Monday, April 29, 2013

Real Stuff on Boing Boing


Boing Boing, "The World's Greatest [online] Neurozine," plans to serialize Dennis Eichhorn's REAL STUFF comic series as a weekly feature.  I missed out on contributing to the first issue, but I believe I illustrated stories for every other issue.  Read more about it here:

REAL STUFF on BOING BOING

Listen to Mark Frauenfelder's interview with Denny Eichhorn HERE.

I still have a bunch of my original REAL STUFF pages available for purchase...hit me up.  Part 1 of THE LEGEND OF WILD MAN FISCHER is available via my Comic Art Collective page...  CLICK HERE for details.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Bigfoots!

Werewolf!


My Sasquatch Mama!

I'm back from the Oregon coast...I sure did see a lot of Sasquatches!    Elvises, also (but that's another story)...

Don Jones - Bigfoot (YouTube)  


Googie Rene - Big Foot (YouTube)


BIGFOOT movie trailer (YouTube)


CURSE OF BIGFOOT (free feature film, via the Internet Archive)

THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK (Internet Archive)

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Batteries Not Included


Cool collection of vintage toy commercials (nearly one hour), free to watch/download via the Internet Archive.  TV ads include the Remco Movieland Drive-In Theater, The Great Garloo, Flying Superman, Deluxe Man In Space, Witch Doctor Head Shrinker's Kit, Dick Tracy Wrist Radio, Robot Commando, Creepy Crawlers, and assorted dolls, games, guns & war toys.

Batteries Not Included

BONUS:
Television Commercials (1950s/1960s)

Friday, April 19, 2013

Abstract Interlude


I did this series of "pop abstract" pieces back in 2009...each one measures 5" x 5".  I don't have these listed at my Comic Art Collective page, so feel free to get in touch if this sort of stuff interests you.  These pieces are priced at $35 - $40.

The Ricketts - Action Painting (YouTube)

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Searchin' every which way...


Even though my iPod is already crammed so full of tracks it defies my feeble comprehension, there's still a bunch of music I'm looking for...funny how that works, ain't it?  I don't have much use for original vinyl or discs...I'm seeking digital copies/mp3 rips of any or all of the above.  Trades welcome!

UPDATE, 4/30: Thanks to a generous friend (cheers, JL!) I now have BEAT FROM BADSVILLE Vol. 2 and Tom & Jerry's GUITAR'S GREATEST HITS.  Keep 'em comin'!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Smoke Break with Fred Flintstone


Remember that Flintstones soundtrack CD collection that came out back in the '90s?  It had most of the music featured on the show, including lots of the incidental ("background") music.  The only thing that bugged me was that the incidentals weren't included as separate tracks, but were all tacked onto the ends of the other tracks.  So...I separated them myself.  I'm throwing the tracks onto my iPod, to pop up at random during shuffle play.  You can do the same, if you like.  I put all of the incidental music tracks into a convenient zip file, which also includes the audio from a commercial for Winston cigarettes, featuring Fred Flintstone.  Now, if only someone would release an album of the incidentals from Gilligan's Island...


Saturday, April 13, 2013

The Naked Witch


Recently added to the Internet Archive database: Larry Buchanan's THE NAKED WITCH (1961).  It's not nearly as hilarious as some of Buchanan's later works (like ZONTAR, THE THING FROM VENUS, for example)...but you can watch/download it for free, and the title character does indeed get naked!  And if that doesn't put lead in your pencil...below I've listed links to a few more fave freebies at the Internet Archive.  Meanwhile...on the subject of weird movies...pdf scans of the entire RE/SEARCH INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS book are available via AROUSE YOUR PASSION.

More free Internet Archive movie madness:

INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS
LADY FRANKENSTEIN
WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY
THE MANSTER
BODY OF THE PREY (aka THE REVENGE OF DR. X)
MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE
EEGAH!
AT MIDNIGHT I WILL TAKE YOUR SOUL (Coffin Joe)
FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Drive-In Design


I designed a new header (above) for my web-pal Dick's blog, THE OAK DRIVE-IN...check it out, why don'tcha?  I do a lot of designing for the web, and for print.  I enjoy it!  I designed the header for the WFMU ICHIBAN blog.  I also whipped up printable covers for a bunch of CD/mp3 compilations by Kogar the Swinging Ape, & even more for my own collections of rare/obscure music.  If you're looking for a designer, don't be shy...hit me up.  I'm a reasonable man.  Heck, if you buy some original art from my Comic Art Collective page, I might even do you some design work for free!

jrwilliams57@gmail.com

Bonus: TV commercial for Remco's Drive-In Movie toy (YouTube)

Monday, April 8, 2013

A Grave Undertaking...



Head on over to '60s (MOSTLY) UNCOMPED, where blogmeister Michael Vee is always digging up something interesting!  This time he's exhumed more obscure Halloween- and monster-themed 45s/mp3s.  Included are tracks by TV horror hosts Dr. Shock & "Chilly" Billy Cardille, a few cool-ish, ghoulish instros, plus a wacky Batman-related novelty single.  A version of "Summertime" as sung by "Count Dracula" really cracks me up!  Browse Michael's previous posts for even more monster mp3 mania!

MOANS FROM THE GRAVE

Saturday, April 6, 2013

The Drummer Plays For Her...

