Pop Culture Roundup: Jazz Art! Lord of the Rings! Steve Martin! More!
ITEM! Spyvibe spotlights some jazzy art by the great Gene Dietch.
ITEM! Why Amazon's new "Lord of the Rings" show doesn't sync up with Peter Jackson's films.
ITEM! Steve Martin may retire once "Only Murders in the Building" wraps up.
ITEM! British author/cartoonist Raymond Briggs, famed for the "Snowman" and more, is dead at age 88.
ITEM! I can't help but think that DC canceled the wrong film when they opted to scrap "Batgirl."
Coming Up: "Climb Aboard My Roundabout! The British Toytown Sound 1967-1974"
Out Oct. 28 from Cherry Red Records' Grapefruit imprint.
Details:
Issued at the start of 1967, Beatles’ single ‘Penny Lane’ coupled a widescreen production (bolstered by a phalanx of session musicians on brass and woodwind) with a mildly hallucinogenic lyric populated by mundane characters going about their unremarkable suburban lives.
It proved to be an enormously influential record. For the next year or two, British pop was awash with records that married quasi-classical arrangements with newly-minted fairy tales and character vignettes based around the grey everyday lives of ordinary small-town folk.
Many years later, this burst of English eccentricity came to be known in collector circles as toytown pop – a pseudo-genre that took in everything from Jeff Lynne‘s early band The Idle Race and Deram-era David Bowie to backroom auteurs like Mark Wirtz, whose ambitious ‘Teenage Opera’ project inspired the young Andrew Lloyd Webber, who provided similarly over-the-top arrangements for CBS hopefuls Cardboard Orchestra.
Featuring 87 excerpts from various pre-teenage operas, ‘Climb Aboard My Roundabout!’ is a 3CD celebration of the toytown pop experience. It includes contributions from the key players as well as many obscure delights and some huge rarities, including a hitherto-unreleased track from Wirtz’s aborted ‘Teenage Opera’ project.
With four hours of music housed in a clamshell box featuring a lavish 48-page booklet, ‘Climb Aboard My Roundabout!’ is an invitation that very few late 60s pop aficionados will be able to resist.
Track Listing:
DISC ONE
1 THE SKELETON AND THE ROUNDABOUT (mono single mix) – The Idle Race
2 JENNY ARTICHOKE – Kaleidoscope
3 CUDDLY TOY – Fruit Machine
4 PHENOMENAL CAT – The Kinks
5 LITTLE LESLEY – The Alan Bown!
6 EMILY SMALL (THE HUGE WORLD THEREOF) – The Picadilly Line
7 MAN IN THE TEAPOT – Fire
8 MR LIGHT – John Carter and Mickey Keen
9 THE DUBIOUS CIRCUS COMPANY – Clifford T. Ward
10 ICE CREAM MAN (alternative version) – Kidrock
11 LOLLIPOP MINDS – Wimple Winch
12 PETER’S BIRTHDAY (BLACK AND WHITE RAINBOWS) – World Of Oz
13 HA! HA! SAID THE CLOWN – Tony Hazzard
14 SAD SIMON LIVES AGAIN – Tim Andrews
15 UNCLE JOE, THE ICE CREAM MAN – The Mindbenders
16 PHOEBE’S FLOWER SHOP – The Cortinas
17 COPLINGTON – Persimmon’s Peculiar Shades
18 COLOUR SERGEANT LILLYWHITE – West Coast Consortium
19 OUR FAIRY TALE – The Herd
20 TEENAGE LOVE SONG – Hetherington
21 EBANEEZER BEAVER (demo version) – The Mirage
22 FAIRY TALE (demo version) – The Next Collection
23 BROTHER JACK – Barry Wigley
24 TRAFALGAR SQUARE – The Good Time Losers
25 SADIE AND HER MAGIC MR. GALAHAD – The New Generation
26 MARJORY DAW – Morning Glory
27 THE LAST PERFORMANCE OF THE ROYAL REGIMENTAL VERY VICTORIOUS AND VALIANT BAND – The Syn
28 RAINBOW ROCKING CHAIR – Majority One
29 EXCERPT FROM “A TEENAGE OPERA” – Keith West
DISC TWO
1 LAVENDER POPCORN – Scrugg
2 KNOCKING NAILS INTO MY HOUSE – Ambrose Slade
3 MR JOB – Jigsaw
4 UNCLE ARTHUR – David Bowie
5 THE BITTER THOUGHTS OF LITTLE JANE – Timon
6 CELLOPHANE MARY JANE – Astronaut Alan and The Planets
7 MR KIPLING – Tuesday’s Children
8 IT’S THE BEST SEASIDE IN THE WORLD – Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon
9 AND NOW FOR A LITTLE TRAIN NUMBER – Kenny Everett
10 GLORIOUS HOUSE OF ARTHUR – Fairfield Parlour
11 LAUGHING BOY FROM NOWHERE – Simon Dupree and The Big Sound
12 AUNTIE MARY’S DRESS SHOP – Tomorrow
13 THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE – The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
