternative version) – The Byrds
  7. I CAN ONLY GIVE YOU EVERYTHING – The Heros
  8. GOLDEN APPLES OF THE SUN – Grains Of Sand
  9. YESTERDAY HOLDS ON – Moorpark Intersection
  10. WINDY – Ruthann Friedman
  11. DO I HAVE TO COME RIGHT OUT AND SAY IT – Buffalo Springfield
  12. DRIVIN’ SIDEWAYS (ON A ONE-WAY STREET) – Merrell Fankhauser and H.M.S. Bounty
  13. 9 O’CLOCK BUSINESS MAN – The Peppermint Trolley Company
  14. THE GREAT BANANA HOAX (extended mix) – The Electric Prunes
  15. ISHA – Chris and Craig
  16. SIT WITH THE GURU – Strawberry Alarm Clock
  17. TRIP ON ME – The Forum
  18. ROAD TO NOWHERE – Hearts and Flowers
  19. SO YOU SAY YOU LOST YOUR BABY – Gene Clark with The Gosdin Brothers
  20. LUXURY LINER – International Submarine Band
  21. RUNNIN’ ON BACK – Del Shannon
  22. SHE SLEEPS ALONE – The Parade
  23. PIPE DREAM – Chad and Jeremy
  24. END OF THE LINE – Boystown
  25. SUMMER MAGIC* – The Paper Fortress
  26. CUT YOUR LAWN – The Chyldren
  27. A GIRL I KNEW (single version) – Steppenwolf
  28. FLOWERS AND BEADS – Iron Butterfly
  29. BLACK ROSES – Clear Light
  30. HIPPY TOWN – Georgy and The Velvet Illusions

New Pop Culture Books: Buffy! Batman! Wandavision! More!

Our picks. Click the links to order from Amazon.

Over the course of its seven-year run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer cultivated a loyal fandom and featured a strong, complex female lead, at a time when such a character was a rarity. Evan Ross Katz explores the show’s cultural relevance through a book that is part oral history, part celebration, and part memoir of a personal fandom that has universal resonance still, decades later.
    Katz—with the help of the show’s cast, creators, and crew—reveals that although Buffy contributed to important conversations about gender, sexuality, and feminism, it was not free of internal strife, controversy, and shortcomings. Men—both on screen and off—would taint the show’s reputation as a feminist masterpiece, and changing networks, amongst other factors, would drastically alter the show’s tone.
    Katz addresses these issues and more, including interviews with stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Amber Benson, James Marsters, Anthony Stewart Head, Seth Green, Marc Blucas, Nicholas Brendon, Danny Strong, Tom Lenk, Bianca Lawson, Julie Benz, Clare Kramer, K. Todd Freeman, Sharon Ferguson; and writers Douglas Petrie, Jane Espenson, and Drew Z. Greenberg; as well as conversations with Buffy fanatics and friends of the cast including Stacey Abrams, Cynthia Erivo, Lee Pace, Claire Saffitz, Tavi Gevinson, and Selma Blair.
    Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born engages with the very notion of fandom, and the ways a show like Buffy can influence not only how we see the world but how we exist within it.

In 1934, a friend brought fledgling actress Vivien Leigh to see Theatre Royal, where she would first lay eyes on Laurence Olivier in his brilliant performance as Anthony Cavendish. That night, she confided to a friend, he was the man she was going to marry. There was just one problem: she was already married—and so was he.
    TRULY, MADLY is the biography of a marriage, a love affair that still captivates millions, even decades after both actors' deaths. Vivien and Larry were two of the first truly global celebrities – their fame fueled by the explosive growth of tabloids and television, which helped and hurt them in equal measure. They seemed to have it all and yet, in their own minds, they were doomed, blighted by her long-undiagnosed mental-illness, which transformed their relationship from the stuff of dreams into a living nightmare.
    Through new research, including exclusive access to previously unpublished correspondence and interviews with their friends and family, author Stephen Galloway takes readers on a bewitching journey. He brilliantly studies their tempestuous liaison, one that took place against the backdrop of two world wars, the Golden Age of Hollywood and the upheavals of the 1960s — as they struggled with love, loss and the ultimate agony of their parting.

