Pop Culture Roundup: Bat-Museum, New Dr. Who Theme, Frank Robbins, More!
ITEM! Take a look at a new museum dedicated to the 1960s Batman TV series.
ITEM! The latest version of the "Doctor Who" theme will debut during a special program on BBC Radio 2 next month.
ITEM! Marvel wants to hear pitches from writers for a new X-Men movie.
ITEM! Comics historian Mark Evanier examines the career of the great Frank Robbins.
Coming Up: 'Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At The Hollywood Bowl: August 18, 1967'
Out Nov. 10. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
This recording has never before been released or even bootlegged. It captures the Jimi Hendrix Experience at a unique moment in their illustrious career. Before a sold out audience of 17,000 people, the Experience overwhelmed an unsuspecting audience with a superb show that encompassed his renditions of songs by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters as well as signature songs such as “Purple Haze” and “The Wind Cries Mary”. Are You Experienced, the group’s debut album, had not yet been released by Jimi’s label Reprise.
Coming Up: 'Looking For The Magic: American Power Pop In The Seventies' Out from Grapefruit Records Nov. 17
Order now from Amazon.
Details:
Comprehensive 3-CD overview of the American power pop scene's evolution throughout the 70s.
Featuring the genre's major bands, cult names, hits, rarities and several previously unissued tracks.
Although the power pop genre wasn't named and codified until late 1977, the sound and spirit had been slowly gathering steam throughout the decade.
Surrounded by heavy metal and introverted singer/songwriters, the likes of The Raspberries, Big Star, Blue Ash and The Wackers spearheaded an early 70s return to the spiky, three-minute pop urgency of the mid-60s British Invasion bands.
While only The Raspberries charted, such bands established a musical template that was adopted by a new raft of slightly younger acts including the Dwight Twilley Band, The Rubinoos and Shoes.
The tide had turned by the late 70s, with such names as Cheap Trick and The Cars achieving success as the American music industry embraced power pop as a radio-friendly alternative to punk.
When The Knack emerged from nowhere to dominate the summer of 1979 with the single 'My Sharona' and the album 'Get The Knack', it was clear that the decade was ending with power pop established as a significant commercial proposition.
A chronologically-arranged set, 'Looking For The Magic' traces power pop's development throughout the Seventies as largely unsuccessful bands were afforded cult status by the burgeoning grass-roots fanzine network that nurtured them.
As well as featuring all of the aforementioned acts, we include the likes of Todd Rundgren, Flamin' Groovies, Sparks, Ramones and the USA-based 1979 revamp of Badfinger, one of the seminal prototypal power pop bands at the start of the decade.
We also focus on a huge number of cult names and little-known acts, showcasing many tracks that were unissued at the time and even several cuts now gaining a first-ever release.
Housed in a clamshell box that includes a heavily annotated and illustrated 48-page booklet, 'Looking For The Magic' is a fascinating, highly entertaining celebration of a genre that went under the radar for most of it's formative years.
Hot Trax '72: See/Hear Songs by Charlie Rich, Chicago, Deep Purple and More!
New songs on the charts 50 years ago this week.
Picture Sleeve Parade
Coming Up: 'On The Dancefloor With A Fingersnap: 31 Pops To Make The Party Shake!' from Bear Family Out Dec. 8
Order now from Amazon.
Details:
In the CD series 'On The Dancefloor With ...' featuring the best danceable music, Bear Family Records here deals with those songs that are accompanied by a percussive finger snap.
Everybody knows Fever, the umpteen times covered cool anthem. We offer Peggy Lee's great version - and that's just one example.
Without giving too much away, the album delivers irresistible grooves and songs by Joe Henderson, the Coasters, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill Haley, Dean Reed, Pat Morrissey and even B.B. King, Roger Miller and many others.
Chicago music historian Bill Dahl has written the detailed liner notes in the illustrated booklet to this CD compiled by Nico Feuerbach.
Never underestimate the percussive power of the simple fingerpop. Snapping one's digits while listening to a cool melody can be tremendously satisfying and more than a little therapeutic - and this collection will have you doing precisely that from one end of its expertly curated songstack to the other.