14 JAMES IN THE BASEMENT – Denis Couldry
15 TALES OF FLOSSIE FILLETT – Turquoise
16 MY BEST FRIEND – The Picadilly Line
17 HAPPINESS IS TOY-SHAPED – Harmony Grass
18 BIRMINGHAM BRASS BAND – The Bullring
19 WATCHMAKER – Persimmon’s Peculiar Shades
20 ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS – Timothy Blue
21 AFTER TEA – Spencer Davis Group
22 DREAM DREAM DREAM – Kidrock
23 LEMON PIE FAIR – Complex
24 UNCLE HENRY’S MAGIC GARDEN – David Matthews
25 BRIC-A-BRAC MAN – Bill Niles
26 WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE* (full version) – Chas Mills and Mark Wirtz
27 EVERYBODY LOVES THE CLOWN – Nirvana
28 SHARKEY – Christopher
29 POOR JOHNNY – The Secrets
30 FAIRGROUND – Pure Gold
31 TOY SOLDIER – The Riot Squad
DISC THREE
1 (HE’S OUR DEAR OLD) WEATHERMAN – Mark Wirtz
2 ZEBEDY ZAK – Cardboard Orchestra
3 FLORENCE – Tapestry
4 MR MOODY’S GARDEN – Gilbert O’Sullivan
5 MUTINY – The Alan Bown!
6 UPTIGHT BASIL – Magic Valley
7 BANG BANG – Kidrock
8 TOYMAKER – Wild Silk
9 LANTERNLIGHT – Peter and The Wolves
10 LOVE AND THE BIG BRASS BAND – Dave Christie
11 PICCOLO MAN – Friends
12 UWE AUS DUISBERG – The Hi-Fis
13 EINER KLEINER MISER MUSIK – Tony Rivers and The Castaways
14 THE HAPPY KING – Music Box
15 MRS DAISY – Tintern Abbey
16 MRS MURPHY’S BUDGERIGAR – Blossom Toes
17 ANNIE’S PLACE – Gene Latter
18 GLASSHOUSE GREEN, SPLINTER RED – John Pantry
19 HENRY EVERYDAY* – Timothy Blue
20 DEAR OLD MRS BELL – The Shadows
21 MR NICE GUY – Dragonmilk
22 MISTER WHITE’S WHITE FLYING MACHINE (album version) – Ayshea
23 MAGIC SHOES (demo) – Fire
24 KING OF THE CASTLE – Jason Crest
25 THROUGH MY TELESCOPE – Marty Wilde
26 TIME TO GO HOME – The Tots
27 THE SAD STORY OF SIMON AND HIS BUGLE* (correct version) – Mark Wirtz
New Comics Collected Editions: Gil Kane's Spidey! Kamandi! Jinx! More!
Our . Click the links to order from Amazon.
Gil Kane’s The Amazing Spider-Man Artisan Edition presents each page in what appears to be black and white, but has actually been scanned in color. Readers view the art in its most natural form—blue pencils, ink gradients, and editorial notations all clearly visible—so they can (ahem) marvel at all the little nuances that make original art unique.
This volume contains the infamous three-part drug story that was not approved by the Comics Code Authority (Amazing Spider-Man #96–98). The second three-part story features the legendary six-armed Spider-Man saga (Amazing Spider-Man #100–102). Additionally, one of the most famous—and most shocking—Spidey tales is included: the death of Gwen Stacey! (Amazing Spider-Man #121). You can’t get a better line-up of Spider-Man stories than this!
Gil Kane is regarded as one of the finest comic artists in the history of the medium. His dynamic sequential storytelling abilities, coupled with impeccable draftsmanship, make him a true artist’s artist—as this book will attest!
In these tales from KAMANDI #1-20, Kamandi—one of the few survivors of a Great Disaster that has destroyed civilization—must make his way in a world populated by bizarre mutated animals and other strange wonders! Considered one of Jack Kirby's most creative works, KAMANDI features a band of anthropomorphic supporting characters who accompany Kamandi as he searches for answers and adventure across the wastelands of Earth.
Death…and Deathlok! The living legend takes on the cyborg demolisher as Captain America gets a shocking glimpse of the future…and Deathlok begins a new path in the present! Cap meets the mystical Black Crow — but as an adversary or an ally? Meanwhile, a dark union between Baron Zemo and the deadly Mother Superior — the diabolical daughter of the Red Skull — becomes a nightmare for Steve’s closest friends. Nomad, the Falcon, the Avengers and Superior’s Sisters of Sin all join the fray — leading to one of the all-time great confrontations between Cap and the Skull! What will it cost Cap to rid the world of his evil arch-enemy? Plus, the Falcon flies solo, standing up for the residents of Harlem while battling Electro, a Sentinel and more!