Session guitarist Tommy Tedesco & Hal Blaine

Frequent visitors to this blog are most likely aware of my passion for vintage instrumentals, especially LAS VEGAS GRIND-style rock & roll instros…to my ears, a lot of these old tracks sound like sleazy strip club music!  In their respective biographies, drummers Earl Palmer and Hal Blaine both mention having worked the strip joints early in their careers.  Both musicians were actively recording in the early days of rock and roll, contributing significantly to the evolution of the beat-conscious, drum-heavy sound that would come to characterize the emerging musical style.  Palmer in particular helped define the genre, playing on early proto-rock hits by Little Richard, Fats Domino, Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, and more.  Much has been written on the rhythm & blues and country music influences that informed early rock and roll.  Personally, I can't help but wonder how accompanying the bumps, grinds, and gyrations of exotic dancers might have inspired Palmer, Blaine, and other early rock musicians.  Below is a terrific excerpt from Blaine's bio, HAL BLAINE & THE WRECKING CREW, describing his strip club days in some detail.  After military service in Korea, Blaine gigged around with small combos for a spell, then relocated to Chicago in 1949, where he began taking courses at the Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion:

     After about a year of attending the Knapp School I started to get calls from various leaders to do casuals [gigs].  Don Knapp, Roy's son, got to know me as a student and started sending me on some of his lesser jobs.  Then I started getting strip joint calls.  Ju-Ju's Glass Show Lounge on the west side and the 606 Club on South State, and some of the Rush Street joints like Minsky's Burlesque Theater.  I would sub for regular drummers and was getting some great sight-reading experience.
     That reading experience really paid off.  One night while sitting in my hotel room I got a call from a stripper who was a neighbor in the hotel.  She was calling from the Post Time Club, about ten blocks away on North State Street.  Their drummer had taken ill and could I come right over and get on the drums?  I sure could.
     Piano, trumpet and drums.  From 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. with no intermissions.  If you had to hit the toilet you switched instruments.  The shows consisted of a comic coming out and doing a few minutes, then a stripper would come out and do her three numbers - slow, medium and fast.  During the slow number I would get on the piano and the piano man could go to the toilet, and if I had to go to the toilet the trumpet player would get on the drums for the slow number.  Of course, the trumpet player could go anytime he needed.  That was the way it went all night.  Comic, dancer, comic, dancer.
     We had special red lights over the bandstand.  If they ever flashed on and off quickly for a few seconds, it was a signal from the doorman that we were to go immediately into a fast two-beat version of "Billboard."  This let the girls know that the vice squad was entering the joint and they would grab whatever clothing they had shed and run off the stage.  The comic would run on stage and start a gag in the middle and deliver a phony punchline.  The audience was always wise to what was going on.  The girls were stripping much too much clothing according to the law in those days, and they were never to be caught in an undressed mode.  Of course the doormen knew all of the vice cops who were on the take and we had plenty of forewarning.  But this was a new experience for me…
     …When I finished school the next day and got back to my hotel room there was a note from the club.  Come to work.  Again I worked the same routine and it was great.  There were about eight or nine girls in the show, all of them gorgeous strippers.  I would walk into the dressing room, which was the only way to the stage, and all of the girls would be sitting around nude or semi-nude.  Someone would yell, "Who the hell are you?"  And they'd all cover themselves.  I told them I was the drummer, and they'd all drop their clothing and go back to their makeup or whatever.  Boy, those were tough nights.
     At the close of that second night, the boss called me into his office…
     "Have you got a set of drums, kid?" he asked in his broken Italian accent.  "I sure do!" I replied.  He asked me if I smoked any of those crazy cigarettes or if I drank, and I told him I didn't.  He told me that he would start me at a hundred a week.  (Seven days a week.)  Tough hours, but boy, what money in those days.  I was thrilled.
     After about a week at the club, Tony [the boss] called me into his little office one night; I was afraid that I had done something wrong.  On the contrary, he told me that all of the girls loved the way I played for them, that I had a good feel for their music and that he also liked me and my sober ways.  He raised my salary to a hundred and a quarter and made me the bandleader.  I was honored…
     …These were happy times for me.  But there were also sad times.  I had gotten mixed up with some very tough people - leg breakers - that were part of the "outfit."  I was a member of local 10 at that time in Chicago, and some people were giving me a bad time.  [The boss] made one call and I never heard from these people again. 
     In 1951 I completed my Knapp training. Now I had to go out into the world and face the future.  I decided to head for L.A.  [Recording] Studios were calling to me, but I didn't know it yet…


Hal Blaine & the Young Cougars - GEAR STRIPPER (YouTube)

Hal Blaine & the Wrecking Crew (YouTube)

Friday, April 5, 2013

I'm Back!

The Black Terror
Mr. Hyde (after Jack Davis)
Prune Face
Igor (Marty Feldman)
Devil In Disguise
Wolf Gal
Lota the Panther Woman
Scarlett O'Hara
Jayne Mansfield
Tippi
Lee Ving (FEAR)
Gremlin
The Hitchhiker
Burger Deluxe
Hee Haw
Squeeze Me
The Big Dripper

Thanks to the generosity of my old pal Major Mulatto, I am now the proud owner of a brand new MacBook Pro.  Let the blogging resume!  However...I am still not operating at full speed.  Why not consider buying some original art, so I can afford some new computer software...?  The pieces above are all available.  Prices range from about $30 - $45, plus a bit more for shipping/insurance. Click the links below to buy the pieces via the Comic Art Collective website...or, if you prefer, contact me via email for purchase details: jrwilliams57@gmail.com

THE BLACK TERROR

MR. HYDE (after Jack Davis)

PRUNE FACE

IGOR (Marty Feldman)

DEVIL IN DISGUISE (email me: jrwilliams57@gmail.com)

WOLF GAL (after Al Capp) (email me: jrwilliams57@gmail.com)

LOTA THE PANTHER WOMAN (from "Island of Lost Souls")

SCARLETT O'HARA

JAYNE MANSFIELD

TIPPI

LEE VING (FEAR)

GREMLIN

THE HITCHHIKER

BURGER DELUXE (email me: jrwilliams57@gmail.com)

HEE HAW

SQUEEZE ME

THE BIG DRIPPER