From deep-voiced Joe Henderson's '62 smash Snap Your Fingers and The Coasters' hipster streetlife vignette Three Cool Cats to Tennessee Ernie Ford's immortal Sixteen Tons and Peggy Lee's slinky Fever, you'll find the whole thing hard to resist.
Not every selection is as well-known as those classics - obscurities by Pat Morrissey, Al Brown & His Tunetoppers, Dean Reed, Birdie Green, and Bill Haley and His Comets are but a few of its happy surprises (and you haven't lived until you've heard blues immortal B.B. King take on 16 Tons).
They're interspersed with more familiar inclusions by Ronnie Love, Connie Francis, Little Willie John, Roger Miller, LaVern Baker, and Chicago rock and roller Steve King (Satan Is Her Name) that'll have you sharpening up your fingers in delighted anticipation of snapping along. So get ready to get cool when you drop this disc in your changer - you'll be fingerpopping like a pro!
Cute: Peanuts Holiday Set from Super 7
The holidays can be an overwhelming time for a lot of people, Charlie Brown included; but he helped show us that, with a little perspective, we can re-focus on what makes this time of year so special! Inspired by the classic animated special A Charlie Brown Christmas, this Peanuts ReAction Figure Holiday Box Set includes two articulated 3.75” scale figures: Charlie Brown and Linus, as well as forlorn-Christmas-tree and blanket accessories. Packaged in a diorama-style box, this Peanuts ReAction Figure Holiday Box set will take you right back to when Charlie Brown reminded us all about the reason for the Season!
New Music Releases: Wilco, Brian Eno, XTC, Hawkwind, More!
Our picks this week. Click the links to order from Amazon.
Wilco’s thirteenth studio album, Cousin, was recorded in the band’s legendary Chicago studio – The Loft – over a period of two years. The ten new tracks are written by band leader Jeff Tweedy and feature musical performances by the longtime lineup of Nels Cline, Mikael Jorgensen, Glenn Kotche, John Stirratt, Pat Sansone and, of course, Tweedy on lead vocals.
After a short detour back into their country-influenced roots via last year’s Cruel Country double album, Cousin sees Wilco back in their more familiar progressive and experimental rock territory. Tweedy’s singular songwriting voice is in full evidence, with lyrics weaving across a variety of topics – from the iconoclastic to the introspective.
Adding a unique and new element to the recording process was the attachment of Welsh singer/songwriter Cate Le Bon as producer – the first time an outsider has been actively involved in a Wilco recording session for more than ten years, since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Le Bon brought her unique musical perspective to the band’s trademark sound and provided them with an inspiring new challenge to push their musical boundaries.
‘Metallic Spheres’ by The Orb and David Gilmour, the guitar and voice of Pink Floyd, has been reimagined and remixed as ‘Metallic Spheres In Colour.’ Of this rework, producer Youth says ‘The idea for Metallic Spheres In Colour, was that Alex Paterson (founder of The Orb) could have done more on the first version, and he didn't really have the opportunity because we had a philosophy of making the music like the Blade Runner soundtrack meets Wish You Were Here. So, I asked him why don't we remix it and make it like an Orb classic? And in doing that, it's almost like a completely different album.’
Limited CD + All region Blu-ray edition. Classic 1984 XTC album newly mixed (2023) by Steven Wilson in Stereo, 5. 1 Surround & Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio mixes as part of The Surround Sound Series. CD features the complete album newly mixed in stereo + three additional tracks. Blu-ray includes the newly mixed material as featured on CD in Hi-Res Stereo, 5. 1 Surround and Dolby Atmos + 2023 stereo out-takes & instrumental mixes in Hi-Res stereo. Blu-ray also includes the original album + additional tracks in Hi-Res stereo. The complete album & more also appear in demo form (16/48 stereo reflecting the source material).
Limited deluxe 10 CD + Blu-ray edition. Includes new mixes from the original 16-track tapes of the full concerts at Liverpool Stadium, Sunderland Locarno And Brixton Sundown.