COLLECTING: Vol. 11: Captain America (1968) 286-301, Captain America Annual (1971) 7, Falcon (1983) 1-4
Collecting issues #7–12 of the classic terrifying cult horror series, and features gorgeous new digital colors—using Marie Severin’s original palette as a guide, this volume includes unforgettable stories drawn by all-star comic artists Johnny Craig, Graham Ingles, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, George Roussos, Ed Smalle, and Joe Orlando!
The third installation of The Jodorowsky Library: a collection of deluxe matching volumes showcasing the iconic works of the legendary Alejandro Jodorowsky (The Incal, Metabarons, Jodorowsky's: Dune)
Included in this volume are the epic origin story behind the universe's greatest warriors, METABARONS GENESIS: CASTAKA (illustrated by Das Pastoras), and a tale about how No Name, the most ruthless mercenary of them all, built his arsenal of war, WEAPONS OF THE METABARON (illustrated by the legendary Travis Charest and Zoran Janjetov). Coupled with the landmark AFTER THE INCAL (illustrated by the legendary Mœbius) and FINAL INCAL (with Eisner-winning artist Ladrönn), this is a must-have volume for fans of Alejandro Jodorowsky!
Brian Michael Bendis, the New York Times bestselling, Peabody and multi-Eisner award-winning co-creator of Miles Morales, Naomi, Jessica Jones, and POWERS tells a modern noir tale of crime, greed, and double cross.
A female bail agent, a low-level confidence man and his loose-cannon sidekick form an unlikely alliance to track down the ultimate score—a hidden stash of life-altering, untraceable mob cash.
For this hard-luck trio, however, the old saying "more money, more problems" will prove to be disturbingly prophetic.
This innovative crime story is part of a remarkable run of groundbreaking black-and-white graphic novels that launched Bendis’ legendary career.
Collecting all of the original Jinx issues published by Caliber Press and Image Comics, this comprehensive trade paperback edition features an introduction by acclaimed comics creator David Mack and includes more than 60 pages of behind-the-scenes bonus material!
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This volume of Craig’s crime and horror work collects comics stories he wrote and drew for Vault of Horror, Shock SuspenStories, and Crime SuspenStories, as well as the complete collection of all his “Dateline” stories from Extra!. In our title story, a reporter stranded in a Louisiana bayou seeks shelter in a seemingly abandoned mansion, only to discover and fall in love with a beautiful woman living there. He wants to be with her, and she wants to be with him; there’s only one way that can happen.
Also: Craig’s murder masterpiece, “Understudies,” in which two lovers conspire to remove their respective spouses, in a twisted twist recalling The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity; and his signature horror story “…All Through the House” (twice adapted to film ― for 1972’s Tales From the Crypt movie and HBO’s 1989 Tales From the Crypt pilot episode).
Plus, the debut of EC’s enigmatic horror hostess, Drusilla, and a look at the work of EC artists Harry Harrison, Howard Larsen, Sheldon Moldoff (Moon Girl) as well. Thirty-one stories in all, with essays and commentary by EC experts.
Introduction by Grand Master crime novelist Max Allan Collins. Black-and-white illustrations throughout.
Pop Culture Roundup: Ted Lasso, Lamont Dozier, Olivia Newton-John, More
ITEM! Check out this Ted Lasso Fisher-Price Little People set
ITEM! The great Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier is dead at age 81.
ITEM! The Comics Journal remembers writer/editor Sid Jacobson.
ITEM! When Charlie Chaplin met Helen Keller (no, it's not a tasteless joke).
ITEM! Neil Gaiman hits at a "Sandman" spinoff featuring Johanna Constantine.
ITEM! John Travolta and the cast of "Grease" remember Olivia Newton John.
Pop Culture Safari: Superhero Costumes from Ben Cooper are Back this Halloween! More!
ITEM! 1970s-style Ben Cooper superhero Halloween costumes are BACK this Halloween! I wonder if it's any easier to see through the eye holes...
ITEM! Seekers singer Judith Durham is dead at age 79. The group is famed for their 1960s hit "Georgy Girl."
ITEM! Kevin Smith joins me in wondering why DC dumped "Batgirl" but is moving ahead with its troubled "Flash" film.
Kamandi and Swamp-Thing Arrive - and 116 More Cool Comic Book Covers from August 1972!
Man, I loved Kamandi, but I never understood that "first DC issue" blurb on the front!
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