Bob Odenkirk’s career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a “Homeric” decades-long “odyssey” from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations—with a side-trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him—it’s almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty.
    Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City’s legendary Del Close. He somehow made his way to a job as a writer at Saturday Night Live. While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing—eventually employing them in the immortal “Motivational Speaker” sketch for Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Show with Bob and David.
    In Hollywood, Bob demonstrated a bullheadedness that would shame Sisyphus himself, and when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, the phone rang with an offer to appear on Breaking Bad—a show about how boring it is to be a high school chemistry teacher. His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, and then, in a twist that will confound you, he re-re-invented himself as a bona fide action star. Why? Read this and do your own psychoanalysis—it’s fun!
    Featuring humorous tangents, never-before-seen photos, wild characters, and Bob’s trademark unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic showbiz tale told by a determined idiot. 

The British TV Streaming Guide includes more than 2400 British shows from 23 US-based streaming services (both premium and free). For each streaming service, we tell you which shows are available, when they came out, and what they’re about.
    Looking for a specific title? Flip to the index in back and you’ll find all the shows and their streaming services in alphabetical order.
    Each quarterly guide also includes bonus sections - a “movie night” section with curated recommendations, a section on Scottish TV shows, lists of recent cancellations and renewals, and a few lined pages for your own notes.
    Whether you’re a loyal Doctor Who fan, an IT Crowd and Friday Night Dinner addict, or a lover of period dramas like Outlander and Bridgerton, you’re sure to find more to love in the British TV Streaming Guide.
    Streaming services covered in the guide are: Acorn TV, BritBox, PBS Masterpiece, BBC Select, Inside Outside, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, Sundance Now, AMC+, HBO Max, Starz, Peacock, Epix, Showtime, Topic, Apple TV+, Pluto, Tubi, IMDb TV, Crackle, Vudu, and the Roku Channel.

The cult classic science fiction series Space: 1999 has legions of fans around the world and has been researched and documented in comprehensive books and documentaries, so fans can be forgiven for thinking there’s nothing new under the ‘Black Sun’ … But they’d be wrong.
    Did you know …
- That actors on casting lists for Commander Koenig included Larry Hagman, Doug McClure, Robert Culp, and even William Shatner?
- The first title for the pilot episode was ‘The Last of the Earth Men’?
- The Chief Medical Officer was going to be male, and Professor Bergman could have been Professor Danilo Sabatini?
- That life on the Moon was intended to be a powder keg of fear and dissatisfaction, with Moon City constantly at war with alien races?
- That there were indeed discussions about a possible spin-off series?
    This book takes you back to the beginning, to the genesis of the series, and to early themes, characters, and story outlines. It uncovers a treasure trove of previously unknown information, correspondence, casting lists, production information, and long-lost documents charting alternative realities of what might have been had the series taken any multitude of different forks in the road. And throughout, this book features extensive input from series story consultant and scriptwriter Christopher Penfold.

Wanda Maximoff and the Vision, two of the world-famous Avengers, find themselves living a charmed existence in a sleepy suburb. But although their new life has lots of love and plenty of humor, it also comes with vintage outfits, a laugh track and a live studio audience! What is going on? And when the cracks in Wanda and Vision’s too-perfect world start to widen, it will soon become undeniable that that not all is as it seems. Now, go behind the scenes of this tale of magic, love and sitcoms with this collectible volume — packed with exclusive concept art and interviews with the creators behind Marvel’s first Disney+ TV show!

'The Hollies: Riding The Carousel' is the first full biography of the British music legends. This extensive project, researched in detail, covers the story from their early 1960s formation, playing the small clubs and coffee houses in and around Manchester, right up to the current day. 

A Concise Dictionary of Comics provides clear and informative definitions for each term. It includes twenty-five witty illustrations and pairs most defined terms with references to books, articles, book chapters, and other relevant critical sources. All references are dated and listed in an extensive, up-to-date bibliography of comics scholarship. Each term is also categorized according to type in an index of thematic groupings. This organization serves as a pedagogical aid for teachers and students learning about a specific facet of comics studies and as a research tool for scholars who are unfamiliar with a particular term but know what category it falls into. These features make A Concise Dictionary of Comics especially useful for critics, students, teachers, and researchers, and a vital reference to anyone else who wants to learn more about comics.