Includes a region free Blu Ray disc of a high resolution 5. 1 surround sound mix with complete versions of 'Brainstorm', 'Time We Left This World Today' And 'You Shouldn't Do That'.
Also includes a reproduction of the rare space Ritual Poster format tour program. Also includes a 68-page illustrated book with new essay and a reproduction of the rare Space Ritual poster format tour program, making this boxed set the definitive release and this legendary album.
Deluxe 50th anniversary edition of the British band's legendary live album Space Ritual. Recorded on the band's UK tour of December 1972, which followed the release of the band's studio album Doremi Fasol Latido.
The live show was a continuous performance linked by poetry recitation by Robert Calvert and was a complete audio-visual experience. Featuring the dancers Stacia, Miss Renee and Tony Carrera, the concerts also featured an elaborate light show by famed lighting designer Liquid Len.
The Space Ritual tour followed the huge success of the 'Silver Machine' single (although the song did not feature in the live set) and three concerts were captured on tape by the Pye Records mobile unit. The resulting double album was adorned with memorable artwork by designer Barney Bubbles and was a Top Ten hit in the UK upon it's release in May 1973.
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Vinyl LP pressing. This 1960 session falls historically between the astounding late-1959 work Charles Mingus did for Columbia Records and his slimmed-down pianoless quartet that made the classic Mingus at Antibes. Pre Bird and the Columbia material share some common elements, most obviously the large ensemble. Mingus devoted these sessions to his pre-1940s material and other works from the prebop era, and two of the best-played works are from Ellington's pen.
Stax Christmas brings together 12 holiday classics from the legendary Stax Records, with favorites by Otis Redding (Merry Christmas Baby), Isaac Hayes (The Mistletoe and Me), The Staple Singers (Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas), Albert King (Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’) and more. Also included is a newly unearthed version of the classic “Blue Christmas” sung by Stax recording artist Carla Thomas.
Definitive seven CD box set including all of 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Spinners' original Atlantic studio albums produced by the legendary Thom Bell.
92 Tracks (Including 25 bonus tracks consisting of single edits, non-LP sides, and The Spinners' very first Atlantic Records session).
Includes expanded editions of the albums The Spinners (1973), Mighty Love (1974), New And Improved (1974), Pick Of The Litter (1975), Happiness Is Being With The Spinners (1976), Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow (1977), Spinners 8 (1977), and From Here To Eternally (1979).
Key tracks include the Grammy-nominated chart-toppers 'I'll Be Around', 'Could It Be I'm Falling in Love', 'Then Came You' with Dionne Warwick, 'Mighty Love', and 'The Rubberband Man', as well as hits such as 'They Just Can't Stop It (The Games People Play)', 'One of a Kind (Love Affair)', 'Sadie', and 'Are You Ready for Love'.
On this ultimate celebration of the Philadelphia soul greats, every album is produced by Thom Bell, and many tracks feature the original MFSB including Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, The Trammps' Earl Young, Bobby Eli, and The Sweethearts of Sigma!
Deluxe booklet includes a comprehensive essay by The Second Disc's Joe Marchese drawing on new and previously unpublished quotes from The Spinners' Henry Fambrough, The Spinners' road manager Steve Allen, Atlantic Records Artist Relations Director Barbara J. Harris, and the late, great Thom Bell.
In the captivating Netflix series Top Boy, Brian Eno's transcendent music serves as a vital companion, molding the narrative's essence with it's ethereal power.
With a masterful touch, Eno's atmospheric compositions effortlessly transport us into the gritty world of crime, friendship, and survival in East London. From delicate ambience to pulsating beats, his sonic tapestry envelops every scene, elevating the storytelling and evoking a range of emotions.
Eno's singular ability to capture the struggle, hope, and inner strength of the characters accentuates the raw authenticity of Top Boy, leaving an indelible mark on it's viewers.
His haunting melodies and intricately crafted soundscapes symbolize the unyielding resilience amidst chaos, making Brian Eno's music an integral and unforgettable component of this groundbreaking series.
The 2LP Top Boy is available as a limited edition of 4000 copies on crystal clear vinyl, including printed innersleeves.
Four CD box set celebrating the new post-Jam era and the mod scene as it progressed after their break up.
92 tracks showing the scene as an underground network and an influence on the mainstream music scene.
With rarities on CD for the first time including singles by Wipeout, The Playn Jayn and Steve Cradock's first band The Boys. When The Jam played their last gig at The Brighton Centre on December 11 1982, it seemed to some to signify the end of the mod revival that had blossomed in 1979/80. Not every band featured here labelled themselves mods but all the recordings featured here incorporate a mod influence or spirit.
Disc 1 starts with Paul Weller's post Jam soul/jazz/pop collective The Style Council and ex Nine Below Zero singer/guitarist Dennis Greaves' soul/pop group The Truth, takes in undergound mod bands such as Small World and The Scene and bands blending mod with garage rock and psychedelia such as The Prisoners and The Playn Jayn.
Disc 2 continues through to the end of the decade with the 1985 mod resurgence led by The Untouchables and Makin' Time, an imagined soundtrack theme by The James Taylor Quartet, Fine Young Cannibals taking Northern style soul into the charts and ending with the Inspiral Carpets and Stone Roses looking back to the 60s and bringing a new guise of Madchester mod.
Disc 3 commences with Paul Weller's solo return in an era when Five Thirty and The Charlatans brought mod influences into the indie scene and bands on Eddie Piller's Acid Jazz label played modern music that retained the spirit of mod and it's links to soul and jazz.
Disc 4 mixes cult 60s inspired bands such as The Aardvarks and The Clique with Ocean Colour Scene and Kula Shaker who took mod and psychedelia back into the charts and ends with Big Boss Man providing a timeless Hammond organ led club groove for the 21st Century.
Coming Up from Bear Family: 'Beware! Insects And Spiders!: 28 Buzzin' Blasters From The Vaults Of Horror'
Out Dec. 8. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
Bear Family Records presents a CD compilation all about creepy-crawlies: 'Beware! Insects and Spiders'! -With 28 recordings from 1937 to 1966 around 'the big creepy crawlies' the horror comes alive!
Spanning genres, we hear famous artists such as Lionel Hampton, Chubby Checker and Brook Benton as well as lesser-known tunes, some on CD for the first time.
Some instrumentals, a song by Belgian singer Freddy Sunders and an early recording featuring Jimi Hendrix are among the many highlights.
Stylistically, the spectrum ranges from country, surf rock, exotica and pop to rhythm 'n' blues, jazz and swing and a main focus on rock 'n' roll.
The 16-page color booklet includes song annotations by Marc Mittelacher and many often rare photos and memorabilia! Imagine ladybugs, butterflies or honeybees and Halloween doesn't exactly come to mind.
But have you ever looked at a praying mantis in close-up? At the latest then you will learn to be creeped out. Such images were used as models for classic horror movies, oversized insects and spiders became song themes, the fear of spiders, one of the primeval fears of mankind, comes to life here.
This handpicked compilation presents a wide spectrum of genres of past times, classics, but also many rarities.
About a third of the recordings are pure instrumentals, incl. - as a special highlight - an early recording by Curtis Knight & The Squires, whose lead guitarist was a young Jimi Hendrix! Guitar virtuoso Buddy Merrill opens the CD album, and from jazzman Lionel Hampton with his Orch. comes the oldest instrumental recording (1937).
Extremely annoying flies are sung about by Hank Williams and Chubby Checker, with Martin Denny's Tsetse Fly it turns exotic. The classic and cult film 'Tarantula' has also left its 'footprint' in the music world and is represented here by no less than 4 performers.
Pop Culture Roundup: Rock Hall Live Stream, 'Doctor Who: Unleashed,' More
ITEM! This year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony will stream live for the first time. It will air Nov. 3 on Disney+.
ITEM! "Doctor Who Unleashed," a new behind-the-scenes show, will air following episodes of regular show this season.
Sad News:
British actor Sir Michael Gambon (Dumbledore is most of the Harry Potter films) is dead at age 82.
Terry Kirkman, a founding member of the Association and writer of the band's hit "Cherish" is dead age 83.