It’s 1975 and the comic book industry is struggling, but Carmen Valdez doesn’t care. She’s an assistant at Triumph Comics, which doesn’t have the creative zeal of Marvel nor the buttoned-up efficiency of DC, but it doesn’t matter. Carmen is tantalizingly close to fulfilling her dream of writing a superhero book.
    That dream is nearly a reality when one of the Triumph writers enlists her help to create a new character, which they call “The Lethal Lynx,” Triumph's first female hero. But her colleague is acting strangely and asking to keep her involvement a secret. And then he’s found dead, with all of their scripts turned into the publisher without her name. Carmen is desperate to piece together what happened to him, to hang on to her piece of the Lynx, which turns out to be a runaway hit. But that’s complicated by a surprise visitor from her home in Miami, a tenacious cop who is piecing everything together too quickly for Carmen, and the tangled web of secrets and resentments among the passionate eccentrics who write comics for a living.
    Alex Segura uses his expertise as a comics creator as well as his unabashed love of noir fiction to create a truly one-of-a-kind novel--hard-edged and bright-eyed, gritty and dangerous, and utterly absorbing.

In Batman's Batman, Michael E. Uslan, executive producer of the Batman movie franchise, offers an insider's look at Hollywood and the process of how movies and television shows go from the drawing board to your screens.
    Continuing the delightful tale of his adventures begun in The Boy Who Loved Batman, Uslan draws on both his successful and less successful attempts to bring ideas to the screen, offering a helpful, honest, and breezily told guide to producing films. From passion to promotion, from the initial pitch to selecting the best partners and packaging, Uslan reveals the 13 qualities essential to would-be producers.
    A lively memoir and a valuable glimpse inside Hollywood rarely seen by the public, Batman's Batman is sure to please fans of Michael Uslan and the Batman franchise, but will also prove to be an invaluable resource for any aspiring producers, as he guides readers through the Land of Bilk and Money.

Watch Herbie Hancock & Mwandishi Live in Paris, March 23, 1972

Watch Nilsson Perform "Jump Into the Fire," 1972


ITEM!
Doctor Who's Sea Devils have a new look. 

ITEM! YouTube is adding 4,000 TV episodes and 1,500 movies to its free library. You gotta watch ads, though.

ITEM! Hear Aldous Huxley read his own "Brave New World." 

ITEM! James Caan recalls walking out of a screening of "The Godfather" after learning one of his scenes had been cut. Oh, Sonny.


Watch a Trailer for "The Offer" — An Upcoming Series About the Making of "The Godfather"

 
"The Offer"is based on Oscar-winning producer Albert S. Ruddy's extraordinary, never-revealed experiences of making "The Godfather." The series stars Miles Teller as Albert S. Ruddy, Matthew Goode as Robert Evans, Juno Temple as Bettye McCartt, Giovanni Ribisi as Joe Colombo, Dan Fogler as Francis Ford Coppola, Burn Gorman as Charles Bluhdorn and Colin Hanks as Barry Lapidus.

Ads '72: Revlon

With Jean Shrimpton.

New Comics Collected Editions March 23: The Batman Box Set! Annotated Sandman!

Out today. Click the links to order from Amazon. 

Collecting Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Ego and Other Tails, and Batman: Year One.

An in-depth, informative, entertaining and fascinating look at the New York Times best-selling series by Neil Gaiman. 
    Edited by and with an introduction and notes by Leslie S. Klinger, the expert researcher and editor behind the Edgar-winning New Annotated Sherlock Holmes and the critically acclaimed New Annotated Dracula, THE ANNOTATED SANDMAN is a panel-by-panel journey through every issue of THE SANDMAN. 
    Beginning with issues #1-#20, this volume provides commentary, historical and contemporary references, hidden meanings and more, presented side-by-side with the series' art and text. 
    Using scripts and hours of conversation with Gaiman, Klinger reveals fascinating details of THE SANDMAN's hundreds of unforgettable characters and its place in literary history.
    The first of an incredible four volume series, the ANNOTATED SANDMAN Vol. 1 is a must-have for every Sandman fan!

Watch Led Zeppelin Perform "Rock and Roll," 1972

Pop Culture Roundup: Wednesday! Judy Blume! The Shining! More!


ITEM!
Christina Ricci will play a mystery role in the upcoming Wednesday Addams series on Netflix.

ITEM! A documentary on YA author Judy Blume is in the works.

ITEM! Ben Stiller will reportedly star in a stage production of "The Shining." I hope it's a musical.

ITEM! Shout Factory plans a documentary on Allen Funt and "Candid Camera." Nowadays we have the Internet to allow people to makes fools of themselves.

ITEM! Take a storytelling class from Alan Moore


See Easter Eggs from "Spider-Man: No Way Home"

Ads '72: International Cadet

Watch a new teaser for Marvel's "Moon Knight"

Best Comic Book Covers of the Week March 23