Coming Up: King Crimson - 'Larks' Tongues In Aspic: Complete Recording Sessions'
Out Oct. 20. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
50th anniversary edition of King Crimson's classic 1973 album. Blu-Ray I features all-new 2023 mixes in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound and Hi-Res Stereo by Steven Wilson. Blu-Ray I also features the new Elemental Mixes by David Singleton. Blu-Ray II contains the complete recordings of every session recorded for the album. All of this material has been newly mixed from the original performances and is presented on disc for the first time in Hi-Res 24/96 stereo. Blu-ray All region.
Pop Culture Roundup: Dick Tracy Returns, Dark Knight Easter Eggs, UFOs over England!
ITEM! A new Dick Tracy comic book is on the way.
ITEM! A new Netflix documentary produced by Steven Spielberg's company looks at a mass UFO sighting in Britain in the late 1970s.
ITEM! Turns out Frank Miller and Klaus Janson snuck a pic of Matt Murdock and Howard the Duck into 'The Dark Knight Returns."
Kinks Announce 'The Journey Part 2' Best of Collection - Preview Video
Out Nov. 17. Order now from Amazon.
Via the Kinks:
Celebrating 60 amazing years of The Kinks with ‘The Journey - Part 2’, the second part of the exciting new 2CD, 2LP, streaming and download anthology series, compiled by the band.
‘The Journey - Part 2’ includes hits, B-sides, album tracks and six new Ray Davies mixes, three of which are previously unreleased live performances.
Hits featured include: ‘Lola’, ‘Sunny Afternoon’, ‘20th Century Man’, ‘Dedicated Follower Of Fashion’, ‘Till The End Of The Day’, ‘A Well Respected Man’, ‘See My Friends’, and ‘Everybody's A Star (Starmaker)’.
2-CD and 2-LP formats include sleevenotes written by Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory.
Remastered audio
Tracklist
The world around the journeyman starts to crumble as his life is turned upside down
- TILL THE END OF THE DAY (1965)
- PRESERVATION (1974)
- DAVID WATTS (1967)
- THIS TIME TOMORROW (ALTERNATE TAKE, 2020 MIX) (1970)
- A WELL RESPECTED MAN (1965)
- MONICA (1968)
- SCRAPHEAP CITY (1974)
- HE'S EVIL (1974) #
The journeyman is led astray by ghosts and a dark angel
- LOLA (1970)
- SUNNY AFTERNOON (1966)
- ANIMAL FARM (1968)
- CREEPING JEAN (1969) *
- TWO SISTERS (1967)
- SEE MY FRIENDS (1965)
- MONEY TALKS (2023 MIX) (1974) **
- NO RETURN (1967) #
- DON'T YOU FRET (1965) #
Our journeyman is seduced by those ghosts and demons of the underworld and searches for his lost innocence
- I NEED YOU (1965) #
- RAINY DAY IN JUNE (1966)
- DEDICATED FOLLOWER OF FASHION (1966)
- WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (2023 MIX) (1974) **
- WICKED ANNABELLA (1968)
- ALCOHOL (1971) #
- SUSANNAH'S STILL ALIVE (1967) *
- 20TH CENTURY MAN (1971)
- SITTING BY THE RIVERSIDE (1971)
- ARTIFICIAL MAN (2023 MIX) (1974) ** #
Despair turns to elation as journeyman overcomes his fear. Reunites with old friends
- NEW VICTORIA SUITE - EVERYBODY’S A STAR (STARMAKER) (LIVE, 2023 MIX) (1975) **
- NEW VICTORIA SUITE - SLUM KIDS (LIVE NEW VICTORIA THEATRE) (LIVE, 2023 MIX) (1975) **
- NEW VICTORIA SUITE - (A) FACE IN THE CROWD (LIVE NEW VICTORIA THEATRE) (LIVE, 2023 MIX) (1975) **
- HOLIDAY ROMANCE (1975)
- BIG SKY (1968)
- LINCOLN COUNTY (1968) * #
- GOD'S CHILDREN (1971)
* BY DAVE DAVIES
** PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED VERSION
# TRACK NOT FEATURED ON THE 2LP VERSION
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